I love your stories, Live. So, I went back and re-read your thread from the beginning. One thing that struck me is that you said you've identified what's wrong with your room, but don't know how to go about fixing it. My suggestion would be to ignore those items that are wrong (I think you mean the newer, contemporary chairs) and focus on what is right and make those pieces, fabrics, and accessories the stars that they should be. If you do that, then you'll find the items you don't necessarily love will naturally just fade into the background.
You have fond memories of your grandparent's farm and time spent in a log cabin. You can evoke the feeling of a rustic home or log cabin in any interior--even a modular home. You don't have to live on a farm or in a log home to create the same type of feeling when you walk in your door.
When I think of a log home, I think of the golden-hued ceilings of pine and the rich browns of the hand-cut beams that comprise the walls. You could create the same feeling by painting your ceiling a golden hue. The paneling that you currently have could work very well to evoke the feeling of a log cabin interior if you painted it a similar warm color. In fact, if you flipped it from it's current vertical orientation to a new horizontal orientation and painted the occasional "board" a rich brown, while leaving the others a cream color, it just might look like hand-cut beams with mortar in between. You could buy a small piece of paneling and some sample sizes of paints and try it out and see if you like the results.
When I think of fabrics for a rustic home, I think of warm, country plaids with hues of brownish reds, golds, browns, and perhaps even some greens. For a more modern twist, you could add a very deep turquoise--almost to the emerald green side, but with a hint of blue.
Your cow hide throws and leather rugs would be fabulous in this room, as would a braided rug. You could include a variety of baskets to store various items and add even more texture. And your beautiful trunk would make a great coffee table or end table by your favorite chair. I imagine you don't have a fireplace, but field stones would be a great addition. Perhaps you could set some stones in the kitchen in mortar as a back splash to evoke the same feeling as the stone fireplace you recalled so fondly. And your floors could be updated with an inexpensive laminate or even vinyl that looks like wood. Or, you could remove the carpeting and paint the floors with a faux wood grain. Learning that technique could be another fun project.
The tin tiles you showed are an easy do-it-yourself project. All you need are sheets of tin, a photocopy of the wheat pattern above, a hammer, and a nail. You no longer have your pie safe, but you could sand the edges and then nail the finished tin tiles to the fronts of your kitchen cabinets, or even on the drawers of the dresser you plan on moving into the living room (which, by the way, I think is a fab idea).
Candles would be another good addition. You could light an abundance of candles in the evening on a coffee table or even on a mantel you hang on the wall to evoke the feeling of a fireplace. I can picture you curled up in your now not-so-contemporary looking chair with a cozy woolen blanket, a good book, a steamy cup of hot cider or tea at your side, all warm and toasty in your log-cabin style home.
I think the biggest obstacle to creativity is fear. Let go of any fears you might have about decorating and jump in with both feet and trust your instincts. If it feels good, and looks good, and is within your budget then you're on the right track. Sometimes when I'm stuck, I just sit down in a room I want to change and start dreaming about how I want the room to look. Then I visualize all the changes I want to make in my mind, decide how I could go about accomplishing the look I want to achieve, and then take one item to the store with me as an inspiration. Then with that item in my cart, I start shopping.
I once decorated an entire bedroom around a multi-layered, multi-colored ruffled pillow I had. My sister-in-law was with me when I went shopping for the new room and watched me fill my cart with things that worked with that pillow. I held that pillow up to practically everything in the store. I shopped the bathroom section, the bedroom section, the kitchen section, even the kids section of the store. No area of the store was off limits. You never know where you'll find a prized, affordable item. So, don't just look in the kitchen section when you're shopping for kitchen accessories. That's too limiting. Just because you purchase something from the bathroom section of the store, doesn't mean it can only be used in a bathroom. When you start thinking like this, every thing becomes a possibility. And the kids section is much more playful, fun, and affordable (and more colorful) than the adult section of the store.
When we got home from the store, my sister-in-law told my brother, "I just watched FD design an entire room around a pillow." And she was right, I did.
I love the quilt you have on your bed with it's beautiful, rich jewel tone colors, and lots of fall colors in there, too. If you still have that, it would make a fabulous starting point for your room, and can easily make the leap from bedroom comforter to living room couch throw. Or, you could choose one of your beloved paintings and use that as a starting point. This could be lots of fun!