llkrdh - I KNOW!! I'm super excited about the options. There's a Floor and Decor about 20 minutes from my house! In Indiana I had to drive nearly 2 hours to the neighboring state to get to Floor and Decor.

If you find a piece of furniture you love, get the measurements and tape out the silhouette on the floor with painter's tape to be sure. Cort Furniture Rental is a "step above" if you have one near to where you're moving.

https://www.cort.com/?gclid=CM2OxsbDxs0CFQKTaQodKFIKdA&sc_cid=ps_gg_xx_res_BrandKeywords&s_kwcid=AL!4542!3!85394186725!e!!s!!cort%20furniture%20rental&ef_id=Vxfe1gAAARaJSzjZ:20160626202643:s

As bad as overstuffed: the papason!? I loved mine cause so comfy. Good for the rounded shape and emergency tuck-under.... :)

everdebz you're killing me! LOL

Gee glad to be of service. What material is the spiral? metal in a grey - nice and contemporary... ? I'd consider a bit of that color and style in the room then...

I know, I gotta stop but I wanted to see if a silvery sage [not yellow-green] could look nice. I like this:

one more - have you ever seen this in a grouping, nice.

everdebz - I love the first rug! There are very few colors that I don't like, mostly in the neon family, but I've never really lived with blue. This shade is so comforting. I'm drawn to earth/jewel tones (I'm a true Pisces) so this plate is someplace waiting for me to bring it home!

WHOA!! On second thought, there's a plate just like this one, only it's a little rough around the edges, waiting on me to look past this $300 treasure and see that, with a little polishing, it too can be a jewel. ;)

Start with adding capentry, such as 7 1/4 baseboards and backband to your casing .

I usually start with art, although a rug also works. I find my focal point in the room and decide on that first. I hang the art, and then I begin filling in the room around it. It directs my color choices and keeps me on track. You can look for original art here. http://www.houzz.com/projects/1295077/art-original-abstract-paintings After the main piece of art, I usually choose the rug as the next piece, deciding the boundaries of the area. That informs the furniture selections and scale of everything. Good luck!

sapphire is one of my favorite jeweltones.

Not cheap / flickering abstract shapes -

everz, can we share your pocket book?

We needed comfortable seating in our den, but due to the space restrictions, I decided to find two lighter silhouette recliners...the wife should rate a recliner, too. I found exactly what I needed at LazyBoy. Two comfortable recliners with narrow arms in a camel color fit the space. Most recliners have that overstuffed roll arm which takes up so much extra space. If you are thinking of a home theater in the future, why not get a recliner for everyone? Your room is large, so a large interesting rug might help with sound quality and would give the space definition.

Everdebz, of course I darted right past you note "not cheap" and clicked to see the details on that beautiful peacock rug. We can all dream right? Actually I love using high end pieces as inspiration for my selections.

felizlady it sounds like I need to make a trip to LazyBoy. You're the second person to suggest them.

PQ I went to FurnitureLand and got lost in the art section with the same thinking, that if I fall in love with a piece of art I could build from there. Of course I fell in love with a piece that blew the whole budget and retreated to Starbucks for a timeout as punishment for getting beside myself.

Year ago there was a decorator who had a tv show. Chris something, he said if you don't know your style start a scrapbook of any magazine clippings you like of furniture or wall colors or rugs, lamps etc. you and your husband could do that and eventually, looking at the pics you'll see your style. I did that and it really worked. I had been living with hand me downs and mismatched furniture while my kids were little and it was time for the good stuff. I took the scrap book with me when I bought, paint, carpeting, curtains etc. As I added pieces I took a picture and added it to the book. Have fun it's exciting.

lazy boy is not quality; however, they have nice slim recliners

The modern scrapbook is the Houzz ideabook, you can take it to stores on your phone. You can collaborate using it with your contractors too.

I have these in pale yellow

move slowly

if you must have chairs, go neutral

I presume this is the family room rather than the living room (the clues are "recliner" and "movie night".

Hey, we didn't have computer in the 80's

Michele, once you explore collaborating with pros on ideabooks, you won't go back. I still believe in manufacturers samples, take those with you too.

