This is wonderful how you opened the stairs - you get a real sense of the architecture and it brings in more light. I applaud what you have accomplished. I'm going to assume that the wall above is patched with quickcrete and the whole thing is painted (try to get the wall beyond under the stair too). If you have / want a flat screen, you might mount a swing arm wall mount for a flat panel television on the vertical wall element remaining on the right - just about 3' - 3 1/2' (around 1 meter) above the floor so that it is eye level when you are sitting. The swing arm support will allow you to tilt the television away from the wall ever so slightly across the nearby corner. This can help to eliminate glare from the nearby window and make it possible for more people in the room to view it / expand your seating possibilities. I reference something like http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Chief-Thinstall-TS318SU-Medium-Dual-Swing-Arm-Wall-Mount-18in-Extension/2555661.aspx?cm_mmc=ShoppingFeeds-_-GoogleBase-_-Video/Monitors/Cards/Projector-_-2555661_Chief%20Thinstall%20TS318SU%20Medium%20Dual%20Swing%20Arm%20Wall%20Mount%20-%2018%22%22%20Extension%20-%20_CIF-TS318SU You can even mount a television tlhat is wider than the wall behind as it can sit flat on the wall and extend beyond the wall to the left when at rest like another plane in your architectural composition. Since the upper stair is just behind, this should be fairly safe for the electronic. Determine precisely where the television will be at rest before you hang the mount itself. Then, look for a low height chest to sit below the television. Ideally a chest with one open shelf near the top to hold your component receivers. You may want to try to run electrical to the remaining vertical wall on the right (the support for the stair landing) to get power into the wall itself, while everything is open. Depending upon where the nearest source is, with concrete walls, you could mount the power junction box low on the wall under the stair and drill out small diameter cord passages through the wall after placement of your components. Or use the baseboard area to run needed cables and power to the area behind the chest, then conceal it with baseboard trim. The more you can hide the power and connection cords, the sleeker the look, to match your gorgeous architectural stair element. If you have a larger deeper television, put it on a sideboard chest under the upper stair where you have the depth. In the rear area, take care with putting cables together in a cord cover - ikea has a good one that is inexpensive. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20097954/ so it looks "neat" from behind when you come down the stair.

I'd go for make it white; then right there, flop one nice little white overstuffed loveseat or something that fit, or one big whopping chair, and fit in a tiny table and light; treat that corner as it's very own micro-retreat, and the seating is to not face out into the room. Like little lounge spots put under stairs, make this one dedicated to the view; and make it minimal. Decorate the rest of the room as if the column and retreat bit isn't there.

Perhaps a large round table might mean a rug is not at all necessary. It could be a metal tray table, or carved wood like Rebecca Mitchell Interiors illustrates. Ideas also to consider, using multiple tables can be found at http://www.houzz.com/multiple-coffee-tables. I also agree with comments above that some color is needed on the walls. You could then hang round mirrors, or an unusual curved shape like RMI shows above.

I was diagnosed with dust mite allergy as a child and all my parents did was replace the carpet in the bedroom with hard flooring and replace the feather pillow with synthetic. There is a school of thought that says making our environment too clean and sterile might be contributing to the increase in certain health problems. So don't feel you have to rush to update the whole house. I'm not even sure what difference the paint (on your list) makes? (Low VOC is best but that is unrelated to dust mites.) Take the time to do some research and also seek advice from medical advisors and allergy support groups, there are aspects of your question which are probably better answered by other parents in a similar situation rather than by people on a decorating forum. Keep up-to-date with what's on the market, there are products which didn't exist when I was a child which might well be useful for you, but also be wary, don't feel you must invest in every new product that promises to do amazing things. Dust mite allergy is allergy to dust mites, which live in dust, so what you want to be doing is reducing dust. The list from Brandi Nash Hicks is a great start. Make everything easy to dust, for example enclosed storage rather than open shelving, streamlined lighting rather than ornate fixtures. Use dusting tools that collect and remove the dust rather than simply sweep it off (I was going to give the example of static cloths but they're not appropraite in all situations, you're not supposed to use those near electronics). Get a good vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. I guess it's hard to say no to stuffed toys but store them inside something and vacuum them often. With large expensive items especially, weigh up your options before replacing them. For example a good quality fabric sofa might not necessarily be worse than a leather sofa, depending on various factors including leather quality, your climate, how much sunlight it is exposed to, what you clean it with, etc.