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!

first do get 2 couches. do not get sectional or a loveseat. first we have to figure your color preferences. black is a neutral, to an extent it tends to be really in your face. and it rarely is going to look cool. so lets see a couple new things i have seen. let me know what you think and what not, i will adjust.

So I would look at doing some bookcases with cabinet doors below flanking your fireplace which I would paint white. If you have an IKEA near you, I would look at the Billy series and do a wood light outside with white in the front. Mount your tv over the fireplace. You may need to put it on an arm so you can pull it out beyond the bookcase for better viewing. Look for a smaller scaled sectional in a gray/brown tone but not too dark. An arc lamp with a black shade would tie in the tv and the black on your chair seat. Faux succulent plants would be good. For the entry, a glass top console with art above. Get an area rug slightly larger than the width of the door so that the console table can sit on top. Also consider bamboo roll up shades in a light color for window with white drapes.

You have two nice features; the fireplace and the brick wall, plus a nice bit of light. Painting those dark blocks outside white will enhance the brightness and look cleaner overall. Then paint your walls that taupe/greige of the mortar on the brick wall. I think that color will work well with the fireplace too. Try two 3-seat sofas and two swivel chairs in a "U" in the middle of the room. The swivel chairs will close the bottom of the "U" and can turn to the fireplace or the piano. Be careful not to buy big puffy oversized seating. Your rug may work fine. Replace it last. I don't see any electrical outlets for lamps, but you need some. A chandelier on a dimmer will work for your ambient lighting, but you need task and accent lamps too. Shop for a piece of art 75% as wide as the piano to go 5" above it.