i am stuck with what to put in this room. as i've mentioned before, the end goal of this room will be some kind of den/studio space - i would like to be able to sit and read and/or watch tv, i need storage space (badly!) and i would like some large surface area that i can do work on. i tend to do a lot of art and some sewing projects that take up a lot of space. i normally use the dining table but it would be nice to have an area where i can leave stuff out if i want. i also have a drafting board that i'd like to be able to set up if i wanted to do some hand drafting (yes, i'm a huge dork and i enjoy hand drafting).

to make it even more complicated, i don't really want to have to buy new furniture for this room. at least not at this point. we have a random assortment of furniture that we're not using right now so i'm hoping that i can use some of it to make a functioning (but still pretty!) space.

here is the furniture we have to work with (sorry for the old apartment photos, but that's when we used this furniture)... and wow our design style has changed since we lived in that apartment - i think i was going through a blah brown phase.
big green chair and ottoman (this was mike's furniture which is why it is big and green, not my style but super comfy)
bad picture, but the pine desk and/or desk chair to the left of the fireplace. i'm also open to painting this desk, it's from my bedroom when i was a kid so i've just been moving it around with me even though it doesn't really work for a computer... oh, and reese and eze. they will probably hang out in this room too :-)
this table. it's extends to be about twice as long. i don't think i can paint it because of how it extends. but it would be a good large(ish) work surface. i also have those black chairs still and could use one of them for a desk chair or at this table. i'd prefer not to paint the black chairs though because we use them in our dining room when we have more than 6 over for dinner.
this small tv stand and tv. it's an ikea/target stand so not all that great but i'm willing to paint it too. i don't really have anything else that the tv can sit on.

what do you think? even worth trying to make work? do i need both a desk and that table? the desk does have storage (it also has a shelf under it). this room has a big closet that i'm planning on putting some wire shelves in for additional storage. i know that i could probably find some different furniture on craigslist for not very much (you know how i love craigslist!) but i promised the husband that i'd stop buying craigslist furniture for a little while. plus we don't have a very big budget for this room.

stay tuned for part 2, i didn't want to make this post too long.