You could also bring in some texture with bamboo sticks or decorative branches and help balance a bit the height of your room with small scale furniture. Spray paint them if you find the perfect size and shape but they aren't the color that you need. Ikea carries white decorative stalks for a very good price. the ones in the 1st picture hold well with small kids around and you don't need a vase for them. there are washi paper or crinkly paper floor lamps with a soft beautifully diffused glow For a budget friendly version check ikea or target http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80028552/

This Cabinet is $155 at Ikea. You could take the 4 items you had hung, and put them in a "shadow box", or individual deep frames to tie then together, to create I piece that looks more substantial on the wall, Then add a little ledge for photos, and you would even have room on the cabinet for the cool bottles that were on the floor, and that cool chest could definitely find a home as an end table, or entry table. You could also add a larger plant in a really nice pot in turquoise. The cut and paste renditions arent always completely accurate in scale.

This arrangement works much better, but some adjustments are needed to make it work. First, the fireplace grouping needs to be tightened. It crowds the dining area and you need a passageway behind the couch. Turn the rug lengthwise, parallel to the fireplace. Pull the large couch about 2 1/2 feet closer to the fireplace, and place the two chairs and loveseat on the ends of the rug, and pull them closer together. This will give you a more intimate conversation area, and not impose on the other areas of the room. Remove that floor lamp from behind the couch. If you need the light in that area, put it by the fireplace. Also, the stereo system on the mantel needs to find another home. Maybe it can go IN the fireplace instead. At the other end of the room, I think the arrangement would look better if the seating were rotated 90 degrees. Keep the rug and coffee table in its current configuration, place the sofa either facing the window or with its back to the window, and put the two chairs opposite it. Finally, the dining area. Now that you've moved the big leather chairs, you should have enough room. Your rug is too small. It should be big enough to give you at least a 2 ft. border all the way around when the chairs are pushed in. And it's a really beautiful table; please uncover it. I can't see what kind of lighting that area has. It really needs a pendant or chandelier hanging directly over the table.

I think a comfortable distance between the island and the counter is around 42". It seems that you have only 30" between your cook top and the counter. I might be a little too tight. The wall between the entrance and the kitchen could be 4' long instead of 6', you would then be able to move the island a foot which would give you more room between the cook top and the island. Could you switch the location of the toilet and vanity in your dad's bathroom so your enter facing a vanity instead of a toilet which is a lot nicer.