You have a nice space and nice start.

I'm trying to decide if the rug might be a hit with a few tweaks or if it is just a miss. I can't tell the colors in your room. Is your chair tan or gray? Are your walls a light tan or light gray? What color are your cabinets?

Mixing warm tones and cool tones is tough. If you are a decorating novice it is easier to stick with one palette or the other.

Many people skimp on lighting and wonder why their room looks cold. Overhead light casts harsh shadows so be sure to put floor and table lamps on your shopping list.

A long tv console will help the tv wall look more finished.

Thank you so much for your time and input!

That's our problem with the rug, too. I may just move it to the basement. What kind of tweaks could I possibly make? Due to Covid, our dining room chairs still aren't in, but those will be a light gray with nail head trim.

I just painted the entire house in Collonade Gray, so a light gray. The cabinets and trim are close to a tawny oak (I think). All the windows have white casing. I chose the paint color that I did because I thought it worked well with tying the two together.

The chair and couches in the living room are a dark gray (why I'm taking the orange stones in the fireplace and replacing them with a darker earth tone)

I hate overhead lighting and rarely use it in the living room, I totally agree! I now have a floor lamp next to/behind the chair and ottoman, and a table lamp in the other back corner, and have the lighting above the fireplace on a dimmer.

Decided to replace current rug with this one.

This is the toughest fireplace I've come across in 25 yrs as a designer... just to verify..the ceiling is sloped because it's a cathedral ceiling? Hanging pics or a mirror would only draw attn to the slope and make everything look as if it's crooked. SO one thought would be to take the stone up to the ceiling line and use the concrete stain from base to top for cohesiveness, either remove the current mantle or have a larger (statement piece) rustic beam put in place as the mantle. Decorate with only a few accessories on the mantle to help create visual balance. Hope that helps. p.s. I really like the second rug you chose for the dining room. Have fun with your new house!

what is size of the clock on the wall? perhaps that would work on your mantle. Ditch the 2 candles on right and do a large vase with sticks. That would look good.

Hmmm. Dining Room...

Bring some gray into this by doing something cool for the centerpiece.

And some grey into throws in the family room to tie the rooms together...

let me look for pics...

Have you checked into having the fireplace refaced with new cladding material going all the way to the ceiling (and ditch the mantel)? I'm also wondering how expensive it would be to have the fireplace rebuilt without a raised hearth.

I would paint the wall of the fireplace a dark brown from the stone and hang a framed watercolor print. ( I would do the brown even if you do a lot of gray elsewhere.)

Here is what I would do. First get proper Romabio stone stain product to stain that stone. Remove that small scale mantel trim thing. Go white. Put white shiplap above existing stone. Get new rustic mantel to wrap around whole fireplace front and sides. Get white TV console and lower that TV. Get large square coffee table to compliment the fireplace. Add sofa and a chair or two. Possibly a bench in front of fireplace.

Here is white wash product.

None of these mantels shown in previous examples will work as depicted because your mantel will be much higher due to the way the fireplace is designed. So I do not see being able to use a mantel as an option.

Cover it all with stone floor to ceiling like the example below:

This mockup shows your existing stone floor to ceiling, which you probably won't be able to match. So you may need to remove all the stone and start over. But you can cover the black metal box more like you see here. Any mantle would likely need to be about 12" above that top vent to meet code, which is just too high for a mantel. The current mantel is not designed properly and appears to be a stock size shelf someone just hung. It is also likely not up to code. If you could use a mantel, it should wrap around the fireplace. But again, it will be too high.

Missa....before you replace your dining room rug with anything new, WAIT. The one you have right now appears to be too small. A dining room rug should fit beneath all of the chairs when they are pushed OUT, not just tucked under the table. So, wait until you get your new rug until you have your chairs. The new one that you have chosen seems like it will work, color wise. Do you have an entry foyer? If so, perhaps the rug beneath your table could serve as an area rug there? Can you remove the mantle on your fireplace? Or, at the least, wrap it around so that it covers all three sides of the facade? I would replace it, if possible with a thick chunky beam style fireplace, stained dark. Enjoy your new home! And remember...we have all made “mistakes.” And sometimes “mistakes” can actually turn into “opportunities!”

Hi! I just wanted to update on what I've accomplished so far with the fireplace. I ended up using concrete stain on the orangy stone. I kept the mantel (for now, but would love a chunky, dark beam eventually) and added some simple tapered candles, a round mirror and a framed black and white photo to layer over the mirror. Thank you for all the help - I can't make any big moves right now, but I'm happy with what I was able to do with just the stone and some simple decor alone for now. :)

That’s great! I think you made some really smart choices! One tweak. Push the two candles on left a little bit closer together and not in straight line! Can you describe the process you used for the stone treatment please.

I'd like the details on how you used the concrete stain as well. It looks fantastic!