These are my questions: 1. Sofa and chairs: I love the modern look, but what the designer suggested does not look comfortable at all. This is the sofa that I really liked at room&board but it does cost twice as much as I would like to spend on a sofa: 2. Area rug - I was thinking 8' by 10' and something in beige. I have no idea if I should first get the rug or first get the sofa and then chose the rug...Also, besides overstock where else I could get a rug that I wont have to worry about trashing (I have two small children). 3. Wall art - I love the idea of one big piece of art but how would it be centered? on the sofa or on the wall (the sofa wont be centered on the wall)? Also, both my husband and I are NOT art people and we just don't know if we should get something abstract or no? Needless to say we don't want to spend too much on art and I have been looking on overstock.com, but there is just too much our there... or what else?? 4. Should I consider moving the sofa at 90 degrees facing the kitchen?

I think that it looks great in this photo (except that you have to be careful to make sure the center of the sofa is under the center of the windows). However, from this photo we cannot tell if it is set back a comfortable distance from the fireplace so that you can add the chairs on the other side.

If your goal is entertaining, then I would definitely recommend the mirroring, 3 cushion sofas if you can fit them, and then (swivel) chairs at the end facing the fireplace. Make sure there are enough surfaces for drinks and food, and if you have space to tuck extra ottomans underneath a sofa table or console, that allows you modular seating you can use at a moments notice!

There would be enough space on that wall. My concerns were placing the sofa against the windows. Since the windows are very low (Down to about 1' to the ground), a 37" high sofa would block 2 feet of window height. Depending on how far into the room the sofa is, that would take 2' off of 2-4 windows. (The window location in the render is not 100% accurate, but if you look at the picture, it'll likely cover all 4 windows) In addition, those windows go to the backyard, which we would get afternoon & evening sun from. We were concerned about having a lot of glare from the sun if we put the TV opposite of the windows.