If you liked FurnitureLand South, they have a Clearance Center in High Point. It's on Main Street. Everything there is marked down and then has a colored sticker on it that corresponds to another 10-30% off. They also have a last chance building behind the clearance center, it has rugs and accessories too. Keep an eye out for Furniture Market sample sales (Market is in April & October, sales will be right before and right after).

Were your home mine, the very first thing I would do is paint the spiral staircase black. It will make it more interesting and connect with the color of the fireplace.

Choose one color for your walls...maybe light gray...this is BM gray tint.

Hang a huge canvas over the fireplace. You need more height on that wall, and this will do it.Not a huge investment. Now you can work with grays and whites and blacks and taupes and creams and silver to make the room complete.

Looks as if your room could accommodate something like this: and hubby gets his comfy spot.

michele, i did my style the same way. i love houzz, but something about gluing those pics in everyweek then writing next to them what drew me, it really helped.

Like the idea of painting the spindles black

Please don't paint another set of walls gray

This trend is already a decade old

Yes, black stairs for sure! Would you consider removing the chair rail? Looks a bit stodgy with the contemporary stairs. You could take a fireplace treatment all the way up for balance with the stairs. Have you decided to replace the spiral with a more traditional stair?

most people want to remove chair rails. boo on that

make stairway more traditional instead

gather inspiration photos before you make any big decisions

plan and check and recheck

it is worth it

Get a Zero Gravity chair for now. Later it can be moved to a deck or patio.

The chair rail is too high to even be called a chair rail. It will interfere with hanging art. It really needs to go.

I love the black painted stair idea as well as deco's suggestion to take the fireplace treatment up to the ceiling. I think your current fireplace looks a little lonely hanging there in the middle of the wall. Not sure of your budget, but a wall of built-ins (with room for a large TV to to left of the fireplace) would bring visual balance and function to the space. The spiral staircase says "rustic", "modern" or "transitional" to me, so I'd remove the chair railing and embrace one of those styles. Also, the ceiling fan ought to go so you can hang a fabulous light there - a large pendant or chandelier that brings personality to the space and brings the ceiling down into the room. I vote for a sectional couch - they're great for family lounging and space conservation, and you can absolutely be comfortable in them.

You definitely need something that's cleanable like leather couch/chairs. Having dogs is a messy proposition as I'm sure you're aware.

Also I wanted to say, a 9x12 or 8x10 rug so the dogs aren't sliding all over the place

back to the sage wall - you sure you can't like one or the other paint? My kitchen and open area was a latte color and nicely neutral.

How about a lower level 3-D wall ?

What if you were to keep your palette down to blues and copper/wood/natural tones? Texture.

Silver 'ball' would help highlight nearby blue -

8 x 10 [right size?] for $600.

Michele - I think you're referring to Christopher Lowell. I LOVED watching his show! I still live by his, "no white walls" mantra.

I wish I could reply directly to each post but, since I can't, here goes. I hate the stairs (I think they're interesting but dangerous) but I like what they do for the space. A more traditional stair would cut the room by 1/3. I also am not too fond of the color and have no reservations about making them black. Should everything but the wood be painted?

Ok, we've spent the last hour using our dining chairs as makeshift furniture. As I sit here giving consideration to your suggestions, the "chair rail" is no doubt too high. I hadn't considered my dislike for the trim pieces/chair rail & stairs could have developed from this mismatched styles fighting to exist together in the same space. So, the stairs have to stay which means the rail is out. We'd already discussed stone up the wall behind the fireplace and at our front door (which also has 20' of height.) Hubby loves the idea of painting the stairs black.

About the paint, the wall of the fireplace is the only wall solely designated to the space. The other two walls are shared (to the right is shared with the kitchen, to the left is shared with the second floor) with no demarcation for transitioning colors. So the question is, am I ok with painting my whole house the same color.

I'll need to sleep on that.

you know, i am watching and i really would love to help, i love chris lowell, but i am thoroughly lost?! can some one just let me know when we get to things like windows rugs and pillows, i think i can be less confused there?

though i do really like the thought of copper with a good strong blue.

You may hate the spiral staircase, but to replace it with a conventional up to code one would take up most of your room. Call in a builder. You may be disappointed in your options.

Obvious with blue-ish would be a beachy look - not in your plan?

Instead of stark black could be darkest pewter or darkest bronze-brown.