Mud Room, Pantry, Main Hallway, Loft changes/updates

We have made a few adjustments in various places over the last few months.
We also have some ideas of things to put on our to-do list.
One is to change the 2nd closet in the master bedroom into a ROOM by adding a new wall where the closet would have been if we had that 3rd bathroom upstairs.  With that wall installed, that closet will be almost the size of the guest bedroom!  YEA!  Only trouble is that the current closet wall has electric/plumbing and other things in it, so we might have to get creative in order to accomplish this.
But here are our most recent changes/updates in the form of pictures.

We did some wainscoting down the main hallway and used twine to decorate with holiday cards this year (see "mud room" in the background).

Our additional hanging places for jackets that are often used in the "mud room".  This is really just a hallway. 

Bought a bunch of stacking shelves from WalMart and hung them upside down in the pantry to create smaller spaces/shelves.

This is what our loft looks like at the moment.  We now have an "art station" for the boys -- eventually we'd like to get rid of the 2 bookcases and make 2 desks for them.  But for now, they have a place to draw, color, and create (while their train-table turned lego-table waits in the foreground).

Our next purcahse really needs to be a new couch.  This one is about 14 years old and has been through a lot with 2 dogs and 2 kids.  It is oh-so comfortable, but needs boards to keep in together.  We are hoping to get some ideas from other Rome homes for configurations in the family room.  We are not 100% set on anything in terms of sectional or not... chaise or not, lazy-boy or not...

Here is an older photo of our family room to see our current set up (minus the plastic bins)

On to figure out the closet situation and furniture browse/shop.