I didn't follow your other thread and just checked this one, working my way from the bottom to the top, so I saw the no curtain version first. I thought "what a lovely room, what could she possibly need help with - it's great, as is!" Then I realized it was the after, but it's glorious with NO curtains. The window is perfectly proportioned, fitting between your art and furniture - there is no room for curtains without it looking cramped, crowded and just too much. Even sheers take away from the clean lines and crisp features. The shutters actually add the softness you need, compared to all the dark and hardness of the black. You think you can't live with it as is, but you can! Really, you can and someday you'll see it and be soooo happy you didn't let yourself put up curtains! eta: I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it, but try moving your chairs so they are offset 1/8 turn. So instead of sitting at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock, they are at 10, 2, 5 & and 7 ish...not sure I have the new numbers right, lol, but hope you understand what I mean.

Since it’s your “welcome home” spot, make it welcoming. I would add a long, colorful runner and some art or pictures that make me happy.. Maybe a mirror to check your look before you leave the house? Will you need a bench for taking off shoes? A shoe rack for storing those shoes? IKEA might still have a bench with cubbies, which accomplishes both seating and storage. I have a cedar chest that doubles as a seat and stores hats and gloves. If you don’t need a seat, a thin console table might be nice for dropping the mail or storing keys, but not if it’s going to become a drop and ignore and look cluttered spot (I do not have a console table because that would happen in my house).

Sounds like you and hubby aren’t on the same page. Buying a table, without ability to return is red flag to me. He bought that rug too without your involvement. The rug is wrong size and style. No photo of the table. But better sit down and talk about this and reach some compromises otherwise, these situations can fester and get ugly over time.

To my eye the fireplace does not have attractive proportions. The hearth is too wide and and overly deep for its height, the wood box is too small, the ceiling trim too bulky, mantle too large and too high. And the doorway looks squashed in beside it. No amount of whitewashing or painting is is going to change any of that. The good news is that it looks like the stone isn't boulders stacked up like some of the photos people have posted above. I think it's rock veneer, flat pieces of rock stuck to a cement/wire mesh base. If it's veneer, you should be able to see that from the side. Can you stand by the round mirror and take a picture for us? Veneer can be removed relatively easily by someone with experience and the right tools. Then you can have the room you want. You can shorten the hearth and put the TV to the left of the fireplace which would look much better than above it. Now is the time to do it, when you're re-doing the floor. If not, be sure to keep a box of the flooring for later if you want to remove or shorten the hearth and need to fill in the floor. My house also had an overpowering stone fireplace and the best thing we ever did was replace it with a normally-proportioned fireplace surround. IMO these large stone fireplace walls look great in big chalet-style homes with high ceilings, and are out of place in regular homes.