Thank you all for your ideas. They have been great. #1, I am definitely replacing the window treatments. I loved the fabric valances however, when I showed DH, he nixed that right in the bud. My second choice would be to add the bamboo or wood style blinds and that's what I've asked Santa for Christmas. As for moving the furniture around, I've decided that it's not logical to decide on furniture arrangement when it's the holidays since the Christmas tree will be gone in a month. I think I'll get the blinds, then when I remove the tree I will move the furniture around and see what fits. I liked Aktillery's idea of putting the tv on the now sofa wall, however, not sure about getting cable and such over there. This really is supposed to be a very low budget project mostly because we remodeled our kitchen and a month later, I lucked into an almost new leather couch, bookcase & rug. I've been looking around at new pillows and a new throw to accessorize. One thing is that I want to get a lamp that is complementary to the floor lamp to sit on the side table. Again, that will probably depend upon furniture placement. Once I do those things, I think I will have a better idea of what to do with the fireplace. I think I would like a style like this but using a more colorful tile in a gray/green color. [Traditional Living Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2107) by Birmingham Home Builders Signature Homes As for the black bookcase, it might seem out of place in the pictures but I really have a lot of black accents in the adjoining kitchen and dining area so it's not so out of place. My house is only 1500 SF so the living areas all blend. One more thing, I am definitely going to paint the brass black. That would not only look better, but it would tie the black bookcase into this particular room. I will post pictures as I go along. And again, thank everyone for the thoughtful suggestions. I have a new perspective.

I am very grateful for your creativity and time in working out that idea for us JDS! The contributions you make on this forum are amazing. I think the idea of a sky light to balance the loss of light throught the front door from the entry overhang is very clever. Overall, I think the shelter at the door is a nice improvement! Atlas, the new door is taller in real life than the Sketch-up file I sent to you (as mentioned). The door is 8 foot with a transom adding an extra 14 inches of height over top. I'm guessing a taller roof over the tall door would not work as what you show is a nice looking extension to the existing roof (same pitch as existing roof). Any way to change it to accommodate the tall door's height? Again thank you for lending your creative eye to our house elevation,. Carol

When you measure, add at least 10% to the amount to account for things like irregular cuts, pattern matching, mistakes, later repairs and so forth. I would actually go a bit more -- when I did my FR with the 10% extra tiles, I ended up with only 2.5 tiles and some smaller scraps left over! Brands -- I think that Supreme Elite, Mannington Adura, Congoleum, IVC, Shaw, Mohawk, Armstrong are all well respected names -- I am sure there are more that I don't know. But all manufacturers make different grades of flooring, so you kind of need to know what you want. In general, I believe for vinyl, the thicker the core layer, the better, especially if you are doing a loose lay or floating installation (not glued down); same for the wear layer. Thicker is more expensive - get the best you can afford! But IIRC if you are doing glued down sheet vinyl, that won't be as thick. Start visiting the websites of flooring retailers so you can get an idea of what is out there. Also the retailer that I mentioned above has helpful information on their website -- I expect others do also. There is a flooring forum here on gardenweb too, a good place to ask questions. Also go to some flooring retailers so you can get a feel for the different grades/types of products, how they look and how they will perform.

I agree with the other comment that the black appliances are the most dated element of the kitchen. I don't know what the counters look like exactly from your pictures, but they're pretty light - I don't think I would change them. What were you thinking of getting instead? I also am not enthused about painting the cabinets as they look pretty nice. Refacing is almost as expensive as total replacement because the doors and drawer fronts are the most expensive part of a cabinet. You could paint the uppers as @sheloveslayouts suggests, but I don't think antique white is a good choice. There is a lot of yellow in antique white. I suggest you read this blog post about colors for cabinets: https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/how-to-choose-the-best-white-for-your-kitchen-cabinets/ There is a lot of useful information on this site.