As chookchook said in her recommendation about painting, put a drop cloth on the floor. Get a very safe ladder. remove the lightbulbs, and cover the outlets. Turn off the electricity to the chandelier. Then spray it with a mild cleaner (I use one I found at Target that's basically water with vinegar, until it's dripping wet. Start at the bottom and work your way up, so you don't have dirty spray dripping on the bottom of the chandelier.Work your way up and down until the dripping spray is clean. The chandelier may be gorgeous and expensive, but it seems totally out of place in the architecture of the room--more at home in a chalet than a sunny room with a window wall. I would probably try to find a way to get it removed, and sell it to someone who appreciated it better than I.

We got the IKEA shelves that are pictured in the butlers pantry photo I posted when we were on holiday in Melbourne, Australia. We don't have IKEA here in New Zealand! Hubby is going back over in May/June so will get him to get more of that sort of thing when there. We would pay about 4x the price for that sort of thing here in NZ. I need to work out what I will do now where the fridge was and there is the angle change (does that make sense?).

There is nothing worse than ceiling-mounted lights--harsh shadows, flat lighting. They are strictly for utility. I would put a large-ish, shallow cylindrical shade on them and put nothing more than a 15-watt bulb in them. Use them strictly for lighting your way as you walk through the room. I agree with Vincent; the chair in the corner doesn't fit at all, nor does the one under the A/C unit (put that one with its mate behind the love seat). And the curtains look smooshed. I think the problem with the bookcases is that they are uninteresting. Did you buy books-by-the-yard? What are all those identical books? They are visually uninteresting. I'd get rid of some of them and get some colorful ceramics/glass/photos. The room is absolutely overwhelmed with furniture. It needs one less love seat. Do you really need all of them? Pushing them against the walls/curtains so tightly just visually emphasizes the fact that there is too much furniture. I don't think a mirror above the fireplace will work. When people are sitting down (which is most of the time), all they will see is a reflection of the ceiling--the plain, white ceiling. Get some real art in there with some color.

I agree that you should take down the trellis but be aware that you'll probably need to extend your decking rail along that side in order to enclose the deck for building code purposes. If that's more of an expense than you're willing to incur right now, consider at least taking it down to the same height as the rest of your deck and putting a top railing across it. You could then put in some foundation plantings that would climb up and cover the fact that it runs in a different direction than the front of your deck. If I'm looking at it correctly, your gate gives you access to your front door from your drive way. Am I right? In that case, I think your gate should stay where it is. I agree with flair lighting that a new light is in order over your entry. If you like the idea of a motion light, they make decorative outdoor fixtures with motion lights built in. Your fence would definitely look nice painted a lighter color. Right now, as flair said, it's a bit unwelcoming. If you're painting your metal roof, take your house and trim colors from there to coordinate. You could definitely paint your scalloped trim a different color than the house. Matching it to whatever trim color you choose would look great. Do you use the steps from your deck to access your yard? If not, I would consider removing them and closing in that portion of the deck as well. If you do use them, I would add a hand rail for safety purposes. Congratulations on your new house and good luck with your project!