I think two long, narrow windows would work great in this room, and love your idea of stained glass or a glazing of some type to distort the images next door. I don't understand your concern about the chairs, personally, I think they go very well with your other furnishings. Perhaps bright pillows on the chairs, with some other color, (red maybe?), would add some interest! You could also add some detail by placing a black heavy frame around your artwork over the fireplace. Love the artwork, BTW!

What's the view of the neighbor's house like? Do they have windows on that side? Would you consider getting rid of the bookcases and installing full windows?

nanny2a - oh yay on the chairs! They were such a good find on craigslist that I told myself I wouldn't worry if I had to dump them late but since this is a little used room (except for the dog) I'd rather not have to look for any different ones right now. Still need to figure tables maybe side tables and then an ottoman close to the fireplace?

Thanks on the artwork. I love the idea of a black frame! That's as far as I got with the art because the room frustrated me so much. And then of course I need to pick a paint color. This is directly across (though a step down) from the dining area that I am also working on right now.

natal - no on getting rid of the bookcases for a couple of reasons and no on full windows. One, we need the bookcases. All bookcases work hard in this house. And two, this wall is the service sideyard. Cement walkway to the power meters, etc. So it would look out on a fence and there's nothing we can plant there because it would squeeze the very narrow sideyard. There's only a 5' walkway and then the neighbors house is right there. There are no windows on their side of the house. Just a stucco wall.

Odd not to have ANY natural light -- where is the room located (other than next to your library)? I'd say any windows would help. Since putting a hole in the wall is not for the faint of heart, I'd say go even larger -- like the second sketch below. If view is really not nice, then use seeded or some other decorative glass.

I like the stepped chimney effect with the wider windows, and if you add built-in shelving at mantel level and lower, it would widen the room visually. You might even be able to continue the bookcases at that height around the room - altho' it might close the room in more than you want.

gwbr54 - yes, very odd to have no natural light but that's because of the remodel that the previous owners did. I'm guessing that the wall with french door on the left, which leads to my office, used to have a window on it because it was the end of the house, facing the back yard.

There's no way I want to come lower with the window, even though I like the design of it. If I ever added more windows in the library, that's what I'd do around the other fireplace. But in the living room, really, it would just look at half my fence and half their stucco and I'm already fighting that view from one window in my office. So any windows would be high ones. I wouldn't add more bookcases in this room because it would make it like the library. 12 bookcases in there already. :)

Here's a view from my really messy office where you can kinda see the living room. My office shares one set of french doors that go to the living room and another that go to the library. The library is on the other side of the dining area.

And these are the windows in my office.

First there's this one which is on the same wall as the fireplace in the living room:

and this one, which is the access to the backyard.

To the left here, is another set of french doors that go to the library.

You could always move the bookcases somewhere else.

I don't know what zone you're in, but you could plant vines on the fence.

Gwbr's second drawing reminds me of a lot of Craftsman style fireplaces with adjacent bookcases.

Here is a link that might be useful: Craftsman-style

If you want to research the type of windows you mention, look up CLERESTORY. i'm going with those at the top of the new closet and tub bumpouts we will add to the north side of our house. Think sidelights turned sideways, because they will be about 12-15 inches deep and as long as you want to make them.
They let in a lot of light, and keep your room private.
I do not plan on any window coverings. Frame them out with molding, and you might consider running crown molding around your room to unify the look.

natal - thank you, but no, those bookcases will stay in the living room. I just got them for there. We have 27 bookcases elsewhere in the house, all full. :)

I don't mean to sound negative because I am really appreciating all the ideas, but there's no way I would consider lower windows in that room. It's the high ones or none at all. And again, I REALLY appreciate the feedback and ideas. Please picture a great big smile on my face as I read this post.

moccasinlanding - thank you! I didn't know what they were called. I'll go look at some pictures. We have crown molding in there now so that's at least one step in the right direction.

I think I would brighten up the room in other ways. Those bookcases would look GREAT white, almost like built ins. Then maybe some light colored pillows on one or both chairs, or a throw blanket. I would also move the chairs back, closer to the wall.

I'm just not sure that windows would look right in that room, sorry.

