Decorating Ups and Downs

I think I'm getting burned out in regards to decorating our new house.  Yes, I'm still on full speed forward - thinking and buying and making anything from curtains to pillow covers to artwork but I'm losing the major urge to want to do it.  Here are some of my latest ups and downs:

The sewing room/office is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms.  I painted our computer desk a couple years back and the deep red was the starting point for what to do with this room.  You saw the lamp re-do I did in an earlier post and I wanted to continue you with that fun red/black/white color scheme but add in some other fun colors too.  I went ahead and re-painted both my sewing desk as well as the drop-leaf dining table and two chairs we had in here.  I really disliked the light wood that the dining table was and the cushions were just blah.  Rather than just 'going for it' and spray painting it all I found tutorials for how to correctly paint furniture - worked out good.  Not sure using an oil based primer at 5 months pregnant was the best way to go but I used gloves, wore a mask and painted in the garage with the door up - hopefully that minimized fumes.

My weapons.... primer, white paint and clear top coat

and in the process of getting primed

the original stain/wood color.... 

hmmm... not sure if this is right - hopefully it turns out after a couple coats of paint

how our garage looked for a good week plus...

The fabric that I found to re-cover the seat cushions for the chairs was a random find at JoAnn's.  It's actually outdoor fabric but I figure it'll hold up even better to wear & tear from kiddos down the road.  Here's the 'finished' room:

walking into the room....

'my' side of the room - the table for some to study at and some to cut fabric at... and my beloved sewing machine and ironing board.

the finished table

the finished sewing table

LOVE this fabric!!!  

and the other side of the room - computer, desk, TV and comfy chair

I even have fabric left over to make a pillow cover for  this chair!  Here it's just wrapped around the existing pillow - going to try my first zipper here in a few days... wish me luck!

Onto the living room.... this room is spacious and feels even bigger because of the super high ceilings.  One of the challenges I have with it though are these 'cubbies' that surround the fireplace along one wall.  What the heck do you do with them?

they are deep too!  probably two feet back?  and why electrical outlets?  I'd love to know what the builders intentions were...

I'm happy with the painting & the sconces but not thrilled with the 'decorative items' I added to the left and right of that area... neither item has the height or weight for how large the spaces are.  I think I figured out what to do with the two lower cubbies though - curtains!  I purchased decorator fabric on sale at JoAnn's and made simple curtain panels, purchased two cheap tension rods at Target.... if we needed the storage it'd be the perfect spot to 'hide something' but I'm kind of figuring my daughter will end up using them as hiding spots.  :)

the current 'finished' look... decorating can be a constant work in progress, huh?  The fabric is a brown/taupe with a light aqua lattice pattern - I liked it in theory but now wondering if it doesn't just blend in?

What do you think?  Thoughts?  Suggestions please!!!!