I remember this house. The off center media/fireplace doesn’t bother me. I remember one of the commenters suggested painting the built-ins the color of the wall...I liked how that looked. Will you be doing your kitchen too? That whole room + kitchen should be cohesive. Depends largely on budget too.

Do you have inspiration photos? That would help too.

I agree with you that it should flow with the kitchen -- that is where I am getting stuck. As of this time, I don't think we'll update the kitchen -- it's a pretty large house (5600 sq ft), so I feel like if we updated kitchen white for instance, we'd have to enamel the trim of the entire house white.

What do you think of the current wall color with the current trim? I believe it is Basket Beige by SW.

I'll work on finding some inspo photos. I don't have any saved at the moment. Hoping to get some ideas here first as a starting point.

how would you describe your style? Modern, traditional, etc?

I would describe it is coastal/cottage + a little traditional. Lots of blues, whites, greens in our decor, wall art, etc.

Love these colors

I’m not a pro so just take this for what it’s worth.

A lot of wood can be stunning. Embrace it.

I like the wall paint. I like the idea of painting the built-ins to blend into the wall.

I think the recessed arch and fireplace date things the most. I would focus on that area.

Will you keep your TV where it is shown here? That seems a little awkward.

Change the Fireplace surround- paint white or go simpler in design.

Change the tile, maybe.

Or, what about something like this? It wouldn’t need to be shiplap...could be tile, or just drywall (cover the arch). Opt for a floating mantel versus one with legs.

If you want to paint everything in that wall white and head into that direction, have an oak mantel to tie things together. Like here. See how that tiny bit of oak on the fireplace ties things together?

I‘m a big fan of painting things white and black. I have no idea on your style. But, if it were my house, I would paint the surround white or black, change the tile there, and I would also change the hardware on all cabinets, kitchen and built-in. I would add a subway tile backsplash In your kitchen too.

does any of this appeal to you?

Beautiful room. Great natural light. Wouldn't change much.

If you don't need to cover those windows for privacy and/or light control, don't. With all those open windows, do consider adding live plants to the room.

My personal preference is for medium - large white matching lamp shades on tall then lamps (even if the lamps themselves don't match. Consider why you chose the color shade you have and if swapping the shades (if not the lamps) might suit your taste.

You could add a tall wide corner curio cabinet with glass front doors painted the same color as your wall to the corner left of the built ins, preferably so that the space between the left built in and the corner cabinet is the same as between the right built in and the exterior wall.

A glass front bookcase (about a foot deep) that is the same height and at least the same length of the sofa placed behind the sofa could serve as a room divider without darkening or crowding the room. You have enough room to make that cabinet an "L" shape and wrap a shorter (arm height) part of the cabinet around the left side of the sofa for use as a side table. Doing that would likely nudge the sofa forward into a conversational grouping ... which can make a room move inviting as long as it doesn't crowd the room.

The sofa needs to be a distance from the tv that is comfortable for you. While I very much like your coffee table, it just emphasizes that your furnishings are not actually placed in a conversational grouping. A large rug and moving the front legs of the sofa to be atop the edge of it and moving your chairs so their front legs are atop the edge of it might make the room have a cozier vibe.

Here’s a good before and after that might serve as inspiration.

Thanks All!

Katie B, I love the photo you shared with the shiplap and floating wood mantle. I am going to save this. You bring a good point that having a little piece of wood in the mantle can tie it all together.

And like the idea of subway tile in the kitchen - that’s what we have in our current home. You think that would look ok with the maple cabinets?

I like the painted built Ins as Katie showed, but I would paint them the wall color. I think that once you introduce “ white” you will have a snowball effect and create a need to do everything white.

100%

https://industrystandarddesign.com/kitchen-backsplash-ideas-with-maple-cabinets/

subway and other ideas

subway is the obvious choice.

I think you could get away with something like this too- this reads coastal to me. It’s a Moroccan tile.

I am liking the subway tile and am thinking this small change could make a big difference. Here is a bigger picture of our kitchen...

It’s very nice. I don’t think I‘d do anything, now that I’ve seen the whole thing. Maybe just Pendants over the island and hardware. Beautiful house.

What about painting the built ins and FP blue?

I would pick a coastal blue and paint the built ins/fireplace- all but the mantle and surround, leave the mantle/surround and trim wood to match the kitchen.

@BeverlyFLADeziner I am liking that! Any suggestions on a blue paint color?

Thoughts on if this rug could be placed in the room? (Pic of our current family room) or too much blue?

https://www.potterybarn.com/m/products/bosworth-tufted-wool-rug-blue/?cm_cat=Google&sku=9076063&catalogId=84&cm_ite=9076063&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0cX79KG96AIVOv_jBx1m0gEnEAQYASABEgLD-_D_BwE&cm_ven=PLA&cm_pla=Rugs > Patterned Rugs

Any chance you could make fireplace maple again but keep everything else blue? I like the idea of keeping that to tie in to kitchen.

Thank you!!

Love the blue idea. Not too much blue imho.

would you do the whole wall? Or just the built Ins?

Maybe you could carry the blue from the entertainment center wall to the window wall too, and break up the yellow.

You could paint the wall around the built ins as an accent wall but NOT paint the built ins. Nothing beats a natural wood finish in good condition. Anything painted will, inevitably, need to be repainted and begin to look awful until its done.

I‘m with suezbell, conserve the wood. I’m not against painting wood and stone. I usually recommend it actually. But here, it’s such a beautiful house. Focus on modernizing the fireplace and the built-ins will appear updated by association. You could remove some doors on the built-ins so there’s more depth, too.

here is another idea

But don’t paint the built-ins

The blue you select has to coordinate with your seating. I can't make a suggestion over the computer.

Here's what SW Paints think the color might be.