Yes, clerestory windows, perhaps with leaded glass (but not stained...if your idea is to add daylight, you probably don't want to color the light anything but its natural white).

And then, rethink the lighting scheme. In any case, the ceiling cans should be recessed so that you can't see the bulbs...what you have now is glare, not light.
I'd do this...
Add a directional pot light in the center, closer to the wall, to light your picture. Alternatively, have an outlet installed on the surface of your mantel, and put an uplight designed for paintings in front of your picture.
Put a pair of tables and good strong reading lamps with white or cream fabric shades beside your chairs. Turn the chairs a few degrees out, so that they face the room at about a 45 degree angle. You could also use swing-arm floor lamps, if the size of the tables is an issue.
If you will show us a photo of the rest of the room, I can tell you what you might do in the other half. Seeing only what I can see now, I'd put a pin-up wall lamp beside your china cabinet over the small table, if you are going to keep it there.
The idea is to get plenty of light around the room by way of lamps, and use the ceiling cans, on dimmers, to raise the light level just a bit. The danger with overhead lighting is that you get the church-basement, hardware-store effect, which doesn't really feel much like home.
Here's a photo of our old living room, which is meant to show you how you might think about the use of lamps combined with overhead cans. Because the cans and bulbs are recessed and the ceiling is painted to match the walls, you don't really notice them when they are off.

The second photo is our old library, to show you what I mean about the angle of the chairs, and side lighting, and lighting the picture (ours had a picture light mounted above it on the frame, and plugged into what is called a "clock fixture," which is a plug recessed into the wall behind, to contain the plug and wire).

Library

Oooh, a fellow CS3 geek? (Technically I'm rooted in CS4 now.)

I would add windows wherever possible. Our living room will have a similar arrangement, only our windows are square.

aleighjc - thanks for the tips!

bronwynsmom - Your rooms are lovely! Thank you for the pictures and so much information! The ceiling lights are a mess in that room, dining, and kitchen. I hadn't even gotten that far yet because I know ZERO about lighting so this is very helpful info. I know the previous owners had art on the wall where I have the sideboard so they had some kind of lights pointing toward it. I'll take some wider pictures in a bit.

avesmor - was more geeky in my old dayjob. Now that I write fulltime I don't deal with it nearly as much. Thanks for sharing your pictures too. How excited you must be with the build!

Thank you all.

Love the chairs -- and the bookcases!

I do like the idea of the two small windows -- BUT how switching to a large stained-glass window over the fireplace -- about the same size and shape of the artwork that is sitting there now?

Just a thought ......

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Thanks, Jan. I'd love to do something over the fireplace but the chimney is going up the backside. :)

Bronwynsmom, I love the photos of your old rooms. The symmetry of the library is so satisfying. It speaks of comfort and warmth. And I like the wall color too. The crown molding is significant and contributes to the cohesive feel of the entire space. Lovely home.

Susan, I love the idea of two small windows above you bookcases. I'm a big fan of books so bookcases are a warm feeling in any home in my opinion.
Here's a virtual I did for you of windows. If I knew what I was doing on another program I have I'd have angled your chairs facing each other with an ottoman between them and either swing arm wall sconces or floor lamps behind each of them. I too think the chairs are wonderful. Just right for snuggling up to a fire and reading a good book.
{{!gwi}}
I added a wood mantel to help marry the bookcases and fireplace. I only "painted" the surround, but if code allows it I'd cover that area with wood too. I raised and framed your art before I read about framing it in black. Oh and I added shelves. Was going to add books, but decided I had some redecorating of my own to do so I'd leave that to you.
While on the topic of books, what do you write?

Thank you, Susan and Moccasin, for your kind words. We changed absolutely everything in that house to suit us, and particularly loved the library. I miss those rooms, but not living in too much house and yard!

Susan, on the subject of lighting your picture, I looked more closely, and saw that it's a lovely landscape. One gallery trick is to aim your light so that it focuses on the point of light in the distance, which can make the composition come alive, emphasize the depth of field, and make the sunlight in the picture seem to shine back into the room.

