House Stuff

I think I've finally been inspired to get some design into this house. Jon and I have been talking about what to do with some of the space since Big Jared moved in. Having an extra roomie has really made us aware of the space and what it does to us. Right now our living room is the big problem and I do mean big. It's a pretty large space, especially for the size of our house, but it's become a catch all. Here's a description for those of you that haven't visited.
We have a large L shaped couch in the back corner that Jon says one just "falls" into. Actually we've been practicing my GRE vocabulary so he would more accurately say that we wallow in it. Next to the couch is a cabinet record player that takes up a decent amount of space. There's also a cheap bookcase, our tiny tv on a cheap tv stand, and all of Jared's toys. We've also got a coffee table in the middle of all that. Now moving on to the other end of the room. It's more open because the boys just moved another couch down to the basement. There's a large comfy chair, drumset, end table, glider, and lamp. There's also a fireplace and a large wooden secretary (that's what my mom would call it) type piece of furniture on that side. The walls are a shade of white that has a tint of green and the ceiling is dun dun dun...dark brown.
So here's what we're thinking. We want to have two sections of the room: a comfy relaxing section and a more "straight back chair" feeling (those are Jon's exact words) section for work. We don't have much money to spring for new stuff so we've got to work with what we've got. I am really drawn to clean modern designs, which I think Jon likes too, but he's a bit more quirky than me. Basically I need to pare down and organize all the stuff we have. All the designs I like have less clutter than I have and look much cleaner.
Jon would really like to get a big table to work on. The idea of painting a small section of the wall with chalkboard paint in order to create somewhere that Jon can jot down ideas. My understanding is that it will be framed out. I've also talked about getting organizers for the walls, so that Jon can just put his papers in there when he is done for the night.
Do you have any suggestions? Please send me links if you find any.
I've been looking at Young House Love and really love the overall look that they have going and the DIY stuff is always good. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to post some before and after pictures.