Being your first time here, you may not have expected the replies you got about your daughter's two rooms. Don't be offended. We mean well. I tend to agree, tho. And not to get personal, but how do you and your hubby have any intimate time together if you're sleeping in the LR? I would at the most, give your daughter the larger room so she does have room to play, but would take the advice of others to store the toys in the same room. Maybe it's time to go thru them and donate the ones she no longer plays with? Kids only play with half of the toys they own, anyway. Involve her in choosing which ones to give away and explain that she is helping kids who have no toys. Make it fun and help her learn that being charitable is a good trait. I'm sure if you google, there's an article on how to do that because I've read about it. That being said, I think you did a bang up job on the white furniture. That is my taste exactly. Shabby-chic and cottage-y. I am single and on a disability budget and my home is about your size. So storage is critical. I do all my furniture shopping at thrift stores. I bought a dresser that I use as a buffet, yet I keep my tools, gardening stuff, plastic storage bowls and seasonal linens in the drawers. I also bought a tall handmade shelving unit with cabinets below for storage and an old console with cabinet type doors for extra counter space in my kitcken (up against a wall) and storage for my crockpot, platters, bowls, mixer, etc. That one I painted but have yet to paint the other two. Rule #1 - paint before you get it in the house and start using it or you will never get around to painting it due to the dilema of where to store all the stuff inside while it's being painted...lol. I've also found new curtains, quilts, pillows, shower curtains, and even Ralph Lauren bed sheets at thrift stores. Target donates lots of stuff to Goodwill. Most of my decorative kitchen stuff and household knicknacks came from thrift stores. Lamps are always cheap and can be spray painted. They make textured metalic spray paint if that's your taste. Just do a good tape job first. They always have lamp shades, too, and many of them are new. I've gotten wall mirrors and done paint treatments on them to make them look shabby chic. You can repurpose sheets to make curtains, pillows, and even a shower curtain if you're handy with a sewing machine. I also got my two sofas from the thrift store. One for $40, the other a pull out bed for $50. For the first one (red checkered...UGH!!) I bought a white slipcover from Uglysofas.com. They sell Pottery Barn slipcovers pretty cheap (they call them Brand X since they can't advertise where they came from). I guess they're seconds but there was nothing wrong with mine. The 2nd couch was actually in perfect condition. It came from a hotel remodel so there were several, along with club chairs to match. I liked the fabric, so it didn't need covered (but I still do...I like the white better). Do you have a Restore Store (Habitat for Humanity) near you? They have soooo much stuff for remodeling, including paint. I buy my drawer pulls from there (which are very expensive at big box stores). Yes, it takes some digging around to find the quantity you need but they really update older painted furniture. And my store has started a thrift store section with furniture, mirrors, lamps, etc. As for paint color....I like the sage green but that's just me. I see you have a blue and pink pillow, so you could pull off that. However, paint isn't cheap so if you can live with the sage, live with it for now and work on making a sanctuary for you and hubby and a nice new LR. Ohhh...i forgot to mention. Are you familiar with Pinterest? If not, you MUST check it out. I've gotten so many decorating ideas from there. It's all visual. Pic, pics, and more pics. You just type in 'shabby chic decorating' for example, or 'cottage bedroom'. I search by color since i have a beach cottage color scheme. So I type in 'aqua shabby chic.' Just saying....if you are thinking of blue, they use blue in your search. You have to sign up to use it but it's no different than signing up for this site. And there are no ads, no spam, nothing !! It's addictive tho....trust me. Looking at beautiful picture is so inspiring. And then you can pin a pic to your 'board' so you can save it. It's like a virtual scrapbook. I LOVE IT !! Well, I've rattled on long enough. I do love your taste and wish you the best in your decorating !! Bonnie This post was edited by brit5467 on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 22:00

Thanks everyone for such great suggestions. I'm also drawn to the William Morris rug, as I'm much more fond of blues and greens, rather than reds. It is the original fireplace. Appreciate all of the feedback to do the switch of the couch across from the FP. We do really want the tv in the room as it seems too far to be down in the basement to watch tv when our three boys are sleeping upstairs. I'm not sure the cabinet will look ok in that far corner (where desk is). Wonder if diagonal or just up against wall is better. I do think the desk will look great in the opposite corner (left of FP). Wonderful suggestion to get the rug and furniture and even paint all set and then think of ottoman/coffee table. Will try and take some more photos of the other sides of room and post them. Thanks again!

The natural jute or seagrass rugs will not look as good on carpet and may permanently discolor the carpet. Plus, it is just another edge for kids to trip on, so I personally would not layer flooring in that room just for looks. Reluctantly agree with above poster who speculated that bar table, while cute, would end up as a horizontal surface only (read: repository for anything you need to put down) and not as an eating area. I would maybe get a bigger ottoman than the chair (if you replace the chaise) would need, and get a nice big melamine tray with sides and a handle for the top for their food. (If you decide you want to try a table I wouldn't try a round one if it is going up against a wall for obvious space considerations, and I would get a regular height one, not the pub height...... think kids horsing around and falling off those high stools, their center of gravity is pretty high.) I bought a bolt of green and white mattress ticking fabric online years ago and had slipcovers made for two sofas. The slips outlasted the sofas! The navy and white (more in real life like navy and off white) is very durable if the fabric is cotton twill and woven, not simply printed on the surface. If you google signal flag pillows (images) you'll see an embarrassment of riches. If you go the signal pillow route you can always just do solid color pennants on the rafters. There are etsy shops that will make them to order in the colors you desire or you might find them already made. I have to say though that I really like the flags on rafters picture posted above!

Not sure which direction to go for coffee table - If i do a wrought iron book case should the coffee table have wrought iron? Or can it match the side tables what will have silver bases? Also, not sure where to look for similar dining table as one pictured above, but need dimensions to be around 5ft long and 3 ft wide - with bench to match! I found great options by sizes available are too big!