Nosoccermom, I'm actually sitting in the room now and had to move one of the chairs to the other side of the sofa because I couldn't see the tv from either one. I am not at all comfortable. However, I didn't buy these chairs to be comfortable and sat on for hours at a time. They are just for our office and are rarely used. I don't know how much time we'd spend in here if I had to sit on this chair. (Yes, I could sit on the couch with my husband but like oakleyok said, we like having our own space). My husband also was concerned that it's not really set up for interaction with the chairs there since everyone seems to be looking at the tv, not at eachother. He's still hoping for a sofa and loveseat or the sectional. I feel like the room has definitely opened up like this but if we're not comfortable watching tv, we will rarely sit in here - sad but true. I am at a stand still. I like the look but not for tv or talking. Maybe it can just look pretty. :) To answer your question, we do use it for watching tv. I'd say DH spends about 25% of his tv watching time in here and my oldest spends an hour or two after school in here reading or watching tv. I don't come in here on my own. I prefer the family room because it's off the kitchen and I can see everything that's going on if I am cooking/getting a snack for the kids or any of the other million things I have to do in there. I also hate looking at the old furniture in here and that will hopefully be solved soon. To answer the question about the sectional size, it was 120 inches long and 84 inches on the chaise side. So 10 feet by 7. The room is 19 x 12. The sectional would actually give me a little bit more room than the couch and loveseat that is presently in the room. It would take up much more room than a couch and 2 chairs.

I agree with keeping the space light and leaving the wood paneling. Why make more work for yourself? If you paint once, you'll have to repaint at some point. The slanted style of the wood will not lend itself to anything remotely cottagey, and is fine the way it is. The leather beast is not something I'd want in my front parlor, but for a casual space for the kids and man, it's perfect. The leather is almost indestructable, and will probably get better with age, and you can wipe it off with a damp cloth if there is a spill. I would also get a large ottoman or group of smaller ones to made another surface for feet, games, and additional seating, which won't cause any injuries if the boys wrestle. No sharp corners. The suggestion for a larger area rug in front of it is a good one, you can even get an indoor/outdoor rug that can be easily cleaned. As much as we want to decorate in styles that we love, you still have to think about function, and it seems to me that this space works very well for your family's needs. The quilt on the wall behind the sofa is a great idea and will put some color where it will draw the eye up. If you're still in the house when the boys are older and no longer use it much, you can get rid of the beast if you still dislike it, and made a space a craft/hobby room or home office if you need one. Or put in a ping pong table and get your friends over there.

