A grown up house... one day

Slowly but surely, I want the house that N and I will share to be one that people admire when they come over.  I don't expect to be in a magazine, but I will admit that it's really important to me to not be embarrassed of my living room.

However, getting to that point is going to be hard.  In case you haven't noticed, home decor is pretty darn expensive.  Yes, I know there are the Crafty McHandy people who turn a garage sale dresser into a showpiece for $30 but I lack that skill set (and desire).  I'm a shopper.  I like to pick things out, compare them to other things, and make the right choice in the end.

Even though I don't move in until August, and we don't even have a couch picked out yet (neutral L-shaped sectionals are tough to find, it turns out), I've started scoping out items that I think I could happily display for years.  I will buy them one by one, and hopefully have a lovely room to share one day.

Things I have
When I moved into this house with wood floors (which I don't see why everyone flips out over, they're lots of work) I saved to buy a chocolate brown and ivory damask rug from Pier 1.  It sheds like none other, but I still love it.  And I can't believe I found a picture of it online 18 months later.
 

When I graduated college in 2005, I moved into my first Dallas apartment and bought a brown (faux) leather armchair for $300.  It is really comfortable, and looks pretty nice for pvc.  Plus, puppy dog nails don't scratch it. (The chair below isn't identical to mine, but it's close)

Things I want
The first item on our list of things to buy for the house is a good couch - one you can fall asleep on.  My sofa is not very comfortable and is starting to show its age after only 5 years, and N's couches were hand me downs from his parents and are coming apart.  I think something like the sectional below would last us a long time and help fill up the big, long living area.  I will swap out the bonanza of beige pillows with color, of course.

Next, I want to find a classic espresso stained media cabinet and shelving unit for N's giant tv, living room computer, game consoles, speakers, and various plastic cases. (That's before I move in any of my prized Sex and the City dvds!) The unit below (3 pcs) is $700 at JCPenney, but I think I'd break it up instead of making a valley for the television.

We'd also need to find some coordinating coffe table/end table collections, which will be a challenge because I agreed that as long as it is not hideous, N can get one of those coffee tables that pops up.  Ugh.

Finally, I want a mix of colors and textures to make the sensible furniture more interesting.  I want the kind of room where things don't match, but share a common color family so they work.  (Yes, I am an Anglophile.  I know.)  Everything below is from Z Gallerie or West Elm, my two favorite stores for decor.

And now I want to go shopping really bad.  What are your room goals?  Do you think I could do better by making some substitutions?