Wow - looking at the pictures now the colors are not true at all. My carpet is actually a pale golden tan - not the pinkish color that I see in the pictures!

GREAT bones!

Can the media center be divided into three parts by any chance? It seems to overpower the room and also is not really such a current look any more. In any event I would paint it white to update the look and make it recede more into the background. I really like the coffee table you've chosen and a glass top would really give the room some sparkle. Not having only leather chairs as seating also sounds like a great idea. Some colorful pillows and perhaps a colorful area rug with which the pillows would coordinate would be very nice to break up the neutral color scheme of the room.

Thanks, loribee!

ingrid - I like your idea of a glass top for a table. It would break up some of the wood, which is what I'm aiming towards in using a metal frame. I would like to have the two shelves though.

The Restoration Hardware media unit is actually new and, although I usually dislike stand alone entertainment units, I do love this one. It is large for the room but I like it because it looks more like the built-in I was considering having installed. Hopefully, the ceiling height fireplace on the adjoining wall balances it out visually. Thanks for your idea on decorative pillows!

I have that sofa in my morning room ( aka den area ) ! I will be watching what you do as I am getting rid of everything but that and doing all new ! I love what you are choosing so far. c

Start looking at decorative ways to fill up the wall unit. I like it too. Photos, books, books turned flat, vases, grouping of collectables. But above all some things with color. What is your favorite color? That color can be used in the pillows and the chair you would like to replace. The leather looks really comfortable and cozy. Would you consider a rug with a pattern to bring in more color?

I like your choices so far too. Have you considered a square or oval coffee table instead of rectangular? Will be easier to get around. We bought a square kitchen table years ago and cut down (DH took out center pieces from each leg, to save the pretty bottoms). Has a drawer, great for storage when the kids were growing up and nice place to put TV changes, etc.

To the bookshelves I would add color and texture. Add some softness with wicker or woven pieces. Books of course. I would bring the flag down a shelf and add some things on the shelf with it that have to do with the military or family pieces. Do you have his/a hat? I have a hat belonging to each of my grandfather's on our bookshelves.

Other ideas to soften - a vase or pitcher holding feathers gathered from walks/the yard. (I have turkey, hawk, etc larger ones).

Use the glass fishing balls on the coffee table or down low (near door/window) so they'll get light/show up better. I love seeing mine each time I walk in the sunroom. Bring glass over to the bookshelves with some old bottles.

A few more shelves to give you some ideas:

We have five bookcases in the first leg of our L shaped hallway and recently added four to the second leg. I've pulled out things from my childhood for it - Beatles lunchbox, card game set from France, wooden clock with arms (teach time...do kids learn that now?!).

Pull enough to get them started, then have fun picking up things around town or while traveling.

My advice is to pull some of the slate blue/gray color from your lovely stone fireplace and use it as an accent color in pillows, throws and rug. Slate blue is a lovely complement to the caramel tones of your sofa.

To me it looks as if the rug should be bigger. I agree with most of the gals that you need a patterned rug to break up the matchy matchy look. Like bluemoon, I think bringing in the blues from the FP is a great idea. Have you decided what to do for window treatments? There you have another way to bring in pattern, color, and texture. Picking pillows for leather can be difficult, to me most of them look as if they are just going to slide off, so I have no ideas there, but might suggest a throw instead. Any room for a sofa table? Allison gave you a million ideas as to how you can accent the bookcases to take the emphasis away from the tv. Sorry for the runaway paragraph but I am really tired and should be sleeping and not on GW!!! Looking forward to see what you do.

Thanks everyone for your great ideas. I'm not sure if we'll use a rug over the carpet but I like the idea of pulling color in through pillows and throws and objects on the shelves. Unfortunately, the carpet inlay was limited in size because of the footprint of the room and the strange placement of the fireplace. I would have rather used a rug over hardwood but having a nicely padded carpet in this room only was one thing DH insisted on.

allison - thanks so much for posting pictures of your bookshelves. You've given me some great visual examples that will be really helpful in choosing items for my shelves. I like how you mixed the books with family photos and mementos and I really like your equine bookends!

I might get some more books too - we're readers but I gave all mine away because I don't like to read them more than once. Now we just go to the library every few weeks to stock up on reading material. My 7 year old gets over 20 books each time and her bookshelf is already full!

trailrunner and elendi - the couches are 8-way hand tied with very comfortable down-covered cushions and very forgiving leather. With kids that's important. Other than some fading, they've held up well and are pretty much in the same condition as when we bought them several years ago.

However, I've realized that having well-made furniture has some drawbacks - you rarely need to replace it. I'd love to have a slipcovered English roll-arm sofa and a few espresso brown club chairs in this room, but since these have held up so well I really have no reason to replace them other than for aesthetic reasons. Since the extra $$ is needed for other home renovations that's not going to happen right now!

I think, with the suggestions from the forum and some nice art work and a few throws and pillows, your room is going to look beautiful. I love a down filled sofa, soo yummy. Try and find a bold painting for over the fireplace and also some real plants on your bookcase would liven it up. It just needs a boost with accessories and color. Although placment of chairs is nice, the way you use them is the function and that's the most important aspect of the room.

FYI - be careful with that coffee table - it is not as smooth as your trestle table. I was in RH and got a few splinters from that exact table. It might not be a great idea if you have kids. But, it is so neat!

yep I know....we have the very same sofa...we love the leather and the way it has worn to a great softness. Funny about the " good quality furniture" . I just posted recently about how I wanted to sell so much of my furniture as I am sick of it. It was really expensive and is still in great condition but I am tired of it. I am going to sell some of it at a local consignment shop...they have told me what they can get and it seems a good price and more than I could get on Craigslist. I am also going to give some of it to my kids. I don't know yet what I want to replace it with but I am keeping my eye out . Love your room. c

sofa in morning room am replacing everything but it and the large mirrored " picture" display cab.

