Thanks for posting new views of your room. You are right, nothing can go in front of the paneling, and we won't block the built-in cubby. In that case let's work with the rest of the space. I found a picture on Houzz for your gallery wall. I think this will allow you to bring in color and texture and interest to your wall without taking up space like furniture would. Try to play with portraits and a couple of paintings in there too - mix it up. Otherwise I would not put anything at the top of that landing (I'd remove that console table). That picture wall should be enough visual interest to your space and it'll draw the eye to the furthest wall as you walk in your house. I would try a small piece with closed storage between the bottom steps and that door by the entry. It looks like the space is no wider than 26", so it'll be a challenge to find something that fits and is tall enough. I would not use the wooden piece you showed above because you want wider proportions and fairly narrow depth so you don't bump into it as you walk by. (something like this ) I would hang a mirror on top of primping. By the cubby you could add a single seat stool. I'm not particularly suggesting these colors for the stool and bombe chest but something along these shapes. At this point if you do that big picture wall and add these two pieces of furniture and a mirror, you might not need to hang anything on the wall above the cubby. Also, I noticed your chandelier is quite substantial for the space and hanging pretty low. Would raising it a little or replacing it by something a little smaller be an option?

Yes it is a bit further where we have the kitchen now from the garage - its hard to tell from these images of course(!) but we are on a hill site that has all front yard for entertaining and amazing view, so we wanted all of the areas possible to face out/open onto this. The back side is looking mostly at retaining wall so it would be quite dark if we put the kitchen on that end. The bedroom is the 4th one and as it is only my husband and I, it won't be used that often so we prioritized having the living areas bright and in the best spots over the guest bedroom.

And I would be planting trees – real trees not dwarf versions of trees and no more palms (unless you want to have palm tree themed garden – in which case a lot more palms are needed). I am not advocating planting forest giants but there are trees that will provide shade, shelter and a sense of scale that you won't get from yuccas and buxus and mondo grass and succulents alone. But before you start buying those trees you have a few decisions to make and a bit of analysis to do. 1. Orientation – you need to understand the basics of winter sun and summer sun, how much westerly sun you welcome and how much you need to shelter from it; where your prevailing winds blow from and whether this changes with the season also. So, once you've worked out where you want the sun to penetrate and at what time of the year, how to allow for wind, frost, whatever... you need to 2. Decide if you want a predominantly native garden, a range of deciduous trees or a completely eclectic selection (like the best 'English' gardens – which are planted out with plants from all over the world – Indian subcontinent, Asia, Africa, The Americas etc. Even some from Australia!). 3. Now the tricky bit – what do you love, i.e. which trees and plants make your heart really sing – and hopefully for more than two or three weeks of the year? Once you have that list which of those are likely to be happy in your climate, in your soil and with the amount of gardening attention (watering, feeding, pruning etc) that you're likely to enjoy lavishing on them. Your long list will by now be a much shorter (and more manageable list) but trees are what make a house look bedded in and part of a landscape rather than just sitting out in the open in a way that is both self-conscious and a bit awkward. Although, again I guess you could embrace the suburban awkwardness and go all Howard Arkley in which case keep it all small and suburban... But it is your garden and your house – make it look like what you want your house and garden to look and feel like! Good luck!

Vinyl is vinyl, and it is never going to look right placed up against real wood floors. Get an inexpensive rug (a flat weave for preference) with some underlay, and throw it down on the floor. Washable would be best, so forget the nice glam photos of oriental rugs in kitchens.