Do you want to do something like this? Personally, I hated the woodstove that my husband insisted on. The living room was blazing hot and the rest of the house wasn't. The natural direction of the air flow in my house went the opposite way of the main part of the house and the heat never reached the other rooms. Not to mention the mess from the ashes and having to haul wood. We kept a little fan on top that was activated by the heat and it never did a thing. Keeping it at the right temperature by constantly playing with the air intake was a hassle as well. You can get fireplace inserts that blow the heat back out into the room. Can you tell I don't like wood stoves??

That works! Okay so I would use a neutral rug with an ever so slight pattern....a square would be nice but a rectangle works. I do not know the size of your living room so I cannot offer a rug size....just make sure the front legs of the sofa and chairs are on the rug. I would really opt out of 1 of the chairs as this is pretty crowded. But in the meantime possibly push the left chair as close to the window wall as possible as it doesn't appear to be touching it. also push the sofa a bit to the right about 3 or 4 inches towards the console. This should still leave enough space to walk. The sofa looks smashed against the wall and if we move the chair to the wall the sofa should be centered between the two furthest points of the accent chairs. Hope this makes sense :-)

The architect did you no favors when designing that wall. Even before I read the previous responses, I was thinking much the same thing--sheetrock over the niche and visually minimize the basement door. I went looking for an old post on concealed doors. This isn't the one I was thinking of, but covers the same territory: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2523382/making-a-utility-door-disappear#n=7 Basically, you can replace the door with something with no trim, painted the same color as the wall that will completely blend it. It won't be truly hidden, since you will still see the outlines of the door, but it will be much less obtrusive than what you have now, and will let your fireplace be the focal point it ought to be.

Jamal, do not be discouraged by remarks that might sound negative. It's not that anyone is trying to discourage you, but that in order to make progress, we have to address what we see, and we might not understand it. You've got a partially done project, and I don't think we understand where you're trying to go yet ... though I will say you definitely have the modern vibe going on and many things about seem pleasant ... so far. If you have a plan on paper or computer, I'd submit that first and foremost, as it has the be best chance of clarifying your direction. If you don't have that yet, accept 10 lashes for building before the plan was worked out, :-), and create one now -- hand drawn and reasonably accurate is OK, and show us what you're trying to accomplish. If you don't know where you're trying to go, say that, and let get it figured out. (We'll need more information from you.) We have one view now. Also, it would be good if you move to the right and show us another view, transverse to the first one, so that we can get a better idea of the space.