@Beth H et al.. yes, and I'm really thrilled with all of the recommendations, everyone has style and it's great to see varying opinions. So I don't want to think anyone has wasted their time, I think down the road in the near future, we will go with something built out pretty much like you were suggesting early on. As we just finished the remodel within the last year, we are not up for building anything out or even tiling the wall at this point. We don't need new furniture at the moment (kids will ruin it anyway). For now, we were looking for something minor / superficial, if that's the correct verbiage. While we know now, that it may not look "perfect", it's where we're at now. That said, we don't want to do anything (now) with the fireplace, what we are open to is: some type of shelving (which would have to be shallow in depth, I think), definitely plants (faux preferably), artwork or like I mentioned (which may have gotten lost), is maybe B&W canvas print collage (I'm a part-time photographer and we have zero photos of our kids displayed). We are also open to putting a small corner piece to the left side, but it would have to be very small footprint as we only have about 12" from the wall to the lightswitch near the slider, but after hearing/seeing some of the plant options, I think we prefer that. Another note, we (I) have a floor subwoofer to the right hand side, you can see my wife's aerogarden sitting on top of it until we find a home for it :) Hopefully, that helps, again, I really do appreciate everyone weighing in and taking a lot of time for the mock ups. -Matt

Takes pics of the whole space and why shiplap at all.To mee the sink and counter are one style and the window trim and the key art quite another and now you want to add ship lap.?

I think shiplap has sailed, but if you like it, go ahead. When you say "close out" do you mean just drywall over the recesses? Because that seems like it would be a waste of space. Maybe built ins of some kind over there? What's behind that wall? Can you capture the space in the adjoining room? The more I look at the photo, the more I see how slightly odd the layout is with the corner fireplace - the edges aren't symmetrical, are they? Hmm. I think that might be what throws that corner off a bit and I'm honestly not sure how to fix it.

I love black floors. I don't generally like navy and black together, but there are always exceptions. Teal or green would be my suggestion from the colors you listed however it is nearly impossible to offer creative suggestions without a photo. Are you creating the texture with tile? Art? Something else? What other colors are in the area? What is the color of your kitchen cabinets? What is the color of the banquette? Is your space modern? Contemporary? Traditional? There are too many variables without being able to see the area. I have orangish wood floors in my kitchen and dining area with a black accent wall.