You could plant pachysandra around the base of your dogwood to keep you from having to mulch that much. The non-native pachysandra is a rather aggressive groundcover that would, in my opinion, compete for moisture with the dogwood (perhaps already showing signs of stress). The area is already in a severe drought with watering restrictions. I think a decent layer of mulch around the trees is the better option. Really, having to keep up mulch in this area is just a necessity; the area is warm and gets ample rain (when we're not in a drought) - causing most mulches to break down (enriching the soil in the process) on an annual basis. Don't think you can "save yourself" from occasionally refreshing the mulch. Is there a way can I avoid planting grass? Like Xeriscaping that will be low in maintenance, but as attractive as grass? Grass, when properly planted (the right time of year) and adequately watered the first year can be rather low maintenance. Zoysia is a very durable and drought tolerant warm season grass (so it turns brown in the winter - meaning no mowing in the winter!) and could be considered. That said, I don't recommend that you cover the area with grass - perhaps just a large oval of grass in the most open area, surrounded by mulched trees and generous beds of hardy shrubs and annual color.

Thanks for all the comments. My wife just cannot get over the modern look of Ikea. We've decided to go a different route entirely. While visiting a friend, she noticed their home office was a converted dining room as well. Similar to ours - hard wood floors, chair rail, crown molding. This person had two beautiful antique barrister bookcases, a small leather couch, a tastefully done large desk, and a oriental rug. It was nicely pulled together. So we are dropping the Ikea route and considering a partners desk with two sets of barrister bookshelves. Perhaps something like this: To answer the other questions: - this is just a home office for the family - the ideal space should accommodate, a PC, laptop and printer (and shredder) One option if the antique desks are too expensive: we have a custom Amish furniture maker local. He said he would make whatever we want. I'm curious to hear how much he would charge. Even the Ikea stuff added up to $2,000 - $3,000. Here is a link that might be useful: Antique partners desks

I like the rug as well as the art. Where to get those? Also, any feedback on the ones I have referred in my post? I am sure you probably won't recommend them as you suggested alternatives but would appreciate some feedback - In case if like to chose from them, which one should I go for.

So without any dimensions just going off what I can see in the photo here is a conceptual layout. I'm visualizing SW Passive as the dominant color with Seawashed Glass as the accent. I hope this helps!