carol-well I CAN get to Canada from here quite easily...but I think it'd be easier travel with a snowmobile and that I do not have. ;) In our last home we had a fireplace in the corner and the TV on the adjacent wall with a sectional very similar to redroze. It did work out well but I think redroze's dimensions and your own being more square would make it all the better. Our 'TV' wall was much longer than the fireplace wall. I know that putting it in the corner does eat up more room and that is one negative but in our case it made the most sense and I really liked it. I felt like you could very comfortably watch the TV and get the warmth from the fireplace ("my" seat was of course the closest one to it). The TV wasn't massive and really didn't 'steal the show'. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the fireplace and the tv in one frame and we have moved on from there. I like Senai01's window seat pic - that is awesome. Too bad your window is too far removed, that would really work well otherwise.

Just wanted to update. Ended up trying a few different designs and this is what we have now. Beams need to be stained. Could use some lighting suggestions. Morning Room: Great Room - the ridge beam did end up being really large but it doesn't obstruct the view from the second floor. There are some dark spots behind the beams that we'd like some ambient light in. Any ideas on placement locations and types? Either spots to paint the beams, or maybe spots in the eaves to paint the wall behind?

My husband and I purchased a 1971 ranch that we're renovating a year ago, and we have the same problem with the lack of natural light. Even though we do have what would seem to be plenty of windows in the main living areas, they all open up onto covered porches or patios, a garage (used to be a carport) and a patio converted into a sunroom that isn't all that sunny, lol. So I pulled out my bag of tricks that I use when staging to visually brighten my rooms. Lighter furniture/accessories, white drum shades on my table lamps, light natural linen drapes, etc., all make a difference. You will find that removing the popcorn and painting the ceilings white will make a HUGE difference in how much lighter/brighter the rooms feel. Even though we didn't have popcorn in this house (we've removed it in the past) we did have a flat, swirly texture that we removed because we know how much flat white ceilings can brighten a room. While I often advise clients to wrap the wall color onto their ceilings in their cavernous two-story living rooms, yours will probably benefit most from just keeping the ceiling white as your slant doesn't appear to be huge. Accessible Beige is a lovely color, I used it in my mother's home. Good luck, from one ranch lover to another! :)

oh boy, not something you want to "ask a pro on the internet about" you need eyes on and spend the money on it. Your contractor should be well aware that this is not all about esthetics but more about not having to redo it. Code and safety come first here, get someone there eyes on with real solutions.