Lighting is worth learning about. It can make the most difference for the least effort of anything else except color, and the two work integrally. Color is, after all, nothing more than light reflected into our eyes. If you are a theatre goer, you already know that!

When we remodled our house I had similar ideas to add windows on a wall to a side yard. One thing we found out was we needed to maintain 12" from ceiling to window top as a header beam was installed there and needed to remain for structural reasons. Also, our contractor advised us to keep a more cohesive look in terms on consistent window heights, etc. as esp. from outside it can look odd if they are different heights. We did put in the windows, but if I did it over I think I would've gone with two tall and narrow windows and masked the unattractive view with WTs, wood blinds. What we did not consider is that even with the high windows we still were able to look into the neighbor's window and vicsa/versa so we ended up putting a transparent window film since WTs didn't really make sense. One thing our neighbor did on their side of the fence was to installing hanging plants with colorful flowers.

Here are ours to give you a better idea:

I think clerstorys work better with taller ceilings.

In your situation I think it would look lovely to add the windows to either side of the fireplace and then install built-in bookcases at a lower height than what you have presently as I don't think there is enough height for windows above your exisiting bookcases.

justgotabme - Oh how pretty! Thank you! I'm impressed with the shelves. It does help me visualize that space better. Thanks so much for doing this work. This is just what I was picturing until I read valinsv's comment below about the header post - duh! I think that pretty well takes out the idea of high windows in that room. And since I won't do low ones, well, shoot, onward to better lighting I guess.

I love the wood mantle and that's on my to do list too!

Bronwynsmom - I forgot to say thanks for picture to show me what you meant by the angle of the chairs. I've been wondering how to angle them. Will move them and then take a picture and try to mockup what else to go with them.

Side tables are going to be a pain until we do the floor and can add some floor outlets. I don't want cords trailing out to the table. When 75 pounds of German Shepherd start running around there's no telling what she'll trip on. :)

Here are a couple of fuller views of the room. I'm not a fan of the columns, they look just sorta stuck in there (which they were since the previous owners took out a wall.) Someday low bookcases linking to the columns somehow would be nice. Railing goes on the stairs next week. And then doors on the under stair thing which means finding a new place for dog toys.

Bronwynsmom , when you talked about light and the art, did you mean direct the light overhead toward the light in the painting? Here's a better picture of it for those of you who have had kind words.

I do love it and hope to use the colors in it to help me bridge to the dining area. Can't wait to get the room done so I can play with decorating that mantle.

Here is a link that might be useful: a few more pictures of inside the house/larger even

Someone asked me what I wrote and I forgot to answer. Standing retort is anything I can get paid for. :) I've been doing it so long that I've done it all from newspapers to magazines. Mostly I write children's books, from picture books to novels, thought not so many picture books anymore. And poetry. And novels in verse. More about me on my GW page. :) And in any search engine.

Thanks for asking. :)

Susan, I don't know why needing a header didn't dawn on me since I wanted a transome over the main entry door but we only have 8 foot ceilings. Duh! I wonder if mirrors framed out to look like windows would at least help reflect more light?
I was the one that asked about your writing. Again my brain failed me today or I'd have thought to check your GW page. Thanks. I'll be reading your blog. I used to be a reading teachers assistant and thought of writing children's books. My sister was reading specialist and always thought of writing them and having me illustrate them since that's more my specialty. I can't wait to find out what you've written for children!

BTW- I think the chairs work really well in that space and would look great with a round comfy ottoman...

Thank you, loribee.

justgotabme - I wonder about mirrors too. They should be easy enough to try once we paint and get the bookcases put together. Re - illustrating and writing, drop me an email off the thread and I'm happy to talk to you about it.

So here's a full pic of the room and since I'm giving up on windows, all (ha!) I need to do is pick up a few accessories...tables/ottoman.

What do you think of these? Trunk for one side table, the JCP table for the other and then and ottoman like this? I'm trying to figure out a color for the ottoman now.

Does it need a rug? I remember trying the blue rug in there, color aside, and I couldn't figure out where to start/stop the rug with the sideboard, chairs, etc.

Oh, and if I do a rug in here, do I do another sisal to tie to the dining area?