The one thing I wish we had was a 'mail' area. I cannot stand having 'non-food' and 'non-eating' items in our new kitchen area. Things like mail, bills ready to be paid, keys, lunchboxes, pens, the newspaper etc. drive me nuts when somebody leaves them on the countertop. If we had a desktop closer to the door, all that 'stuff' would have an official home. From the picture, a full size cabinet would require you to move the plug (which is a PITA if you don't like drywall work). The height of a desktop would be lower than regular cabinet height so you wouldn't have to move it. The buffet idea works too because the height would not have to match your existing counter. If it was a 'floating' top, you'd have room underneath for slippers,a folding stepstool, umbrella stand, or bins to put stuff into.

We have a dedicated office and dining room already so no need for another one. We are a family of 3 (2 adults and 1 child) and this room will get the most use as we are not the type to hang out in our bedrooms. This room will also have the only TV in the house as well (60"). We want to put an 'L' shaped couch or a sofa and a side chair of some type so when we have guests over we are not all sitting on one couch. I just noticed in my earlier post there was an error, my budget for this room is $5,000. I love the idea of doing two separate areas and maybe the nook as a library...what's the best way to position the rugs to make this look cohesive..and should the rugs match or is that weird?

I don’t know anything about your family, but my daughter’s upstairs landing is very similar to yours. She used it to ”store” in a somewhat decorative way, various overflow items from the kids’ rooms. Over the years she has had combinations of book shelves, toy boxes, acquariom, cat scratching post, easel, art displays, and puzzle tables there. As the kids grew, the area changed, but it always looked like a comfortable, albeit small space.

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your time, efforts and comments! For some reason, I can't respond individually to everyone so I'm going to post down below and hope you all get notification! Questions; TV in the room- You know I don't know; I feel like may detract from people being social and harm the aesthetic, maybe one on a stand in wheels, I roll out of the closet for big sport events or something haha. Measurements - will get them soon! who lives here- It's just me, i haven't entertained too much, i'd like to. It's a townhouse, built in 2006, 3 floors, whets interesting is in my bedroom (which also needs a lot more design work) lol, is quite more rustic, I know the home is supposed to flow so am wondering if now the blue and orange will throw that off, then again, I don't actually mind that as much. I was hoping in the living room, to bring elements of green in with plants, jewel tone vases for them.. and a circular wooden table in the middle, or like a velvet/leather brown piece. Here is the upstairs of the house I was talking about: In terms of the dining room section there- you know I haven't really decided on a table, I really didn't want to add too much in there because walking then might become a bit cluttered, if anything I was thinking of a breakfast nook along that wall. there is a little bar there that I do most of my eating at. Here is a photo of the couch against the white wall. And here is another shot of the previous set up The reason I did like this set up, was because the couch there, sort of closes it off a little, like it almost defines the space as a cozy nook. I'm really thinking of how to make it quite lovely to enjoy a cup of coffee or a book in there, you know, like crisp fall morning- I know that's not a style but these are the things I get hung up on LOL. I actually do really love the suggestion above with this picture: You're going to laugh but I almost thought this could work: I suppose I just like it because of it's character- I dont think the colors will work at all. Maybe I can do some throw pillows instead of such a rug. The wall that is white now was originally supposed to be a burnt orange/terracotta accent wall, however, literally no color looked good on it, must be like a lighting thing. When it comes to art- i really love art, I have many favorites across all styles, I know there is a rule about the art piece of your room is where the attention is drawn, so I am a bit overwhelmed about how one hangs and figures out the sizes of multiple pieces of art without clashing.