Those are lovely. Our FROG (finished room over garage) is a Study for now, with a reading nook in the double window dormer. It also has a door on it, as I will probably make it into a guest bedroom at some point in the future, or a playroom for the grandkids might better serve us. The geothermal for that floor is housed in what looks like a closet. I guess part of the FROG is the bathroom, but the door to the bathroom is accessible from the hall which is not over the garage. So the steam shower area is over the garage part. But I guess what I am getting at, is that if there is a hall bath close, your family could just use that and save your bonus room space. One thing that might help you, is just find inspirational rooms that you love. They don't have to be bonus rooms necessarily. Just find what you are wanting, and then apply it to your bonus room.

Since you are not focusing everyone on a TV, I would suggest not thinking of arranging one rigid furniture group focused on one anything. Instead, think of more varied furniture pieces and looser arrangements that turn different directions, focus inside and outside, include lighter weight pieces that can move to join others, and in general and specific serve those different functions. The fact is, the living ("family") room arrangement has been contracting for some time. For more and more of us there's no need for a reading or sewing lamp if 95% of everything we read is on an iPad and many of us don't read or sew anyway. Less need for a dining table for those who often eat in their favorite chairs facing the TV, messier kids maybe kneeling at a coffee table. Of course absolutely no need for a table to spread a newspaper out because we don't take newspapers. Once-important desks have become strictly decorative objects now that we pay our bills, write friends and chat on our cell phones from easy chairs. No need for a game table when the games are in our laps and we're playing by ourselves with one eye on the TV. The classic little sewing table? Gone, with its lamp. Fact is, the standard living room arrangement these days needs to provide one favorite sitting place per person, equipped with one place to set a drink, from which the entire weeks' home leisure can be lived and many chores performed. In most homes at least a couple of those seats recline, and almost all are pointed at a television screen. The "window treatments" typically frame one view--of a standard back yard (not several views out over 52 acres). The typical family is not there most daylight hours anyway, and the seating typically ignores it to focus on a TV plus fireplace. This trend does not reflect every family's life, of course, but it has profoundly influenced what furniture is found in the typical living room these days (fewer and fewer pieces) and how they're typically arranged. (And, no, I don't admire this lifestyle contracture. I love, love, love my computer, and my own favorite chair, but hate that a beautiful, once-important old desk mainly gathers dust.) In any case, it doesn't sound as if you live your lives quite that way, You even knit, and with no TV you all presumably require other light and surfaces for leisure tasks. So maybe turn away from current standard arrangements to decide what pieces your lifestyle needs and where? You might try looking at pictures in old, pre-computer decorating books and magazines. Back when people typically turned the TV on to catch a favorite show, then turned it off.

I would get the 9x12 rug rather than 8x10. Swivel recliners or chairs for sure. they don't need to match. I would remove all the little things. no need for the ladder shelf unit, how about a tall green plant, would be a nice transition to the outdoor area. I would also do top down/bottom up blinds for the windows to control light while watching TV (the glare) the consoles are good. do you need the storage? rather than mount the TV on the wall? I would paint the whole wall that the TV will be againt a SW Naval, to obscure the TV and create a calming when viewing the TV. (also an interesting color for a room that gets a lot of natural light.) a shibori pattern for chair upholstery? Keep it simple, let the few pieces and the new rug shine.

Here are my thoughts…I would keep the rug if it’s long enough for the new furniture configuration (unless you really want to get rid of it)…it’s beautiful and fits with the aesthetic in your home, looks to be in good shape, goes with the recliner, and could be a great counterpoint to more updated upholstered furniture with solid or subtle patterns. I think because it’s a walk through to the dining room, the best furniture layout is a sofa with two chairs flanking the fireplace…to keep the room open. But because it’s so spacious, the scale of the sofa needs to be bigger. Think long velvet chesterfield sofa. The square table could be one of the end tables, along with another end table, and topped with similarly scaled table lamps. Your buffet lamps could go on the buffet in the dining room. Move the secretary to the other side of the opening to the dining room, but on the same wall. Then a new chair in front of it angled on the fireplace…either a swivel or a light weight frame chair with upholstered seat/back that could serve as seating for the secretary, if you use it that way, and for the conversation area; or if not, then a fully-upholstered, stationary, comfy chair. The recliner would move to the right of the fireplace. These chairs would sit closer to the fireplace, rather than in the corners, accessorized with different floor lamps and small drink tables. The rug would be moved closer to the windows so it would be under the front legs of the chairs and the sofa. Lovely home!