I had an inspection done, the plumbing and electrical are all up to date, thank God. There is no HVAC but I am going to see how this summer goes before I decide to install it through the house. I live in Virginia and the summers are hot but being up in the Blue Ridge keeps some of the humidity at bay. The windows are original and there are exterior aluminum storm windows covering them. I am hoping and praying that they are sufficient to keep the house from being windy inside. I think the cafe curtains and tension rods will work perfectly while I get settled. I was not planning on working on the exterior of the home right away but it looks like the porch roof will need to be replaced and all of the windows and trim around the exterior need to be painted. The 115 year old wood is exposed. The previous owners did NOTHING in the way of maintenance. The walls have been scribbled and written on by their children, they didn't bother to paint over it. So it has been at least 13 years since any exterior wood has been painted.

The current paint is fine honestly. I definitely like the idea of curtains or maybe some Roman shades. What’s bothering me most in this photo is the orange pillows. I think you need more texture and maybe stick with whites. I also think the coffee tables a bit small …

Keep the TV in the current configuration and location. Hang the TV on the flower table wall. Pull the sofa away from both walls by 6" or more if you can. Get a nice rug for under the whole sofa area. Curtains for the window. Figure out what you need for an entry area that can exist where the TV currently lives. Chair and console table? The little half table and some wall hooks?

Something like this, maybe? I hope the plan is to scale; with these large sofas, inches matter! I used the 90-inch sofa length but didn't know its depth or the dimensions of the chairs, so those are guesses (40 inches for sofa depth, 36x36 for chairs). I found the bookcase online so used its actual dimensions (lower right corner of plan). Guests enter the main seating area (assuming the upper right is the entry), with the sofa L facing them. (You can still sit across from guests by using the chairs and the sofa opposite them.) I chose a nesting coffee table that can be pulled out when needed to serve a crowd. The traffic lane from entry to dining room is now outside of the conversation area, leading past an art wall. The fireplace corner is for one-on-one conversation and for reading, with lamps (a table lamp on the sofa console and a floor lamp behind the other chair), the bookcase, and an ottoman to put your feet up. You could add small tables between the chairs and the windows to hold your refreshments. And here's a rendering: I used a subtle metallic silver (paper or paint) on the ceiling for the depth that the softly reflective surface gives. The ceiling then looks less flat and lid-like. The wall color is one of the lighter stone colors from the fireplace, used on the beam as well as the walls, and I did add crown molding to both walls and beam. This shows a darker floor because the dramatic sofas seemed to need its contrast, but I realize that I'm looking at one room only, not the rest of the house that I assume will get the same flooring. I did use large art, because to my eyes that scale holds its own better with the large, assertive sofas, but you could do a gallery wall somewhere if you prefer (just make sure the total arrangement is large enough). I used an antique arched window frame between the windows (echoing the curved backs of the white chairs) because I like the contrast a touch of age adds to a contemporary room. The rug is a soft abstract in neutrals and gray/blue. For the fireplace area, if the stone can be matched, running it to the ceiling would also help the room to feel taller. The ottoman between the two tufted chairs is shown in a neutral in the plan, but it might need to repeat the deep blue for color balance in the room. Or you could bring in the blue in a smaller rug (5x7?) under the chairs, set at the fireplace angle. Choose one that plays well with the larger rug. Ideas to consider, anyway; it will be a beautiful room!