The look I was aiming for was transitional, sort of casual traditional with maybe a little eclecticism. I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull that off. Yes, you can, and are well on the way. But, IMO, it is hard to fit the Queen Anne furniture pieces in. And you need to move the accessories from formal to contemporary. Btw, if the rug is part of the contemporary look, I did have a more busy, sort of persian-looking rug in the room, but I didn't think it looked too good, so I went for something more graphic. I like the rug a lot. But since it is going to set the stage for the room, if you dont like it, then make that the next thing to switch out, because it is going to drive the color scheme. Does the plant behind the chair look ok? I like it, and I think fake plants are just fine as long as they are clean and not covered with dust. Buy an uplight ($15) and set it in the pot shooting the light up at and through the leaves. Use a timer so it comes on automatically. You might raise the plant slightly so more of the greenery shows - try placing it on some books or a box. I will get a nice matte and frame for my dog drawing in chalk pastel, done by my brother. What color frame do you think I should get, goldish? I'm thinking of pairing it with two other pictures of my dogs in similar frames above the chair. I like the idea of pairing with two other pictures. I would stay away from gold. You could do three identical black frames. Another issue is the leather chair. I think the leather chair looks great. I will remove the candle sconces and maybe put sconces by the mirror. Maybe hold off on this area until you do some other things. In a perfect world, I would replace the Queen Anne console with something more in the style of the TV cabinet. For now, I would remove the sconces and try a couple things. Move the rectangular mirror over there, or just for the heck of it, see what the oval mirror would look like turned on its side. To me, a mirror + sconces is a formal look you are moving away from. However, if that is in a hallway to the dining room and not really part of this room, then maybe keep it formal. I thought light sconces might be a good solution above the sectional at one time, but when I used my planter things (holding my artificial plants) to sort of help me get an idea where they should go and how they might look, it never seemed right. But maybe I should just put one on the far right and far left end of the sectional, like MJLB said if I understood. Decorating above a sofa or sectional is difficult. You might consider this: Leave one of the two walls above the sofa empty. Decorate only the wall above the longer end of the sofa and use one large picture. Measure the length of the longer section lets say it is 80 inches long. Find one picture that measures in width somewhere between 3/4 and 7/8 of that length. Using the 80 inch example, the width of your picture would be between 60 and 70 inches. Now, go shopping for artwork with that width. You could even do that as you think about a new area rug, and whichever comes along first becomes the building block for the other. I'll look at lamps at a lamp store. Perhaps I'll buy a lamp on a pole by the leather chair. And maybe add a tiny table? Or a pole lamp with a little table built in? Pole lamps with built in tables are so practical, but I never see them in the better stores. Wodkas is really nice. It's funny, I was looking for squarish looking lampshades the other day, thinking they would look good above my mantle. Instead, I got the two lamps you see on the mantel. It's not too late to return them; they even still have the plastic on the shades. Personally, yes, I would return them and look for something more interesting. I like the idea of lamps on the fireplace, but another option would be to offset the picture to one side and put a blue vase or one lamp or something else next to it. Now the big issue of whether to paint the fireplace wall . . . what I visualize is probably too formal to work in my house though. The painted fireplace and all the other items in Ingrids room are gorgeous. But that is a more formal style than you seem to be going for. I would leave the brick alone, but give a good cleaning to the brass surround and then spray paint it with black paint (we can give you more info on how to do that - it is easy and cheap). It looks like you use the fireplace, so maybe shop the internet for new fireplace tools that are more showy. Down the road, replace the mantle with something a little bigger, and replace the country looking corbels with something more striking. It is all in the details.

I think your first task is to find a rug to set the tone for the room. You could have carpet bound in the size you need if you want to stay mono-chromatic. A tone on tone rug in cream, tan and chocolate might add a neutral but interesting touch. It only needs to be a couple of feet wider than the sofa unless you add new end tables that you want to sit on it too. I would keep it 12" away from the hearth though. Once the rug is found, if it has a variety of tones in it, use the darkest shade for your chairs. Be sure and take your tape measure with you so you can determine the right height on them. I don't think they should be taller than the sofa. I don't think the two chairs have to match, and it would be nice if one of them had a pattern to the fabric. Here is a mono-chromatic room, but with a touch of pattern and texture.

I don’t know your rug budget, so these are just ideas. I love this first one for it’s very cool-retro 80’s contempo vibe. And brown is coming back in a big way, your sofa was a great choice. https://www.cb2.com/hogan-handknotted-mocha-viscose-rug/f22504 I love this one because of the design and colors: https://www.cb2.com/eros-hand-knotted-brown-rug/f25598

I serious need of some direction on what to do on the wall behind the sectional, as well as area rug ideas. TIA!