Thanks everyone for your replies!!! The mud room door cannot really be moved, because there is a stair case behind it to a bonus room, so it would be misaligned. Also there are other issues with it too, such as a load bearing post being on each side of it. The regular ceiling heights in the house are 9 feet. The tower does face the front of the house. We are absolutely open to remodelling and changing furniture, in fact we just tore out a closet anyway. So we're in the middle of renovating. We're trying to figure out where to put the fire place. The best place I can think of so far is on the right wall, having the middle of the fireplace on the corner and boxing it in, so that it cuts into the foyer slightly. Its not the perfect solution, but seems to give the most usable space for furniture? I was wondering if anyone here has a better idea :/ We'd prefer to use a direct vent gas fireplace. We just want it to be a cozy living room for occasional TV viewing, not sports or anything extreme like that. Just the odd regular tv show while talking or something like that. More of a living space than a dedicated TV viewing area. About the barn door slider for the mudroom, that is an interesting idea, but wont it let cooler air in as well as noise from the laundry there? Right now its a weather proof door (the type used on garage entrances). Unfortunately as I mentioned, moving the mud room door is quite impossible :/ PS. For some reason terriks image isn't loading up, even after sitting for an hour+ on this page. Here are some pictures of the room as it sits right now (nearly empty). (We took out some tiles near the entrance, so disregard that, assume we can patch in the floor however we like and tile the foyer in any shape.): http://gallery.me.com/lupinglade/100016 Here is a link that might be useful: Room photos

This suggestion is kind of taste-specific and might not be your style at all, but I'll share my thoughts... What about this long, lounge-y leather sofa from Article that Chris and Julia put in their cabin? This kind of sectional that's more like a sofa+chaise won't take up too much room in the narrow space between stairs and kitchen. https://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2018/01/sectional-frame-article-sofa.html With the floating stairs behind, I think you need something with simple lines, heft and no legs. The room could probably get cluttered looking very easily with those stairs, so my inclination is very minimalist furnishings. If you must have a TV in this space, I'd put it on the wall opposite the fireplace so at least you can view it from the kitchen. You could put a swivel chair to the left of the sofa so one could spin and see the fireplace. Personally, I don't think I'd worry about making the fireplace a "focal point." The sofa with the pretty stairs behind is a more important focal point, IMO, because it's what you see most prominently from the foyer, the kitchen and the dining room. Here's another layout that might provide some inspiration. Hefty, cool sofa flanked by a swivel chair and a bench. With an arc lamp. . . And a floor plan explanation:

well, here's an example of floating the furniture if you want to get off the back wall: But, I don't think this is necessary with your layout. as grover mentioned, play around with what you have and see what looks best. In the meantime, pick a sofa and an area rug that you want. Then you can build off of that. right now everything in there is so neutral. Look at these rooms I've posted below. Some have a bold color velvet sofa, and some have a bit more leather and black/white. You say you don't know how to do color. So pick a color that you like and work it into an area rug, artwork, pillows and / or the sofa. the rich navy blue velvet is gorgeous with gray, wood flooring and other neutral textiles and camel colored leather so is a deep, forest green this one is pretty neutral except for the rug. every thing else is minimal and neutral This would look so nice w/your wood flooring, the warm colors in the rug, wood slat table, linen-type sofa, leather poufs would also work here. and notice the art work. It all just works together

Dont worry about the divided floor, as long as you divide your functional groupings in the same way. That is, ok to use the smaller zone as your TV room, but only if all the furniture for that fits on that side of the walkway. Otherwise, put the TV on the wall to the right of the fireplace, and set up your seating arrangement in an L to encompass both (and maybe an extra chair or two for visitors). Then the "den" makes a natural office, etc., and you have plenty of seating in the larger space for hanging out or conversation.