Formal living rooms are rarely used from my experience. I can't tell you how many times I have "re-done" them for clients because after living in a home for a while the home owner realizes that they are wasted space. My advice to you about a formal living area is to leave it undone for 3-4 months and utilize the rest of your new home. See what is missing. Do you need an office, a den? A library? Quiet reading area? An exercise room? A craft room? Or maybe you really do need a formal entertaining area for your multitude of guests that come around every weekend where you entertain very high-brow style. But figure that out first otherwise your investment will be wasted. Part of why you and your husband are drawn to different furnishings is for these reasons: 1) The function of the room is not well established. So he envisions sitting on a big bulky comfy couch watching TV, and you envision sipping tea on a gorgeous ethnically inspired piece of furniture and chatting with your friends. This can only be vetted out with time and understanding how you as a couple will use all of your house. 2) You have different ideas about home design. Your husband is interested in comfort and you are interested in style. You will need to find a happy medium. Instead of saying well his style isn't going to fit with my style, think about how he can have a comfortable piece of furniture in the room that is perhaps tailored enough to go along with some beautifully wood carved, ethnic pieces. And this may actually enhance the look and make it look less "themed". And at the end of the day you may want to consider hiring a designer to help you through the process - often times that can help you weed through the process of balancing out form and function and his wants and your wants in the space. Best of luck!

You may also want to consider a screen or pass-through bookcase to visually divide the "bedroom" area from the living area. I like your table and platform bed ideas. Consider whether the radiator will have enough room to "radiate" with a bed against it though. www.twitter.com/216Sharon

Yes, JudyG that's exactly the way people were using the taller table. Sort of a café look, or casual bar setting. One home had a beautiful huge kitchen all done in white with dark wood floors and RH style fixtures and hardware. Where you would normally think would be a traditional dining room, they had made it up with a large high table and 6 barstools. It almost looked like an extension of the island. Another one was in a very open and light kitchen. It was smaller and where you might think of putting a breakfast nook they had a round café-style table with four barstools. I liked it because it gave a more casual appearance. If people were sitting at them, they were on the same level as those working in the kitchen. Almost like a bar at the island for that effect, but with some separation.

Hey!! You could go about this two ways, First, is to upholster the bench itself (making the change semi-permanent), or the second would be to place cushions, or a think upholstered piece of ply atop the bench and secure it with fabric straps across the four legs. If you want to upholster the back as well, you'll have to glue the foam and fabric onto a plyboard and attach it (in both cases). Read on for instructions. For the first option, you have to follow the same steps with the exception of 12, and do it all directly on the bench and not on a plyboard. Procure a 6mm thick plyboard and cut it to the dimensions of the seat. make it a 1 or 2 mm smaller than the seat so that you can slide/drop it in when done. sand one surface down to make it smooth. Get 3" foam, again cut to the size of the plyboard. get foam batting =, and fabric if your choice, 6" larger on all sides. Spray adhesive on the ply and foam (check manufacturers instructions to see whether you need it on both surfaces or just one.) Glue the foam to the board, place weights on top, and leave it to dry. Lay down the fabric, face down on a clean workstation, play the foam batting on top. Place the now glued seat upside down on the batting and start pulling the batting upward and staple it in place. Do one side at a time (opposites first, not adjacent) Repeat the 8 and 9 with Fabric Cut off any excess. Tailor longish strips of the fabric and staple them to the four corners of the ply and use it to tie and secure the board on the bench. Hope this helps!!