Thanks all! I'm also relieved to hear that I'm not weird for missing a large mirror. I DO have a TV armoire currently in my dining room full of board games and the printer; I should find a new place for that to avoid armoire overload as the rooms are open to each other. It's not one of those super frilly French types, but the mirrors do add to the bedroom feel. I'll have to move some stuff out of the way to get a photo. I did find an old dusty photo of the top of it that should give a good idea as to the style (and height relative to my 8 ft ceilings). The lower part is pretty predictable. :)

Love the color of the walls and that wonderful paneled wall. I agree that the tv is in the right place on the paneled wall. Here is a floor plan which may work for you. Use the space that is not under the catwalk above as the seating area. This way the walk thru will be under the lower ceiling. Tuck a 87" wide sofa with a chaise end on the right of the fireplace with a console behind. Install wall sconces for lighting at the console instead of lamps. Lose the big lamp (it's ver nice) and use smaller scaled floor lamps. Get a matching 66" loveseat and angle off the sofa. this will create a more open layout and not so boxed off from the kitchen. Add two matching swivel chairs. The coffee table is a 48" diameter with four round ottomans or floor pillows. The rug is 12 x 15 so that it anchors the furniture and includes the paneled wall and the fireplace into one cohesive area. Along the staircase wall is 10" deep low cabinet or bookcase up to the ceiling for games, books, etc. Something like an Ikea Pax with frosted doors, simple and functional for storage. Hope this helps.

Is this staged or your stuff? Can you take more pix from different "walls" in the room so we can judge the scale and size of things? This looks like a realty photo with a slight pano to the pix which really distorts the room and furniture.

Keep in mind that if you build in something you don't have to put it all the way in the back of this recess. If you put something in 24" deep bring it out so it's flush (depending on whether you have something with a door that needs to be able open - flush may not be the right answer). Either build in a false back to bring it out, or once you put a top on the lower part no one can tell that it is 24" from the back instead of 25+. It looks like there is an outlet there, so you do have an opportunity to do what Beverly suggests. If you don't think you would use a beverage cooler just a cabinet with shelves on top would fill the space as well.