We have incredibly hard water, no softener and lots of mineral deposits on everything that touches water for any length of time. The solution is incredibly simple: white vinegar. It very simply and easily and gently dissolves the minerals. We had a shower head that my husband was ready to replace because the mineral deposits had clogged it. I unscrewed the head, submerged it in a cup of vinegar for 24 hours, rinsed it off and screwed it back on. Voila! Like new! I have tried CLR: worthless. I have tried abrasives: all they do is scratch and don't get rid of the deposits. Another spot where minerals accumulate is around the kitchen faucet. I take a bunch of paper towels, soak them in vinegar, then pack them around the faucet over the mineral deposits, keeping them good and wet with vinegar and let them sit for about a day, more or less. Rinse and wipe clean, will look like new! Our cat loves water. His favorite thing in the world is if I fill the bathroom sink with water and let him play in it. What happens? Water spots all over the mirror. Wet a cloth, add a dash of vinegar to the cloth, wipe the mirror... clean and shiny!

Thank you roj leather and Simon for your recommendations. I like the hanging chair and the almanda creeper on the wall. This will certainly liven up the patio.

In my opinion, a cuckoo clock is a very detailed design, but you say you want a simple design for the room. When you say simple, are you thinking of no wallpaper, no wainscoting, and no accent color on the walls? It seems as if dark orange is a color you favor. I see it in art images and in your curtain color. If this was my space, I would paint all the walls one or two shades lighter than the beige of the sofa to keep the room as bright as possible because the room has no direct sunlight. I would paint the ceiling 1/4 (one part wall color to three parts white). I would use a satin or eggshell paint instead of matte, semi-gloss, or high-gloss paint. I see some discoloration on the wall behind the sofa where the brown color of the sofa frame has worn off onto the wall. I suggest attaching bumper dots or strips on the wood frame of the sofa (similar to the ones used to keep cabinet doors from making a lot noise when they are closed quickly). I would consider painting the sides of the column with the cuckoo clock brown to match the clock. I would do this to call attention to the clock. I would remove the orange curtains and replace them with floor-to-ceiling length draperies hung as close to the ceiling as possible to make the room seem larger and taller. I would change the drapery color to match the walls, perhaps in a muslin-like fabric, which is a casual fabric. I always take my art to a professional framer. I have conservation matting and museum glass used for my art. I would have the three images you have rearranged as a collage in a very large single frame with medium to wide matting between the images. I would have the mat and frame color(s) enhance the images, even if it is a color I might never have thought of on my own. I would hang it above the sofa. I would use the orange drapery fabric to make throw pillows for the sofas. You did not attach a photo of the flooring in the room. A medium tone floor is easier to keep looking clean than a light floor/rug or a very dark floor/rug. Other "Houzzers" will give you completely different ideas. Use the ideas YOU like and enjoy your home!

Tsilanko, I would always recommend professional installation where needed. But what I am doing here is suggesting that WHEN you are planning to build or renovate, to consider how your plans will affect you in 20 or 30 years time. Split levels are very hep when you are young. A kitchen 3 steps down at 30 is rarely a problem, but might be a hazard at 60, or, as Marjie1059 suggested, if you break a leg. ... All my parents' homes were terrible for old people. They were forced to move to a bungalow in extreme old sge because the location and design of their home was more suitable for an active young couple with a large family than for an elderly couple with stroke disabilities. I would not want to move again, so my present home has features built in that make ageing in place simpler. Mostly small changes, like grab rails, and lever handles on doors and faucets. A major disability suddenly suffered requires major changes if permanent. I did look at this because it came up in the discussion, but if you look at the heading, Planning for Disability, it means just that. Plan ahead so you don't have to make expensive changes later on. But thank you for your advice, yes, major changes are not in the DIY domain.