Does your husband need a special chair when he watches t v? And area rug is no problem? I have found that leather furniture doesn’t seem to absorb sound as much as upholstered furniture. How much floor space is there with which to work? Do the windows match on either side of the fireplace? Is the slider the main egress out to the patio? I don’t see a lot of space for stack-backing fabric panels. Would you take another photo of the slider? You might have to do fabric Roman Shades on the windows with draperies on the slider. A good liner on the window treatments will help with the echo, as well. I could see another sofa to replace the one you have now…a great, large piece of art between the two sconces…smaller, but thicker rug…but instead of a coffee table, do an upholstered bench…then depending on what space remains, two more chairs…swivels on either side of the fireplace might be perfect. Love those windows... Mirror over fireplace is very big... This kind of treatment, possibly for the windows…the shades with a wooden, padded valance, and depending on how much room you have at the slider either a matching panel or just another padded valance….all hung at the same height.

There is no telling what you'll run into when doing remodeling. It doesn't look like the pavers were installed by pros because of the unusual corn row pattern. So you could run into more unusualness. Regardless of what you do, whether you plan it all out yourself or hire a professional, be sure to finish the planning before you start doing any demolition or construction. If you want to explore design ideas here, you need to show views of complete scenes where the camera is positioned at a single spot and pans from left to right taking slightly overlapping pictures. So we can see from end to end.

cpartist wow that ks truly beautiful. How did you get away without having to put up a baby barrier? I thought it was mandatory? Thank you. We are retirees so no babies. We have a fence around the whole property and when we got our CO we had alarms on all windows and doors. Anyways, I love your design, and everything about your pictures. I totally see your points in regards to having a stem wall, I'm just not sure we can justify the additional cost. 3 of the pool builders we have been in contact with have told us a stem wall would increase the price by $7,500-$10,000. I honestly don't know what the price would have been without the stem wall because I never asked. Most of our friends are older and I figured it would be easier on them too if they didn't have to climb up and down stairs to get to the pool. Also with you bring in South Florida and not having a screen how do you like it? How are the bugs? I prefer not having the screen. When I go to a house with screening, I feel like I'm in a cage. However, We have no large overhanging trees and I'm also only 3 blocks from the bay and we almost always have a breeze here so the bugs haven't been bad at all. (Unless you consider the army worm caterpillar infestation we just had in our planter box. All those pretty pink flowers are now gone between what the caterpillars ate and what we pulled out. Sigh.) If I lived further east, I would have definitely done a cage because the bugs are definitely more prevalent. Thanks again!

I agree with above. You have lots of space to work with. I would make a lounge area with sofa and chairs and nice coffee table, an eating area, and a by the pool area. You will need to decide your style first. Pics above are a great start. Make an idea book of what you like to get a sense and then start looking for things in person. Now is a great time for sales in many areas. Your landscaping with plants looks lean. I would also get some lovely over side planters and fill them with green and colour. Choose something hearty for your area