Here is my 2cent that won't much and be easily done. In my mind it is gorgeous Since you don't need the storage space would remove the cabinet that is hanging out there by itself. If you want a display space would remove door or add glass to the front of door on the corner cabinet instead and display your pretty white dishes there. I like the idea of the lanterns but not where you have them. Would not use them on the island, consider trading them with the black ones on the table behind the sofa. Consider painting the island base black (second choice - creamy white) to add some interest to the space. Regardless of whether or not paint island you could add new island stools/chairs in a cream color (or even better with color) with backs on them to really get a color break at the island. The brown cabinets and brown floor and grayish- beige walls and beige tiles are clean and nice looking, not a mistake at all, but in my opinion you need something to break up that scheme to flow with your house since it appears you do like color. With the pretty green walls in dining room you could do something to add those colors in with a pattern of green on a white/cream background on the seating and a vignette with that color scheme (white, black and apple green) in one place on the island. A pretty vignette would be a large black lattice type urn filled with green apples or limes or moss, one of your white dishes from the current display and one of your black lanterns from the other table. With the corner cabinet filled with white dishes I just think this would be so pretty and would bring the green your eye catches just beyond into the space. Also consider adding glass shelves to corner cabinet and lighting.As others have said, pendant lights over island would really be pretty too.

Um, never? We usually buy antiques and wait until we find just the right pieces. Then we hold onto them for the rest of our lives. We bought a few thrift store pieces while we were in graduate school and replaced them once we got jobs and moved, but otherwise we've had our (early 19-century) dining table and chairs for almost 30 years, and our living room Arts and Crafts era chairs for 25. Upholstered chairs get recovered if and when the fabric wears out. The only piece we've actually bought and replaced was a (more modern) living room sofa, and we had it for 20 years before recovering it, and then 10 more years before replacing it. If you buy classic streamlined designs and use neutral fabrics there is really no reason why furniture needs to be replaced unless your taste changes drastically.

You've received lots of good advice about decluttering so I won't repeat it. Think about whether you need the wall shelves and the bookcase. The shelves seem to have only small decorative items and don't serve a functional purpose. I wonder whether the books in the bookshelf are actively read, because there are decorative items in front of them. Consider whether some or all of these things can be stored outside of your room. If you remove the wall shelves and bookcase you have lots more space to work with, maybe enough for a comfortable chair in front of the window for reading. Your room is small so you can't have it all. If you can't remove the bookcase from your room, can it be stood upright? It looks like that may be possible. That would give you more floor space too. You can double shelve the books (one layer in front of the other) to make more space on the shelves. If the removal of the wall shelf leaves holes, cover them with a poster. Or if the holes are small, toothpaste makes a great filler! Or if you want to keep them both, can you stand the bookshelf under the wall shelf to make one cohesive unit? Then your reading chair could go where the bookshelf is now, with a small table between the chair and your bed, with a lamp on it. I love the idea of making your bed by tucking the bedspread in tightly, without your sleeping pillows. Put your sleeping pillows in a decorative cover for the day, and add some other big pillows for comfort. That may be all you need for a day-bed look and a comfortable place to read. On a budget, thrift stores are great places to find comforters that can be rolled or folded to make the stuffing for really big pillows. Google "no-sew pillows" for ideas for pillow covers. Again, thrift store sheets can be a great source for inexpensive fabric. Have fun with your room!

Our lakeshore house is treated professionally a couple times a year for spiders (permethrin, I think?). The co. recommends three times a year. I held out for years but once they spiders began colonizing indoors as well as outdoor surfaces, I caved! Otherwise, we do it ourselves... Dog is treated with topical Frontline to keep ticks and fleas under control. Spring invasions of ants mean placing bottle caps of borax mixed with jelly under stove (where dog can't get to it). Dog DID get into some mouse poison inexplicably in a snowbank last season, so we are looking to end use of THAT. She was very lucky in that we got most away from her and got her to vet quickly--we discovered that new formulations (Tomcat's at least) are nerve poisons, not blood thinners, so all vet could do was force vomiting, give her activated charcoal, etc. So-o, for mice we are headed back to traps. Sorry to say that we have also had to control a huge population of chipmunks, which were beginning to get into walls. A bucket half-filled with water, the surface covered with styrofoam peanuts and a floating dish of sunflower seeds, plus a plank from step to lip of bucket. Chipmunks can't resist. I don't like to think about it... Husband live traps skunks, woodchucks, etc. that burrow under garden shed, releasing or disposing of them depending on species. Downy Woodpeckers... I enjoyed watching them on suet on deck in winter, but inadvertently led them to consider our redwood siding as good nesting/shelter, actually getting into a small attic! We thought for a while there that we would have to replace the siding. I stopped feeding near the house, which we festooned with shiny disks and streamers. (I think woodpeckers are spooked by fast-moving light reflections--like shadow of a hawk?) The onslaught slowed, then stopped. Husband patched the siding with hope it will not be necessary to replace boards and sections. In late summer, we trap yellow jacket wasps with apple juice baited traps we fashion from plastic water and pop bottles. (Google for instructions.) Our efforts seem to reduce the numbers after our food and drinks on the deck.