Here in central Pa, there are unfortunately many deserted, ruined farmsteads. Unfortunate in that so much of the beautiful farmland is being "developed". It seems so rampant that very soon this will all disappear. Only subdivisions and malls for miles in any direction. Your home and property are beautiful and that the barn "ruin" was left is truly amazing. You've obviously worked hard to achieve all that is presented in your pictures. It's beautiful! Many years ago the city of Philadelphia discovered the foundations of Ben Franklin's home - only the foundation. Because they couldn't possibly reconstruct the home, they erected an "outline" in steel of the home's dimensions. Along that line, I was wondering if placing some trellis panels between some of the post footings to provide a shelter and an impression of barn walls - perhaps to block winter prevailing winds. There are pictures of old barns and their interiors on the web. I searched and found pix of walls and doors of stalls that would make useful, complementary trellis panels - not the usual 6x6 squares or diamonds. Also some pictures show uprights that have "y"-shaped brackets at the top evidently to support a roof overhang. I'm certainly not suggesting that the whole outline be placed, just an appropriate area, perhaps to view the gardens in winter or on a sultry summer day. Since many barn ruins are seen falling down at the edges of meadows, I wondered if native plants would help the mood like Virginia creeper or native scarlet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) or clematis on the trellises, or clambering over the footings, Alleghany spurge for ground cover, etc. There are so many thoughtful responses here from experienced, creative people for your consideration. What an engaging way to spend a long cold winter. I hope you'll post updates on what you decided to do and the project's progress.

Thought I'd report back on germinating beans with a nitrate solution. (Only a third [8/24] of my beans planted in ground earlier in May had germinated). In the cell pack with Miracle Grow I planted 72 beans. Thirty one germinated, so 43%. The cells were too small, so that a couple of beans got their roots growing over the stem, so that they could not get up out of the soil. Pretty weird to see a bean with true leaves trapped in the pro-mix, coiled twice,yet not able to escape the roots. Those roots were partly above the soil. Also, some beans came up with oddly thin stems. (That was the case in the garden as well.) Quite a few had trouble completely splitting their seed coats even after their were well above the soil, so I gave them a little help with that. Tonight I planted out as many as I could. Will be interesting to see how many survive transplant. I left the weaklings in the cell packs to see if they will develop any more. I still need to plant out a lot more but I'm going to move on to my seed purchased for 2018. Got to get them in pronto.

I have a small "book case" style set of shelves, I have used this system for several years. Have a smaller one now that it is just DH and I.We don't have a mudroom now, just a corner by the kitchen table so the shoes aren't worn all through the house. On the bottom shelf I keep the things that are not worn that often,(a set of boots I had to wear at my last job) or easy to slip on (flip flops to run to the mailbox), some shoes are side by side, some can be stacked on top of each other if you need room. (my sneakers I wear in the garden that I don't care if they are clean or not) When I do stack them the bottom one sits normally and the top one is turned upside down so the tops fit together and balance.

Thank you for showing the rest of the room. Please do that anytime you post on Houzz. Trying to fix one "problem" all by itself isn't the way design works. Every element of a room has to work together with the "givens" of a room whether it's a fireplace, staircase, flooring color, wood trim. I'm with the other Commentors who find the fireplace beautiful and think you should work with it and devote your energies and budget to improving the entire space. I haven't read through all the Comments, but there are ways to bring out the beauty of what you have and not some painted mish mosh to cover up the fireplace. --Leave fireplace, mantel, and hearth as they are. They add character and texture to your room. I'm showing this room below because the fireplace isn't a knockout at all. But notice how well the art work, curtains, furnishings, wall paint, and bed cover harmonize with a not wonderful fireplace. This should be your goal as well, to focus on your wall paint--something warm many, many shades lighter than the lightest golden stone in the fireplace. Choose furnishings in warm browns, creams, golds, possibly one gray upholstered piece like the sofa. Think warm brown, camel, wood, and sofa cushions in warm colors. Leave your wood stairway for now and think about the whole room. Below is a perfect palette for your living room--grays, creams, bronze coffee table. Go in this direction but perhaps with more modern furnishings if this looks too traditional. Note how the wall color picks up the color of the golden stone but much lighter. On your hearth, add a big basket of long, chunky logs, and you won't be bothered by it. --When I look at your inspiration photos of staircase and dining fixture, I'm guessing you're falling in love with one item at a time and don't fit with anythng else. Pull your living room together first so everything in that space works together with fireplace. Then turn to dining room. One major, major thing we don't see in the photos that should certainly dictate where you go with the space is the flooring. What colore and materials are your floors? If they harmonize with fireplace and staircase, that's what to work.