So i have lived in my house for about a year now, and this area has always bothered me.  Its an awkward space that cant be a living room cause its too small(and i have a living room downstairs), but couldn't be part of the dining area cause its too big and weird.  Its also the first thing a guest that came to my front door would see.  I never knew what to do with the area so i left it blank and bland.  
(please forgive the horrible pictures, picture taking is a skill i have not mastered yet :) )
Until my almost mother in-law(i call her that cause i am not married yet but have been with my boyfriend for 7 years, so they are family to me with out the ring)gave us a love seat that has a brown cover on it. 
(i left that little corner up so you could see that it has a regular couch cover on it) 
She also gave us the pillows that are on it.  So i put this love seat in that area.  It did help with the blahness but it needed something more.  Now, downstairs i had an extra end table that i had just sitting in a corner.  The living room suit that i have is also that brown color so i also had a lamp to go on the table, and i also pulled a photo from my bed room to add as well. Here is what the table looked like with the couch.
I found the picture above the couch in my basement, its one my mother gave me when i moved out.  But to me it still looked blah.  Not enough umph yet.  So i remembered that i had some vases that i could put some eucalyptus i had on hand in on the other side.
 
Ok now were cookin!  I had a rug with the colors that would just tie everything together downstairs.  So i pulled that up and i love the outcome.
I added the throw to pull the color up from the rug and there we have it.  A new space that i love and i didn't spend a dime.  Thanks to my almost mother in law for the couch that made it possible.  
I hope you enjoyed this transformation and will begin looking around your house for treasures you didn't even know you had.