Disclaimer: I am not a garden designer. But I do, like you, live in the Pacific Northwest (WA). When you were developing your garden, it sounds like you were thinking of the new area as a place to experiment/be creative/have some fun. I understand why you want a basalt birdbath, they are beautiful. Would you consider instead a ceramic birdbath?. When I searched for "birdbath ceramic garden" at houzz.com, some stunning examples came up, including one made out of two pails and a garbage can lid. A rock garden can be quite easy to maintain. I helped my neighbor build his 5 years ago, but have not yet built one for myself. Here are some suggestions to think about: 1. Consider making the garden larger than 6' x 5'. 2. Dig out some of the soil, and mound sand at LEASt 18" deep. Alpine and rock garden plants do well in our area in sand beds. (My neighbor's large rock garden is up to 5 ft deep!) 3. Add whatever kind of rocks you like and can manage, but be sure they are partially buried and look like something you could imagine seeing when you are hiking in the mountains. A garden near here has rocks small enough for one person to move, but looks natural, as the rocks were placed with thought and sufficiently buried. 4. After planting, add a couple of inches of grit as mulch. You may have to look around to find the kind of rock mulch that'll give you a color that you like. For example, my neighbor uses granite mulch (white/black), but he is red/green colorblind, so this increases the contrast for him. (I've seen brownish 3/8" crushed basalt that I'd like to use for my garden.) 5. Start with some woody plants to add structure and winter interest. Locals love 'Chief Joseph' ponderosa pine, as it turns a beautiful yellow in the winter, and grows quite slowly. Or how about a sculptural manzanita? Add miniature conifers (growing not more than 1" per year) in blues and golds and greens, and little shrubs like Kalmiopsis. 6. Plant ground covering subshrubs like crowberry, shrubby penstemons (e.g. Penstemon davidsonii or P. cardwellii) and dryas. These can add masses of texture or color and look decent in the winter. 6. Add perennials for summer color. Lewisia cotyledon hybrids are beautiful! How about columbines? Pacific coast irises? We found that the beargrass that grows in our mountains does well for us; it has shiny green leaves year round and sends up those dramatic blooms. 7. Add bulbs for spring color. There are quite a few natives that are beautiful but underused. Camas? Brodiaea? Erythronium (fawn lilies)? I like to grow west coast natives, as they relate to my environment, but others like to grow plants from the Alps or the Mediterranean or from South Africa or the Himalayas. Whatever is used, plant in groups or use mat-forming plants so that there are blocks of color and texture. Well, you may already know lots about growing alpine and rock garden plants, or you may want to do something quite different from what I'm describing. Here is a link that might be useful: This OR nursery has links to their How-To Pages on rock gardening This post was edited by IshCountryGal on Wed, Jul 24, 13 at 3:56

I'd center a sofa table under the window, with either some plants or lamps on it, and then push the sofa up against it. With all of those built-ins, you've got ideal toy storage, game storage, blanket storage, more than enough storage, and even better, it is behind doors. Once the couch is pushed back, you can experiment with the chairs, either flanking the fireplace, or flanking the couch. It's hard to tell what exactly will work best from the photos. Are those vertical blinds on the large window? We have a window very similar to that. Our home came with vertical blinds on the picture window that drove me bananas! We replaced the blinds with a single solar shade that rolls up and down with a chain; so much better! Our couch sits up against the window and we can now close the shades without climbing on the couch. (Pictures here.) You could do stationary curtain panels on each side of the windows. I like your paint and trim colors. It looks like you might be gravitating more toward lighter, brighter colors, so you could paint the built-ins white and lighten the space (the wood will be more forgiving of little ones, though...)

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions, the person that sold us the house left this tv stand. I have someone picking it up on Monday. I think it’s too huge for the space. My sectional is from Macy’s and it’s a 6 piece set, so I’m able to remove sections if needed. The fireplace has black granite and I think it looks horrible. The house also has very little light coming in. I will definitely be getting the LEDS that we’re suggested. The floors will also be getting removed. I’m going to put in some new ones. They are lighter and warm light brown color.

To help you, we need more information. People who post photos of the space (from all angles) and a drawing of the room with measurements of each wall and location of closets, doors, and windows get the best response. Are you planning to keep all the furniture you have?