Thank you, all. I'm finally feeling more rested when I wake up in the morning. ☺️

I need to get on the ball for Halloween. I'm quite certain my porch decor need s to be minimal (not much work) yet fun for Baby Girl. She probably has 20 Halloween books, so she knows all the "characters." She knows bats, owls, scarecrows, spiders, ghosts, monsters, pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns...most of those are on one of her crib sheets!!! She and her mama have a countdown [advent-like] calendar to match the sheet!!! Mama's favorite holiday! Witches, cats, skeletons, and especially mummies, thanks to one of her books, are among her favorites!!! [I must not have been exposed to creepy things at an early age; they still kinda creepy me out! But in her picture books, they're all cute, of course.]

I have a 3'-4' witch made of fabric and wire for posing, and she will sit in a porch chair. I want to pick up some ornamental kale for a few pots as well as a few pumpkins. That may be it.

AI did this for minimal Halloween/fall decor:

Goofy details...pumpkins in front of the door, who knows what in the windows, changed sidewalk. And I used a photo from years ago, so ignore the landscape plants (or lack of!)

I'll try again tomorrow, and I'll remove "fall" so it looks a little more Halloween.

Now that you know I'm not doing much, feel free to suggest something fun that doesn't go "tacky."

Alice...don't worry about my mention of having to wait in order to try more for your porch. I cancelled my paid subscription once I'd played with it for my main living area. Now I only have three attempts a day, but that's fine. I rarely use it.

Do a candyland porch.

You need to base the light size off you widest portion of the island not the semi circle portion. So you have a 99" island. A light should be 12" in from the edges of island. So 99 - 24 =75 for a single fixture. If you were doing two lights you would want 30" between them. So 99-24 = 75 -30 =45 / 2 = 22.5 as a maximum width for two lights. In short a 36" light is not too large. That said neither of the two lights you have shared are great choices for your island. They belong over dining room tables. Honestly I think you should consider doing the lights you chose for the dining area over your island. At 20" they are the correct size.

Then get a single larger one for over the dining table. If you are doing two 20" lights you can go larger and do a single light in the dining room with shades. It would be a much cleaner look.

imagine this perspective

IMO it would be worth redoing your electrical for. Or they also sell multi point canopies.

All the lights were turned out and my door was shot with a fuzzy pillow in front of it. I heard nothing while I got ready to go to bed turned on a fan for white noise put in ear plugs and went to sleep. I woke up very briefly at 2:30 and went right back to sleep. Likely until around 6:30 I went and opened the door and she was outside and then came in and we had cat cuddles in my bedroom. So that’s going to be the routine. I really hope that she is not too lonely at night but the bottom line is I can’t function without sleep.

Sam that’s a good reminder. This is very similar to exactly the kind of thing you do when you’re trying to get a child adjusted to sleeping in its own bed which I went through of course at least twice. Multiple times it feels like because it seems to me it didn’t take the first time. I was Grateful for the AI intelligence to not put her out of my bedroom but to cuddle with her in her own space

Great job, Lia. I think you will end up with a very happy well-adjusted cat.

On the cataract surgery front, one week out OH was tested this morning. His vision is now 20/20 with glasses. The opthalmologist said the surgery on the other eye is totally optional at this point. So OH has opted out of the second surgery. The cataract is still minor at this point in the other eye.

I would "help" balance the arts height by moving the sofa off the wall and placing a table behind it with some lighting. Hanging drapery panels at the same height as the top of the highest ppiece of art.

We had our LR setup similar as the OPs photos for many years. We watched tv by lying down, it was nice. Now the sofas are in an L-shape and I still lie down to watch tv but DH sits and stares at it.

Molly, that looks really good and actually that makes me feel better about changing all my red trim to the off-white cream color. It’s like a vanilla. Yeah I wasn’t really a fan of the cable but I see it’s positive enhancements. Flo had a couple cable or wire type images she shared with me earlier. I guess the cable across is probably my least favorite but I could also go with the large hole wire panel? The cats could still get underneath. That really looks good thank you. Your image also shows me that my railing and 4 x 4 post could look nice in the cream or the lighter color versus the dark brown! I could still do the floor of the porch in the dark brown, which would probably be more practical.

I got Fiona in this morning 💗 I don’t know why I get so nervous, it’s like a family member going into the hospital! She was such a good girl, and my plan worked almost flawless, but I will not say more because I don’t wanna jinx things.

Good news here! Fiona made it through her surgery just fine and I’ll pick her up at 3:30, prompt lol. I know she’ll be glad to see me :) and miracles do happen, she was not pregnant. That is very surprising and Missy was not pregnant either! So that is a good thing.

I think the biggest issue you'll run into with a larger rug is the angled fireplace. Anything large enough to reach from the sofa to the chairs will be too wide and will run into the fireplace. Instead of a rug, I'd add more color and texture with pillows and artwork. Perhaps a warm wood coffee table with texture would break up the expanse of carpeting. This has texture and storage for blankets for movie night, etc. It's very reasonably priced.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F64KYP45?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback&th=1

I think you'll get more continuity in ideas moving along if you keep each step of the process in one thread. That keeps everything working as one cohesive idea rather than answering each new question in a bubble.

Your instinct about the hotel-lobby, California feel is right, and the room is closer than you think. The missing piece is scale: two 99-inch sofas facing each other want a long, low table between them, and the sofas pulled in so there's about 16 to 18 inches between the seat edge and the table.

I'd look for a table around 60 to 66 inches long and 15 to 17 inches high (your seat height is low, so a 19-inch table will feel tall), either a travertine or honed limestone slab on a plinth base to echo the fireplace, or a long light-oak or white-oak piece. If you can't find one long enough, two matching 30 to 32 inch square or round tables side by side look very "lobby" and are easier to move for the kids. A big upholstered ottoman in an oatmeal boucle with a tray is the softest option and sits beautifully on that rug.

Keep the blue rug; it's doing exactly what a hotel designer would do, giving the beige room one calm color. Just echo it once more, a couple of pillows or a piece of art with that same dusty blue, so it reads as intentional. Then edit the shelves down to fewer, larger pieces and the whole room will click.

Here we are with cozy and functional room.

Keep the rug, but be sure all furniture legs are on rug for more cohesieve and expensive look.

Add picture lights for warmth and designers look. Keep art you love.

Add texured, muted pillows and throws in green, taupe and cream to bring in warmth, comfort and color.

As for dining area, I would go with drapes and bamboo shades for coziness. I love existing pendants! Keep them high and wide.

Not a pro here. Just want to sat that Emily's suggestion looks most appropriate to me. FWIW. I think it seems to fit the recommendation from Prime Estate Studio:

"I would choose a cleaner, more sculptural pendant rather than another traditional chandelier. A wider fixture in warm brass or matte black would give the dining area a stronger focal point and connect the two styles."

I certainly wouldn't add a third style such as modern or Contemporary. Maybe Prime Estate Studio wouldn't agree, in which case, they may provide one or more examples of light fixtures..

Agree with dsimber. However, if you play games or cards at this table a fixture that spreads light toward at least somewhat will add light where you might need it. It would help if you could post some photos with table top clean and chairs are spread about more. Possibly a chair on each side of the console/buffet.

“Downward” not toward. Sorry. Missed that.