I just kind of went thru a similar scenario with our family room, which had to be updated as a result of the kitchen reno. All the furniture is beiges & greys, tone on tone. I kind of resisted the tone on tone color palette, feeling very perplexed about how to introduce color. I did it with accessories. Just a splash of color here & there. Olychick's picture is a great example, 4 pillows & some flowers. Everything else is neutral. Also, different textures will add as much interest as those splashes of color. You've got a great start with those pillows. I love the pattern & texture. Also, you have a beautiful rug & console. Edit: you leather looks blue on my moniter but I see it is gray so I edited my post regarding a blue chair. Blue or the beige in your rug will look great. This post was edited by romy718 on Tue, Jul 22, 14 at 14:50

Thanks to all who have posted their suggestions so far! How far up on the wall should I go if using tile or stone? The fireplace is up to current building codes for my area (Southwest Los Angeles County), but that doesn't say much since all that is required is for the fireplace to be properly vented to the outside - mine is vented to the roof like a regular fireplace with a chimney would be - and two feet from the walls, with or without the connector to a gas line ignition (mine has the thing on the wall but is not connected.) @pesky1 - I do have a lot of empty *blah* space on my walls, some of which is due to the vaulted ceiling height and being only 5'1" (If I had the storage space for it, I'd have a ladder taller than 4.5ft, but there's barely enough space for the one I have...) but the kind of tv I have can't be wall-mounted, so I'd have to save up the funds for a taller entertainment center. Still, it's worth considering. I've spent the decade I've been living in my place getting the funds together to purchase furniture and so forth, but now that all that's done with, I'm just now getting to the point of realizing I forgot all about doing something with the walls. I sort of ignored them after having them stripped of the awful brownish plum color selected by the former resident (who didn't bother getting the permission of the landlord whom I bought my place from...) and painted white just prior to moving in. It took me a while to implement the solution to the majority of the wiring being on one wall (literally, one living room wall had like 5 electrical outlets plus the cable wiring, and the other wall had just 2 electrical outlets and the wall switch for the patio light outside!) - I'm still working on saving up the money to have the bannister for the stairs stripped back to the natural wood that can be refinished, something I hadn't even thought about being an issue later; I just wanted to get rid of that ugly brownish plum color. Who knew that years later, all the dings and chips in the paint that happen over time would make the bannister look so awful. :P Painting is an option, but if I only go to a certain point on the wall, what to cap it with so it doesn't look like I just got lazy and stopped painting in the middle of the process?

If you feel you need an end table for putting down drinks, books, etc., get a round one and move it close enough between the sofas so it can be reached. (You can probably find one in a thrift shop or on Craigslist and paint it white or an accent color.) Other than that, a lovely floor lamp in the corner would light up that corner. Not every empty space in a room needs to be filled, so feel free to remove the little shelf-y piece, which doesn't add function or interest to the corner.

I wouldn't do anything with the wall the TV is on. It's fine to be there on it's own. I would, however, center the console on that wall and remove the lamp next to the TV, that has absolutely no business being there. And I would get a different area rug. That blue rug is too bright and distracting and matches nothing in that space. Get something with more subtle, neutral colors.