Oh what a cutie! I agree that you have a good reason to not have a lot of time. I've been reminding of that time in my life the last two years that I've been babysitting our grandson. Who cares about decorating when you have a precious little one to love. And I can understand more about why hubby doesn't like changing things or doing more than "has" to be done. He's more worried about being a good daddy and supporting his family than having a "pretty" updated home. Our home was rather sparse with mostly hand me down or used furniture when our first born was a baby. Heck it wasn't much difference by the time our second baby was born. Not saying it wasn't warm and welcoming. It was, but not everything was perfect. I've learned with age, that it's not so important. Perfection, that is. I went through a period where things had to be just so. Maybe it's more living in a unfinished home with a hubby that works a full time job year round and umpires most of the rest evenings and weekends to keep in shape and it pays nice too. We'll be in good shape for retirement and that's a good thing. I'm glad you like the corner door shelf. It's really easy to do. The hardest part was cutting the door in half. It's heavy so it took three of us to do. But if you used two doors you wouldn't have to worry about that. I bought the door through Craigslist since I was going to distress it, it didn't have to be perfect to start with. Habitat Restores are a good source for used doors too. As for the lighting in the entry I was wondering if you'd be able to use a decorative type track lighting in there. They have some really nice looking ones that the "track" curves and all you need is the one box for the fixture.

I have seen ottomans with storage and obviously window seats. However, a sofa with storage wouldn't be particularly comfortable to sit on since it would like the normal construction such as springs. Essentially you would be sitting on a piece of foam or pillows on top of a slab of wood -- not the greatest thiing to sink into while relaxing -- if you've ever slept on a futon as compared to a good mattress and box springs, you've felt the difference. If you really think you can't live without the stuff you are planning to store, consider an ottoman or use a chest of some kind as a coffee table -- I've seen coffee tables with storage. However, at the risk of sounding like a broken record -- why do you need extra decorative pillows to stash away somewhere and clutter up your environment? How many throw blankets do you really need? I have one that I find aesthetically pleasing which is folded on the back of the sofa used to use television.

Hey it worked. That's a good start. Thanks aok, Didn't address you before because I've written a reply about a half-dozen times to have it get lost in cyber space. Glare is a concern especially with no window treatments but there are ways alleviate that. Just rotating the couch will cut down on it a bit as much of the glare will come from the floor when the sun isn't hitting it directly. I would usually use some type of a scrim/screen when people want privacy/shade but don't want curtains/ blinds etc. Although I didn't show it I did guess at laying out the room as you also need to rearrange the furniture if you block off that access-way too. I rotated the coffee table and centered it on the fireplace put the two mission chairs next to the new unit and the red one off center of the edge of the table. The couch face the TV with the FP on the right and the buffet can go behind the couch with a scrim separating the two if it is needed. They are inexpensive to build and add "wall space" when needed. If you want to post the dimension from the column to the center of the FP and to the window wall along with an indication north and closest major city I can do a sun study to see how we can prevent the glare. Thanks jey

Mamagoose, the fold up bed which becomes a dresser is similar to the ones we saw in Ireland in the castle and museum near Shannon. It is like the shaker pegs up high that they would hang chairs from, or even small chests hung on the wall from the "chair rail" and the wainscoting rail which was even higher up the wall. The shakers did not waste an inch of space. And it was flexible for use in different ways. I was thinking of the 4 captain's chairs (Windsor wooden) that my DH wants to keep, but which have no place in the house. I'm planning a high wooden board with good pegs spread on it, in my Teahouse, up high above the cement blocks where the wood framing for the end gables and the roofline begins. I'll hang those four chairs up there to preserve them. Also, if you think about it, a huge table can host a mattress. My former neighbor had a raised captain's bed built with draw curtains and a huge assortment of drawers beneath. Her grandson now has her house, she lives with his parents. Her home thus is staying in the family. The house was a small post WWII construction that my friend bought for her retirement. But it is back to serving a younger generation.