{{!gwi}}

thanks yaya, I hope you're right, although I'm loving the room even unfinished because it's such a great improvement over the construction mess we've been living with forever! I do need to find some artwork for over the fireplace and the framed photograph that's there now is just temporary. I was trying it out to see if the scale was right and it can stay until I find something that's just right, but it normally lives in my bedroom.

amac - I saw the table in the store and was thinking the same thing. It's a great looking table but you'd think they'd sand it down a bit!

trailrunner - we do have the same couch! I like the way yours is mixed with other seating though, rather than matching pieces like I have.

Its looking perfect. You have done it in a very attractive style. I love your decoration. I am also going to decorate my home in this weekend. I must try to follow your rooms because they are just looking awesome.

Here is a link that might be useful: EPDM Coatings

What about a few of these yummy blue pillow covers, on sale at PB? I've never bought anything there but saw these and just ordered a few myself. I think they'd be pretty in your room, too~

Here is a link that might be useful: Giorgetta Bird Pillow Cover

loribee - those are pretty and the colors might work for me. I've ordered pillow covers from PB before and have been very happy with the quality. Pillows would be great since we're always bringing them in from the bedrooms when we watch tv. Maybe you could post pics when you get them so I can see how they work in your room?

steve - thanks for the kind words but I didn't click on your link b/c I don't need any EPDM coatings for my living room!

I too am trying to very slowly (or I will make horrible mistakes) decorate a newly finished construction. I don't have an awkwardly placed fireplace but I do have awkward walls and an awkwardly positioned window. And I'm trying to get things bought for house A to work in house B...

Just some thoughts...

I would definitely put an area rug over the carpet. Just tell DH it makes it that much softer/cushier ... :) Something with blues, golds, greys, russets... I think would look fantastic.

The looks pointed away from the TV, which is otherwise staged as the centerpiece of the room. That's a little confusing visually. Can you angle it toward the tv?

I'm really craving some green in there. I'm not a huge fan of faux plants, but they have their time & place. I would pepper the entertainment center with texture as mentioned above, including some potted faux varieties (I do not keep things alive very well!) I could see some bronze sculptures, perhaps even a smaller armillary working well with your furnishings. Lamps and/or plants in the corners?

I'm not gifted spatially, so you'll have to help me a bit. Can the sofa go back any further to clear the fireplace? It would be nice to keep it functional, and I think any couch users will get hot. :)

What is opposite of the fireplace? Instead of artwork, you might want to consider a nice large mirror there - if there's anything of value to reflect. The framed picture you have now, I thought was a mirror until I read your comment about the framed picture being temporary... and I thought the mirror worked well there... just needed to be larger.

I personally would not keep the candle holders on both the mantel and the floor. It just makes my eyes go in a \ line when I'm trying to look at the fireplace. It looks like a wood-burning fireplace - perhaps a tallish basket with kindling stacked on end that can "fan" around the basket's opening? That will give it some height and width.

What are you planning for window treatments? You might have a hard time with panels on the window edges that butt against the fireplace (clearance for panel stacking). Are you going to leave the windows open or put something on/over/around them? (I don't know if you have privacy concerns, personal preferences...)

I didn't see a response to ingrid_vc's question re: breaking up the media center. If it can be done. I would move the side pieces more toward the corners... perhaps even angling them if they would still allow sufficient floor space clearance. I don't think the height is as much of an eye puller as the width, "wall of wood" that entertainment centers are notorious for.

avesmor - thanks so much for your detailed response. I'll talk to DH about the rug!

In the last photos the chair is facing the tv and I agree that this set up works better. The ottoman takes up a lot of room and we really don't use it so maybe that will find another room to live in.

I can't keep any plants alive either (not even cacti survive my erratic over and under watering!) but maybe I'll look into getting some plants there. I have my eye on a large antique green glass fishing ball, and I might bring the color in that way. Bronze or metal sculptures are a great idea and I really like Allison's bookends. We have horse property (no horses yet) and a rustic ranch style house so that's more of our style. I'm going to keep my eye out for these during my flea market/antique shopping.

Unfortunately, the sofa can't go back farther to accomodate the fireplace or even be turned toward it because there are walkways right behind both couches that connect the great room, the living room and the dining room.

The footprint of this house doesn't work well so I'm a bit limited with furniture placement. It's an older house that's been added onto over time without any great master plan in mind! Our front doors used to open right into the great room so we included a foyer in our addition to address that, but it would have been just too much money if we were to change the whole footprint of the house. As an afterthought I wondered if we should have put the entertainment wall right next to the fireplace, which would have been much better for seating, but we would have lost a lot of light if we eliminated the large window.

The fireplace isn't done yet and it's just a bit of a dumping ground right now! Nothing except maybe the floor candles will stay. I may try a mirror but it could just reflect the pillar between the couches. I like the idea of a basket with kindling although we are going to install the gas logs (my house smells like a campfire for days after a real wood fire, for some reason).

We don't need window coverings for privacy reasons, but I was thinking about using linen panels - until we installed the trim. Now that I see the craftsman style details on top of the windows that I love so much I'm having a change of heart about covering them.

The media unit does come in separate pieces but the three sections aren't intended to be separated. The crown molding on top of each section fits together like a puzzle and the sides of the bases are constructed in a way that you can clearly see each is meant to be connected to the other. Maybe we could put something on each side of the unit like plants or sculpture to break up the wood instead.

Whew - that was a lot of detail - thank you!