Cher- At the risk of hacking your budget, some advice: Try not to feel badly about stucco. Applied correctly, it's very fire retardant and an excellent insulator. Look into La Habra- natural integral color, many colors and virtually maintenance-free- doesn't need to be repainted over and over again. For a forever home, maintenance costs matter. You'll pay a bit more, but you don't have to be rich. I mean a bit more. I don't regret having done it. Combined with my solid Texas limestone and Hardie Plank siding, my energy bills are ridiculously low, compared to my neighbors. And it's all cohesive, within design. We have a lot of people who simply stop and ask to take a picture. That's the vision of our architect, and it totally worked. Sounds really boring, but also check in with your insurance agent. I was surprised at the discounts I could get on homeowner's insurance, by using fire retardant materials on the exterior. No paint on the stucco- real stucco, as they classify? The savings paid for the "up charge" for the premium stucco in a few years. Yes, we have solid limestone. Eh, lucky us- we live 30 minutes from the quarry. The quarry folks actually looked at the veins, as mined, until they found just what we were looking for. It was cheap, as we had no shipping charges- contractor paid for delivery. So that's not always possible, for everybody. But also insurance savings. All materials have both (dramatically) lowered our insurance costs as well as energy costs. And they look great. "Forever house"? Think long term. I assume you have a bit of a contingency fund. Don't hesitate to spend it on things that will always be protective and money savers.

Lovely home. This bench by Seisenberger echoes your stairs and the Clear Square Chair by Brickell gives you the aesthetic you're looking for. Would be fun to put the bench across from the 4 chairs. I like the rug you already have, but you might want to consider a cowhide rug off to the side: http://www.archiproducts.com/en/products/janua/wooden-bench-with-back-sc02-bench-with-back_256361 http://brickellcollection.com/product/clear-square-chair/ https://decohides.com/products/real-cowhide-rug-tricolor

That Van Deusen Blue and your wallpaper in your entry is gorgeous. (and love it on the wall as well.) I think your dining room rug could work but the rest of the room looks a little too weak compared to the others. Are you considering painting the dining room as well? I see you say you are getting new chairs etc for dining room- it's hard to picture what direction you are going. I could see the first rug that JCK posted ( the strong blue) working.

Patricia, completely agree with sitting in a chair before buying. We live in a relatively small place and local choices are pretty limited. That's why i am asking here so that if I need to travel to test my chair then at least I know where I am going instead of just randomly going to all furniture stores. Eames chair is great - and I did test drive it :) - but it is also 3 times my budget :( You mentioned that I need to be careful about size and shape. Can you expand on this? Do the chairs I looked at have wrong shape? Wrong size? What should I be looking for? I hope I do not need to replace the couch. We love it - it is very, very comfortable. I am certainly not married to the idea of chair and 1/2 for reading chair in the living room. But I am curious though why you you think they are bad ideas because I was somewhat seriously considering it for a corner in the master bedroom. Thank you for your input!