Well I'm NOT a blue person. Indoors I have NO blue. My husband doesn't understand this. I have no idea why I feel this way. Outdoors things are different! I have a blue/yellow/white garden bed which I love. Yes, delphineums, catananche, campanulas, baptisia and more, are mixed with trollius, coreopsis moonbeam, peony Claire de Lune and low growing white clematis and aquilegia. It is a big mix and wouldn't be any fun at all without the blue! There are loads of clematis that are purple or blue/purple, but also some very nice blues I think. You do get into the question of "what is blue?" My husband and I think this could well be a male/female issue! Also, by saying a flower is blue, perhaps a catalogue gains more sales? * Posted by: coolbeans (My Page) on Sat, Feb 2, 02 at 13:12 This is my VERY favorite thread, and I totally agree with all those who feel that there is just "something" about blue flowers; they ARE magical, they ARE very special; and they make me happier than any other color flower. Don't know why...I just started a flat full of Bluebird delphinium seeds I saved from my one lonely plant last year. A bunch of them germinated, so now I can't wait to have a huge stand of them! Maybe they won't bloom this year, but maybe they will. And also "true blue" penstemons, I'm trying for the first time. I can't get enough of this precious color. * Posted by: Anne_Marie_Alb (My Page) on Tue, Feb 5, 02 at 17:47 WOW....... Did anyone realize that this thread started almost 5 years ago... on Feb. 15, 1997!!!!! I am amazed it has survived that long. Probably, the oldest thread still on the top page! I wonder if "Clare B" (who started the thread) is still an active member of the Garden Web!!! I personally love blue flowers (I mean blue, and not purple, which I also like). I can't believe how many blue flowers I am starting from seeds this year... and that was just a pure coincidence! I also love RED flowers.. Maybe, I should start a "red flower" thread! I will first check the archives! * Posted by: Clare (My Page) on Thu, Feb 7, 02 at 20:34 Yes, Ann_Marie, I am still here! I will be a bit sad to see this thread fade away when it hits the 100 posts mark. After that, the threads are closed. I don't think I have any true blue flowers still. "Victoria Blue" Salvia is the closest thing. I use it a lot. It is such a heavy, long bloomer, and about one in twenty of them will survive winter here. Just wish I could predict which would survive so that I could save seed from those alone and perhaps work up a more hardy strain. By the way, the Hydrangeas in Memphis, Tennessee are incredible. Some are so saturated blue that I'd have to call them navy. * Posted by: Dswan (My Page) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 22:37 I'm going to add to this extremely long thread only because there really is something to true blue. I grow from seed a very difficult plant to propagate called Penstemon cyananthus or Wasatch Penstemon. I cold stratify and plant these every year in hopes of gettting one or two in my garden every year. Absolutely gorgeous. * Posted by: Rosa (My Page) on Mon, Mar 11, 02 at 10:24 Did no one mention Gentians-now those are blue! (along with my favorite penstemson of course-some are indeed blue). * Posted by: pineshade7b ) on Mon, Apr 15, 02 at 11:02 i agree with gloria mc coy. i love blue and green , they are my favorite colors in anything. just look in my house and closets. blue..ocean, blue jeans, my own eyes are blue and my husband's are green. many reasons to answer -why blue. although i do not "hyperventilate" , if i should go into a nursery and ask for a blue -flowering plant and the staff looks down their nose at me, i'll know now that they are only doing it because they think I'M a snob. until i adopted gardening as a serious hobby i had no idea that blue was a "snob" color. i just naturally began to look into flowers in the colors i liked personally. you learn something new everyday. i would have been hurt and confused to walk into a nursery and be looked at like a pariah, what did i say? now i know, thanks clare. * Posted by: DesertGardner (My Page) on Fri, Apr 19, 02 at 12:38 Wow - I never knew there was such a controversy over the color blue in the garden. After reading all the posts, I now understand why some gardeners prefer the color. And I have to say that I've never met any gardeners whom I would consider snobbish. Most of them are really quite down to earth! (if you pardon the expression...) I recently tried planting a red, white and blue flower bed, with 'Victoria Blue' Salvia being my blue color. It's a little too purple and doesn't look right as a "patriotic" design. I will probably tear out the red and white and keep the "blue" (purple) since it seems to like this desert heat. Someone mentioned black flowers, and I remembered seeing black pansies in the most recent Burpee catalog. They're a beautiful velvety black with a spot of yellow in the center. I think I'll plant some this winter, and start an obsession with black flowers! (just kidding Clare...) -Kara [* Posted by: yeona_sky (My Page) on Mon, Jun 24, 02 at 0:37 I just bought a blue poppy and am nervously watching its progress. My success with blues has been an up hill battle, but that hasn't changed my desire to spotlight it in my garden. Why blue?, again it's a passion with me. Clare, I hope you get the last word on this thread, and I hope you understand Why blue, a little better. * Posted by: Duster (My Page) on Wed, Jun 26, 02 at 23:56 I agree with the many others about getting annoyed when purple is referred to as blue. Maybe that's why I take up the cause of truly blue flowers! 99% of my Delphiniums are the true electric blue ones. I'd love one of the Himalayan Poppies but just not right for my little yard. I like the blue flowers, rather than the blue foliage plants. And no, blue is NOT my favorite color - I have nothing blue in my home decor. I just like the uniqueness of the TRUE blue and my stubbornness to get people to stop calling it purple!!!!

I have a corner fireplace, and the key to successful furniture placement turned out to be turning the sofa on the diagonal, facing directly toward the fireplace, and placing two chairs against the wall to either side of the fireplace. An area rug turned diagonally to the room (parallel to sofa and hearth) pulls it all together. This might work for you. It can be arranged and rearranged in ten minutes. I recommend trying it for a week or two before deciding whether or not it works for your household. A slight variation is to turn the side chairs so their backs are not against the wall behind them, and face directly toward one another, yes with the chair corner to the wall. Of my two chairs, I have one placed each way, and no one seems to notice. If one of the easy chairs is placed diagonally to its wall, it is possible to tuck the television table behind it. The downside of this arrangement: for tv watching, one of you gets the other easy chair, and one of you gets to stretch out on the sofa at full length. (It goes without saying that the kids get the floor). Pattern-with-pattern comes in and out of fashion; one moment it is declared the Next New Thing, and another moment declared an egregious crime. I'd say go with your heart. You want to smile when you come into the room. Congratulations on your new house!