Thanks for all of the ideas!!! I knew I'd find some good advice on GW. Let me address the tv issue. We like its present spot (but can move it down) because you don't see it when you walk into the room. The cable box and DVD player are stashed in the closet directly behind it so no media console nor visible cables (the tv will be moved over the ones in the photo) neither. In our last apartment, the tv took center stage and we definitely watch tv less now. If it were smaller, I think it could go elsewhere and not be such a focal point, but a 46" tv is not so easy to work with. Here are extra photos give you a sense of the rest of the space. That is not a clear table, we haven't gotten our tabletop yet! LOL In the corner, we've put stacked chairs and a media console temporarily. We are planning to put an upright piano here. Tibbrix - interestingly, the glare hasn't bothered us. Maybe because it's winter and often overcast and snowing? But once we get our window treatments, we'll just close them to watch tv. That particular window is quite small and doesn't have a great view. The view's actually great from the kitchen and dining area! I think we're okay with losing the view from the living area. Aside from the glare and loss of view, do you see anything wrong with having the sofa with its back to the window? Olychick - thanks for "validating" my sofa and its placement! I've been back and forth about it, sometimes I think it looks great in the space, other times I think it's too big. I think your idea for tv placement is interesting and could work if our tv were smaller. Ours is such a behemoth... Celticmoon & Camlan - I saw in another apartment something along the lines of what you both suggest. They utilized the back 2/3 by the window as their living area (two sofas facing each other) and the remaining front 1/3 as a kids' play area. There was no tv to contend with. I thought this looked great, but couldn't think of what we'd do with that extra space. Your suggestions are definitely giving me some ideas though... Teacats - you said to float the chair under the mirror. Where would you put the mirror? I thought about a sectional, too. The only thing is we would want it to be flexible in that it can be rearranged to a different configuration for a different space. We may live here for as little as 5 years. Everyone's ideas have been really helpful! I'm planning to move the sofa with DH this weekend so that it faces the tv. I'll try it out both 2/3 of the way back and all the way back and let you know what we think. I have a couple questions for now - 1. Mirror being too high. Our sofa back is only 31" high and if the mirror is hung much lower, you could see the reflection of the back of our heads when we're sitting there. This is weird to me. Another reason I hung the mirror high is because I read that with low ceilings, you want to hang mirrors/art on the high side because your eye gets drawn upward, which makes the ceilings appear higher. What do you all feel about that? 2. One thought I'm having is to put a different kind of seating where the chair is where DH and I could sit together to watch tv in its current position. It'd have to be big enough to accommodate both of us, but not a full-on loveseat, which would not look right in the space. Something sized between a loveseat and a lounger. Should have a back and arms for comfort. Does what I'm picturing exist outside my mind?

Have you considered pulling your furniture away from the walls? I know that is not going to make it brighter but just something I noticed. I too think a rug would look great and lighten the space with some color. Try a polypropylene rug. We have pets and ours hold up well. I have a friend with 4 kids and her rugs always look nice. Just make sure to clean up spills when they happen. Esale rugs has many to choose from and great prices along with free shipping. I would add some lamps next to the couch and maybe try another floor lamp next to the chair... or you could find a small side table and place a lamp on it. Lamps are very important for ambiance lighting. Rooms look more bright and balanced when you have a lighting source that is not just from overhead. You have a lovely space and I am sure with a few changes you can brighten it up!

@ partim - Thank you for the suggestions. I do not want to carry that big chair back into the room. I think that if I can score some smaller swivel chairs, that's the route I want to go. We do love using the fireplace, but wish it was a little better situated to heat the rest of the home. As it is, it only heats up a small corner of the home in our living room which is only connected to the kitchen (but the kitchen gets none of the warmth). I'm going to go with the love seat where it is for about a week and then give your suggestion to swap the couch and love seat a try. @ tqtqtbw - You've given me some things to consider. The trim throughout the house is the same as you see it in the photos above (a dark stained wood color) - to me I don't like it. Perhaps I should just give all my trim a good dusting/cleaning and a fresh coat of polish. Maybe the color will catch me a bit more. One odd thing about our home is that throughout the rest of the house, all the window sills are a nice white and gray polished stone (not wood). This was not used in the living room addition in the photos above, and unfortunately there are no windows in the kitchen directly (I presume there was a few that were taken out to add the living room onto the house). I live in Ohio, and in thinking over your question about large rooms that are tiled, I don't exactly know what people here do (several of my friends have hardwood throughout their homes - and I helped install them!). The living room addition is above a crawl space. I don't notice the floor being cold in winter now because it's carpeted, but I'm willing to bet that if we tiled that living room the floor wood be freezing in winter. Something else to consider I guess. Thank you very much for the tile color recommendation. That is helpful. I really like gray stone colors but realize I should lean more toward something warm as that will transition better to the wood I currently have. I've also never laid tile flooring but I do have experience with wood and am hoping to put the floor in myself. Ugh. How do people make these decisions?

it's nice to get the furniture off the wall but you don't need a walkway behind the longest sofa. you DO need it behind the new location of the love seat around the back and the kitchen side to the back door. moving the 3 seater back up against the wall and shifting the love seat with it will open up more space on the kitchen side opening up the room even more. or just move the sofa to the wall and leave the loveseat so you still have a path to the doors across the seating area. the cabinet you have angled in the corner now can act as a sofa table behind the love seat just to give you and idea or it can go under the opening to your kitchen or along the wall under your mirror. love your mirror by the way, I wouldn't paint it. the white chair looks great in the room. first picture to show that with a sofa table you don't look at the back of a couch and leaves a walkway thru the seating. imagine the left sofa in the 2nd picture against a wall the loveseat forming and L with an end table between. the 3rd an alternate location for the chair just make sure you still have comfortable access to the door .