ksb1's Profile

Maybe similar to other comments here but have you checked out the wall decals at http://www.whatisblik.com/
I've never used them myself but they might either work for you or give you inspiration to paint something yourself.

I've not had to contend with such a mondo pillar but one thought was to put circular seating around it - I'm not sure what the official name is - but the built in padded seating would also be round and you would lean against the pillar for back support. Then you'd be able to sit on the window side and admire the view or sit facing the kitchen when entertaining (or whatever). (It would basically be an upholstered version of those round benches you sometimes see surrounding a tree). Only thing I can find to illustrate the basic unfurnished idea is this tree bench:
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Large-Cedar-Adirondack-Tree-Bench/307648/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=925536

or this
http://picnicfurniture.skproshoppe.com/premier-circular-bench

Best moves:
1) Taking a long time to design, evaluate, markout, redesign etc so that the kitchen layout we got really worked with enough space to do the things we wanted to do;
2) Making good decisions on what we knew how to do (demolition, painting, patching subfloor, laying hardwood floor, duct work, framing) and what we needed pros for (electrical, hang/mud drywall, hang/fit install cabinets);
3) Getting to know your building inspector;
4) Spreading the outlay of $$ by doing most of the work ourselves (takes longer but means you don't spend all of your money at once and gives time to evaluate and earn more $$).
5) Doing more 30"/36" 3-drawer cabinets instead of doored cabinets e.g. the stove top is in a cabinet with 3 full width drawers. These give fully accesible deep storage for all the pans etc.

Regrets
1) The 9" cabinet we put in. In hindsight should've at least been a 12'er. We needed to get our counter run out of a 144" long slap of paperstone so opted for 9". Believe me, 9" is about the most useless space there is - the cabinet is 9", the useable space is 6".

Glad we spent on
1) Induction stove top. Boiling water in 20 seconds;
2) Waste disposal unit were the plug is the switch;
3) Paying a pro to install. Believe me this is more than hanging cabinets on the wall. They did alot of custom work, boxing in a vertical duct with shallow cabinets, doing a fantastic job on the crown molding and removing the large picture window so that they could get the corner cabinet unit into the house (pics, here: http://housepurchase.blogspot.com/2007/10/year-2-day-251.html). Mark and his carpenter were here for 4 days, quoted and billed $3600 but the best $3600 I ever spent;
4) Electrolux Icon appliances. A bit of a splurge but after both our lifetimes of living in rental units it was time to live like grown-ups.

You may find that taking some of the doors off and having some open shelving or swapping some out for glass-paned doors will help to break up the monotony, add color and maybe (it's an outside chance) avoid you're having to paint them. You also might want to consider a different wall color/treatment.

How do you get rid of the water in the spring?

A rug for sure would tie the furniture elements together. I would look at all the tones in your furniture (golds and yellows, I think) and pick a slightly darker color to paint the walls. To get to your inspiration you need to add some blues whic can be done through cushions, drapes, rugs and blankets.
I think also that you want to center the TV and cabinet on the wall it's on, move the daybed to opposite the TV and bring your single chairs in more to have them all work together. the coffee table looks a bit too big and also too opaque - either paint it, cover it with decoupage or similar or get rid of it.
I also wouldn;t be against putting the daybed/TV axis on the diagonal, going lower left (daybed) to upper right (TV) in that main seating space centered on a rug.

Some interesting and great comments here. Many ways to tackle this. I tend to agree that the TV is too small so i would clear eveything out of the wall area (mirror, TV, stand etc). I notice that the kitchen counter looks out this way so you might want to think about how much you stare at the wall. I also think there are a couple of things to do to lower the feeling of height and gaping space without losing the height of the wall (does that make sense?). One simple solution is a picture rail with a different color paint above/below. A second suggestion is to paint what I think are large white exposed beams way up in the ceiling there. Painting them any darker color - personal preference would be a nice deep brown - would bring the feeling of the space down while also creating a feature and focus up in the higher part. This combined with a great light feature in there would go along way to creating presence in this space. Anything on the wall needs to be big and make a statement - a large piece of pop art - for example. I would put the TV in a totally different room/space and make the wall and space the feature of this area.

SO ... some thoughts:
1) Measure the space and draw it on square paper.
2) Decide what you want to do out there - activities - dog area, sitting area, BBQ etc and sketch on your drawing where these should be.
3) Once you have the what/where decided you can measure some table/chairs or other items you might want/have and add them to your drawing to see how they will fit - if you want a table, what shape fits the space best? how many chairs or alternate forms of seating? Can you build planters with an edge wide enought o double as seating if needed etc
3) You've said that you want shade - where does the sun come from - what aspect is your patio? That might influence the location of your shade providing feature.
4) Choose a style and choose something to provide shade - pergola, sail, large umbrella etc
5) Fence can likely be left as is and stained or painted. It can also be masked by climbing plants in containers or by some funky outdoor artwork.
6) If you're into plants you could do containers (which can be moved around) if you didn't like the permanency of a built planter.
7) Also consider changing the "flooring". Do you want to divide your areas with different surfaces? Do you want to step outside onto a bluestone or slate patio to demarcate the sitting area with gravel around the patio as the surface for the other areas?
8) If you have any "ugly" things out there - is that a rain barrel? consider a screened off area (plants or wood perhaps) to conceal the less sightly items on your patio