GAG2014: Without an up close and personal inspection, I'm not ready to say that deck couldn't be salvaged cost effectively. I'd check to see the flashing details where the band joist is attached to the house and the fastening schedule there. I'm fairly sure a 4" sphere would easily pass through your "guardrail", plus the horizontal nature makes a perfect ladder for climbing for small children. I'd take an expert framer over a structural engineer any day. You need a professional carpenter, not a nerd.

The mantel is wrong for the stone…too Victorian looking, as if you removed the top of a highboy chest; the wood above stone looks like floor boards…each separately is great, but not paired. Whoops I just saw the window trim, which is Victorian in style. So the mantel and the windows go well; but now the stone and the above mantel treatment don’t fit into the style. Here is a photo that might solve the problem: when you stain the wood, continue with all your woodwork and mantel color instead of trying to match the stone.

I second Johnson Flooring's statements/suggestions. First and foremost, this is a professional fix. Even if it is 'just' the subfloor that you fix, it will be faster (and in the end cheaper) than a DIY event. How is that cheaper you ask? I always say, "Giver yourself an hourly wage," and then figure out how much it will 'cost you'. Do a guestimate of how LONG it would take you to do this yourself. That INCLUDES the time it takes to EDUCATE yourself re: flooring and building industry standards. And example of 'education' is reading the National Wood Flooring Association Handbook (which you can purchase on line from www.nwfa.org). And then reading it again. And perhaps again - while taking copious amounts of notes. The first 'read through' should be 6-10 hours (yes I suggest cover to cover for the DIYer). Now the next two reads should be about subfloors and how to make them and how to FIX THEM. Now you start taking notes. By hand. At this point you should have 15 'billable hours' under your belt and you haven't picked up a hammer. At 15 hrs, how much have you 'spent' on your own wage? Right. That's just the education part. Now the 'doing' part. If a single professional would require 3 days (8-10 hr days) then I suggest you look at 3 TIMES the amount of time to get the subfloor ready. That means you are looking at 25-30 hrs for the subfloor fix (not to mention all the running around purchasing all the products and tools etc). At this point, the subfloor will have cost you 45 hrs of your time (a full week of work + a weekend) and you still have to figure out the material costs and the flooring costs + install. Depending on your flooring of choice and method of install and amount of flooring you are looking at, you could be looking at another week of work. That same professional who would take 3 days to deal with the subfloor, could have installed the flooring in the same amount of time you will take to fix the subfloor. This is how you budget 'yourself' into a DIY situation. Some people have more money than time, which means hiring the professional is the logical thing to do. Others have more time than money which means they would rather 'spend' their own time then spend their own money. Without knowing your time/money situation, it is hard to tell you if it is a good idea to DIY this type of fix. Look at your situation (time vs money) and decide if this is worth 2 weeks (or more) of your life. And the other concern (for me) is the Pandora's Box that can be opened when opening up an old subfloor system. In the profession, we ASSUME there will be something weird going on. The question becomes, what will YOU do (as DIYer) if and when you come across the 'weird'? If you decide to DIY, please make sure you have a contingency plan for 'weird'. That includes a quick bank loan option and other professionals on speed dial (plumbers, electricians, etc).

Thank you again, everyone!!! Plan of attack, which is a combo of many of your ideas: - sofas are already off the wall a couple inches, but move a couple more off wall and onto rug (rug is already centered in the room - it's a relatively small space) - bulky wooden coffee table to anchor room with zero / minimal legs b/c room is already leggy with the sofas - light colored arm chair with small side table - floor lamp Like decoenthusiaste suggested, I'm going to hold off on the drapes for now and do the rest first. You all are seriously AMAZING! Thank you again!!!