Wow, I'm amazed by all the helpful ideas and comments! It took me a while today just to process everything - thank you, everyone, so much! I went to the local nursery today and bought some morning glory seeds to run up the front posts. Roobear - I LOVE the drawing you did!! And I love the look of those front posts; they are definitely going on the "wish" list if we can fit them in the budget, maybe for next summer. For now, we're going with some vines. Thank you so much for taking the time to do that picture; it really made me see the possibilities! Did I mention I LOVE it?! I'll either do a trellis around the meter box, or possibly get a nice tree to plant on the other side of the walk to hide it from the street, as rosie suggested. We dug down around the concrete walk tonight, and it goes down several inches...too far to break up with just a sledgehammer - we tried. So, instead of going through the expense and hassle of moving the walk, I think we'll just have to leave it. I'm also going to get a tree of some kind to place on the opposite side of the house (left side when facing from the street), and expand the front garden out and circle around it. Hopefully that will give some dimension to the front. I also love the red door in roobear's pic. I would not have chosen red if I hadn't seen that visual; it's nice how it makes the door a focal point. Thank you all again - in two days you gave me more ideas here than I've come up with in a year. I'll try to post some pics once we put things together!

Ideas- Add maybe 3-4 prints down the wall to the right of the fireplace that are personal/meaningful- and sophisticated (Not big box typical) or some tall narrow piece of furniture or plant kind of a thing. The wide fireplace and big wide tv make the room seem low, but it could be the pictures. Just want to make the room seem taller. Smaller coffee table. Too much big rectangle stuff in my opinion. But, a round coffee table can take up a lot of space- so careful. Going to add a rug? Tall and narrow items at the ends of the fireplace to help cover the tv cords. I think you could squeeze one chair in but not sure about two. Can you tape off the floor for sizes to see how much space they would take up to see what you think? Add some color and texture to your accessories, but not too matchy matchy. Again, personal and sophisticated. And not a bunch of sayings! Oops- I maybe just gave you more thoughts about what not to do... Nice that you were able to open up the space!

I would move the wing chairs facing each other directly, so that they make a U shape with the sofa. Cushions. Put the yellow cushion on one of the wing chairs. For the other wing chair, choose another bright color from the painting and buy a cover for the black cushion. To test this look, find a scarf/tee shirt/anything to wrap the black cushion in. Leave only the matching cushions on the love seat. Bring back the plant and put it near the window, raising it slightly and centering it in the space so that it fills the corner better. Center the tripod light in its space too. I don't see a good place for your end tables. Definitely not blocking the traffic path. Take all your family photos (from the end tables and from the top of the secretary desk), and make a gallery wall where a person can walk right up to them and see them easily. Hallways are great for this. If you prefer them in this room, put them on the short wall to the left of the kitchen where you now have one small piece of art.

we completed a DIY cosmetic update, You did a fantastic job! wondering if I should pause the light replacement until August when we retire and have the “structure” removed and all three lights replaced at that time. Yes! In that case, what are your recommendations for two island lights and a new light over the table? There are too many directions to go to answer that. If it were me, and I wanted a refresh, I would start by looking at kitchens on line and in magazines and see what you like. That way you will only be looking at what is au courant, which is kind of what a refresh should be. Especially if you are doing all 3, rather than trying to match something, it should be easy. Set a budget and stick to it. You can spend a fortune on lighting, but there are also many nice options that are good value .... there really is no need. PS I will say this. The drum shade with a chandelier peaking out of the bottom was all the rage 10+ years ago. I know, since I bought one for that reason ... custom ... from england. Duh. Anyway, IMHO they look dated now. So I would not choose those, and I also would not choose anything expensive becuase lighting is trendier than you might first imagine.