akamainegrower....you hit the nail right on the head....:) This is why I have been struggling so much with the situation. I have worried that reducing the size of the hearth might make the wall look too overbearing - out of proportion. When we removed the wood stove and the big black stove pipe that went up the middle of the design, I loved this even more. I designed it and drew it up right down to the exact amount of bricks needed, then had a local guy brick it up for me. I wanted a slight rise/arch, not a McDonald's type arch and when he first did the small left column, it was just too much. He kept telling me that it would blend together once finished. When he left that day, I just kept looking at it and knew I would look at it the rest of my life....so I removed it. When he came back the following day, he wasn't surprised and admitted that after leaving he told his other workers I would probably do that. Glad I didn't disappoint him...LOL I know I just need to weigh out the benefit vs the desire to have the additional room....:( I also know that once started...there is no going back. The home was built in 1979 and we removed the wall (engineered metal support beam) between the living room and dining/kitchen room which really opened it up. It allows you to view this accent wall from the living room (now great room) which you couldn't before. We removed a window and door, and installed Marvin French doors that open to a deck which lets a lot of light in. The extra 2 feet I would gain would allow me to center the table with the ceiling light fixture and the French doors. I am perplexed that if I do it and hate/ruin it I will regret it and if I don't do it I will always wonder what it could have been. I do appreciate your input. It helps to have someone on the outside looking in. I especially appreciate you pointing out the same concerns I have had.

You will get more responses if you post this along with a photo of the room in the Home Decorating forum.

There's another thread about design seeds which is a website that takes lovely photos and uses them to inspire color schemes. In the thread linked below, I suggest ways in which you can use a palette to create rooms that all coordinate and flow without being all one color. You might want to take a look at that. You've got a lot of beautiful rooms to work with. Pretty generally, the best place to change a color, if not at a doorway, is at an inside corner...though if you have a good painter, you can break it at outside corners too. Here is a link that might be useful: Applying design seeds

I’m looking out the window at your glorious view and wondering why you are trying to rivet attention inside the smaller space of the room with dark graphics, flash things, and saturated colors rather than bringing in more of great wide open to extend the space. In particular I suggest removing the two black chairs near the window that sit there like a wall in favor of chairs lighter and brighter, with a more open profile. If you absolutely don’t want to give up a deep comfy lounge chair near the window maybe something like this or in a very light grey If you want to tile the base of your bar, borrow the cobalt blue of your Murano glass, which will send the eye back out to the view. Personally I would do something less expensive than tiling, like paint or peel-stick wallpaper Tuck more of the rug under the white sofa.