Also, the dining room fixture should hang much lower (33” -36” above the table) and would ideally be much larger

The sofa table could use a nice lamp. A coffee table or ottoman would be nice.

For the entry, get two comfy accent chairs facing each other next to the fish tank. Place a game table in between them and get a small area rug for them, 4x6 looks like it would fit.

The dining room could use a statement chandelier if you want to buy something or try taking the shades off and use bare decorative light bulbs.

Move the one lone painting to the gallery wall. The column does not need art.

Drapery hardware needs to be secured into a wall stud. If a stud is not available (this happens often), use a wall anchor.

You painted the walls gray, you have no color anywhere in the room, your floor is gray and you wonder why it looks sterile. You need COLOR, and warm color at that, especially since you think you can't have the accessories that warm up a room. And I agree with those who advise to teach your children to respect their home. Unless they are under the age of 3, they shouldn't be ruining your house.

If you still don’t want draperies Roman shades with color / pattern will add dimension to the space. Agree with a new chandelier over table, go bigger, with some fabric or bling to draw the eye. I would look for sturdy pillows or poufs in bright colors that are meant to be played on. Make sure they do not have the styrofoam bead stuffing that breaks down when jumped on etc., and make it clear these items are ok to play with not anything else. Inexpensive throws that can be tossed when looking shabby will work until everyone learns not to act like a wrecking ball. As far as wall decor, consider large wreaths that bring texture and dimension as well as color to a space.

The house looks very dark. Do you normally keep all the blinds closed? If privacy is a big issue, maybe look into “top-down” blinds so at least the top half can be open to let the light in.

Well, grey wasn't the best choice of paint colour but what's done is done...

Here are a few ideas how you can make you can give warmth to your rooms with additional accessories, yes a washable area rug, new lighting fixtures (you can spray paint the white arch lamp in black for contrast), black curtain rods, brighter colours for the curtains with cordless natural fibre roman shades, etc. You can paint the front door a dark charcoal/black and perhaps a new console table with art. You have a nice alcove in the living room where you can display a collection of baskets, or pottery, etc. Not so many small decorative items, choose less but larger pieces.

You could mount a 1X6 piece of wood at the ceiling all the way across that dining wall, secured into the studs, paint same color as wall and use wood screws for curtain brackets

About those curtains.....were you trying to put up one big curtain to cover both windows? I see what looks like bracketts in each upper corner of the room. Did you also use a center support for it?

Try treating them both as individual windows and the curtain would not be as heavy .

Also, were you using a curtain that threads onto a rod or were you using a drape with a traverse rod that would allow it to open? Generally, a curtain threaded onto a curtain rod does not open and is just held pulled at the sides with a tie back. If you try to pull it on the rod it puts a lot of pull on the rod holding it and it can be yanked out of the wall and it will still not be opened.

That is a huge curtain that would need to be drawn open and closed, with a cord and the proper hardware, for something that big.

Maybe that is what happened? The green curtains in the rest of the house, do you open those? I dont see any traverse rods there, but it is hard to see. They dont look as if they will slide to open

That is a big expanse of wall to cover and it would need drapery with hooks and a traverse rod as a way to open and close.

Hope you find a better place with yourself . My DIL suffers from depression and I often worry about her and the kids, and also my son.

I agree that your house looks lifeless. and just a bit depressing and dark, even for the fish in the tank. I dont even see kids toys all around for a house with two small children. It looks like a narrow townhouse, without side windows maybe? And, nothing nice greets you as you enter the house.

Those wall anchors may be able to hold a lot of weight, as per the labeling on the package. But that does not mean that the drywall can also hold that much weight. You cannot hang something that heavy with just drywall anchors on drywall. And, if you have to yank it opened it is going to come down.

Tall thin lamps on a console table are “disgusting”? Lisedv and others put time and thought into their responses. If you’re not open to ideas, don’t post here.

So sorry for all your troubles, Kara, bless your heart.

I cannot find who suggested tall thin lamps but that doesn't matter, several good suggestions were given by different people.. I'm sorry you don't like any of them. We give suggestions but in the end it's your house and you do what you feel comfortable with.

Hi Kara, I think your home has a lot of potential, grey walls with white trims are actually my go-to for the perfect backdrop to display an artwork. As a hobby artist, I love colour yet have gray walls with white trims in my own home, and the several properties I've been involved with in staging them for sale also had grey walls/white trim. To answer your original question about artworks/wall art bringing life to a space, making it less sterile, that is totally achievable and more specifically your interest in cows and coastal themes could work. World renowned Australian artist Elioth Gruner's 'Emu Plains series' of paintings had several stunning paintings featuring cows in morning light with a halo effect of the sunlight on the cows. The colour of the cows in the paintings would coordinate with your dark wood furniture, whilst at the same time introduce pops of colour that you could coordinate with in harder to reach spots (for kids/dogs) such as a blue vase on the table, items on the alcove. To introduce a coastal element, use blonde wood touches throughout your space. Examples I've used to counter my dark wooden dining table and dark wood french doors, were a blonde wood picture frame around a painting, a rattan pendant light, a rattan plant basket , a bamboo tray and bamboo blanket ladder, tan/white stripe tablecloth on dining table (see pics below) to lighten it all up a bit. If you have different items in similar material/tone around the room it will be more cohesive, similarly doing accents of the same colour in several areas in the space, coordinating with colours from the artwork will tie it all together. You have a leather couch, presumably because it's easy to clean, so could you get a few leather cushions and an ottoman/pouf in a colour, that would also be easy to clean. Elioth Gruner combined impressionism with realism into striking art which looks good from a distance and close up. 3 of my favourites of his are 'The Wattles', 'Spring Frost', and 'Milking Time' which all feature cows (see pics attached at end) but he has many others in the era where he was studying light just like Monet was. You need to get large artworks for them to have impact, at least 80cm x 80cm, OR 70cm x 90cm. People are selling reproductions of these artworks which give it that genuine art feel rather than the mass produced look. It's great that you are even considering design at a hectic survival-mode-time when your kids are so young and have a dog too - go you. My kids are a couple of years older than yours are, and it gets easier, they are starting to respect things a bit more now. Be encouraged - everyone has different tastes and preferences so go for what you love, and turn what you imagine into a reality. Here are of some

Elioth Gruner's paintings.

It sounds like you have a lot on your plate with chronic migraines, a two-year-old, a four-year-old, and an elderly dog. Time for less about decorating and more about taking care of yourself? There is a stage where interior decor takes last place on the priority list. That’s often when we have toddlers!. Maybe have one space in the house that can be yours? No dog, minimal children. For the rest of it, be patient. This, too shall pass.