The answer depends in part on the current conditions of the soil and what your intended new plants prefer. I don't see how compost could do any harm. Aside from that, the stump and roots are your big problem as discussed in the responses above. My first thought is that sometimes stumps don't completely die right away even when the tree was sick so you might even want to make sure you finish it off with a little herbicide right after the tree crew is done (I did this with two Ailanthus trees which have to be poisoned to insure death. Fortunately, Ailanthus rots much quicker than Oak). I would go with grinding out as much as you can. One hour with a grinder is worth years of natural decay. There are also various products that increase the rotting of the stump and others that burn the stump. You can also do some things without fancy products to speed up the decay like drilling holes and packing in high nitrogen manure or fertilizer. Hack up the big exposed roots as best you can also. Also, A little work with a mattock to hack up all the little feeder roots might also make your eventual new planting easier. I think that whatever route you take it will be a while before it is all gone but there are faster ways and slower ways depending on time, energy and budget. Be mindful over the years that if there are big roots under the asphalt it is possible that part of the driveway will sink in a bit at some point when the roots finally rot away but if it's just asphalt without concrete underneath that's easily fixed. I'm attaching a link to one online article about stump removal. Here is a link that might be useful: stump removal without grinding

If you are referring to area to right of tv, I would say yes, some shelving of similar finish as barn door, to the ceiling basically, would balance it; doesn't have to be very wide shelving, but the height is needed. A tall statue of some sort, a modern art sculptural piece, for example - in a dark finsh - might be interesting, too. I think my favorite idea might be to do something interesting with a plant or plants. That would bring an organic feel to the space, and would not compete with other elements. With plants, metal might be an interesting option there, also, like this piece above, from Lowes.

The International Residential Code (IRC) and its predecessors have never required a continuous handrail at landings but theInternational Building Code (IBC) and its predecessors have always required it for buildings open to the public. In fact, many such long-accepted public safety rules do not apply to single family homes. This is primarily due to the powerful lobbying efforts of builder organizations that wish to keep the cost of home construction low. But the absence of a code requirement should not be an excuse to create a potentially dangerous condition. A building code is a minimum standard containing many compromises and flaws. In this case, I would continue the handrail around the corner to the lowest tread rather than placing discontinuous railings on the other side of the stairway. (Just carrying a fully loaded suitcase down the stairs would be a challenge. I would also have automatically rejected this goofy go-up-to-go-down landing arrangement). If you're looking for a house to buy, I would keep looking.

Thanks, all. I have a tile guy coming out next week and I looked at tile samples today at his showroom. We got the kitchen table with the house when we bought it last year, but I recently saw a similar one online just by chance. Can’t remember where it was, but they are still available. I just replaced the stools with counter-height chairs with backs, which are much more comfortable if you’re sitting for any length of time. Bought them used on FB and sold the rush seated ones on there as well. I’ll post the results of any changes I end up making. Edit: I did a search for ”kitchen table with stools that fit underneath” and got a couple of similar tables.