thregrad and dezinerchick - Thanks so much for your replies and suggestions - you both are thinking along the lines of hilltop, so I'll definitely be taking those ideas and see how they work for the room - if I get the house, that is. dezinerchick, you mentioned blinds on the window - what do you suggest for the door - I'm not one to have a pane of glass uncovered where, though it's in the backyard, one can look through it, esp. during the night. I love my modular I currently have, but it's too big for this room, and the color doesn't go. I don't know what's under the carpeting there - the owners say concrete, but hard to believe that unless it was an addition after they built the house - the rest of the house is wood flooring, though there is carpet in the living and dining room (can't understand the reasoning behind carpeting a dining room, but that's just me, I guess) I hate that carpet in there and will definitely be changing it to something else, probably wood. But that's a whole other issue. I think I'd like to go more cottage style in this room - any suggestions? Still hoping someone will post a picture of their room that looks similar and how it's laid out. Thanks again.

The issue is lighting first of all-- I see no electric outlet in the floor-- is this house on a concrete slab or on the old-fashioned raised pier foundation where there is crawl space underneath or perhaps even a basement under this living area. If there is access UNDER the floor it is possible to run an electrical outlet (depending on cost of course) so that you can have lights in the middle of the room... You need table/floor lamps if you are going to "float" furniture away from the walls... Personally I would say to have the TV over the fireplace to avoid having 2 focal points If you put the TV on the wall opposite the large front window then your furniture would be turned away from the window AND the fireplace. Plus that means glare on the flatscreen--not the best viewing format... If your daughter is going to go with mid-century modern look for funiture then the fireplace needs more contemporary mantle--something spare, functional--maybe metal tiles around it and sleek wood beam above... if you mount the flatscreen above the fireplace you would need some shelving to hold the cable box and DVD and sound equip-- She should check Houzz web site for modern/contemporary fireplace photos to get some ideas... it looks like there was brick facing on that wall that was removed She can have open bookshelves and paint the wall an accent color or if she has ones with backs she can paint them with accent color... I agree with not trying to block windows but you could do a reading corner on the part of the window wall closest to room's entrance--so chair could also see flatscreen above fireplace an area rug is great for defining space--have one to anchor the larger seating group in front of the fireplace Personally I am not big fan of one large L shaped couch because it doesn't seem to allow people to do variety of activities w/o bothering any others seated there... So I would favor a couch with back to the wall and chairs in front of the fireplace with table/lamp between to facilitate reading... You could also use two couches--different styles/colors even for more electic look...because if she is shopping on Craigs list she may not find two of anything... The link I posted is search for fireplaces mid-century modern at Houzz--note that the third one down has similar dimensions to your daughter's LA-- fireplace against far wall and that room has small tv in corner the spacing of furniture is necessary because there is no floor outlet-- and to me the couch looks oversized for the space-- that is important design aspect to consider when she is looking for furniture good luck Here is a link that might be useful: Fireplaces at Houzz

Thanks, mcegabby! I could move the couch although right now it's right in the middle of two windows and into front of the tv so not much wiggle room. I should mention that that is not the coffee table that we are keeping, that is a placeholder. I think I'm going to get something larger and square to fill some of the space. So funny that you just mentioned two armless chairs with a small table! I was just playing around with that configuration with 2 chairs from our living room. I'd love your opinion on this... Maybe with a leather pouf/ottoman in that other corner...

I’m so sorry, HU. I’m not trying to be contrary. I‘m just thinking out loud. All these thoughts running through my head....Too many colors. Blue in the rug needs to be considered. Jute might clash with the yellow tone in the wainscoting, but I could be totally wrong on this. Colors need to complement armoire. Lighting might be casting a yellow glow on everything. Two shades of green (curtains & furniture), two shades of red (armoire & floor), cream lower wall, jute upper wall, blue rug, etc. I vote for dealing with lighting first. Then I would paint the walls (upper and lower) the same color as the trim in the fireplace room and let the windows, armoire and art be the stars. Rug will not have to compete with all other colors in the room.