Photos? Budget? "MSM"?

Your room is very traditional (and gorgeous!). If you go full-on MCM, you will be struggling against the room's inherent style. My suggestion is to lean into the traditional or even somewhat contemporary with clean lines on the sofa, chairs, etc. - straight arms versus rolled, low, straight backs, etc. You can work in some of the MCM that you love in accessories and possibly the rug. Try to keep the furnishings neutral as much as possible and incorporate your love of contemporary/MCM with throw pillows. Throw pillows are economical, easy to switch out and can completely change -or- define the tone you are looking for. Best of luck!

Try creating an ideabook with 10 or 20 rooms you love. Do any of these popular MCM living rooms appeal to you?

https://www.houzz.com/photos/mid-century-modern-living-space-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_717~s_2115

To me that seems more of a pass-through/ hallway area that leads to the kitchen. Seems it has lived without use for a while now, seems like this setup would have a coffee table in the way of a high-traffic walking area? How often do you use that door?

1, make it the dining room, turn the nook area into a coffee cozy area?

2. get rid of the sofa, and place the two chairs facing the fireplace, bring in a console

I find the very traditional, very white wainscoting at odds with the mid-century style furniture.

I also think we are missing photos of other area. Are you using what is meant to be the dining room for the living room? The tray ceiling using dictates what is below it.

See what I mean?

We need a floor plan - looks like there is an exterior door, an opening to the kitchen, and openings to other rooms? The ceiling fan needs to go…

I agree we need a floor plan to get our bearings, as the second photo, in particular, seems distorted. But once a floor plan is in hand, it looks like you have the needed big items, and the rest will be fun and pretty easy to accomplish.

You should move seating towards the fireplace. the sofa should face it, with a chair on either side and a rug that everything fits on. then you can figure out what to do with the rest of the space. maybe a book shelf and a console table. you dont want your living room seating to be arranged like a school dance with everyone up against the wall.

First, given the adjacency to kitchen......was this a dining space? What do the other areas of your home look llike? Draw and measure this space and provide an idea of how you plan to USE it. It certainly has no functional purpose as is, other than to hold a couch and two chairs.

If you want it to function as seating......adjunct to a family room......or for any other? You have to give the room a purpose. It's not a showroom in a furniture store.

With the nightstand, place the brown sofa towards the window. Also, hang a piece of art on the back wall. Everything else appears to be in order.

I think you can totally do MCM in this space. There are plenty of examples of homes with historic type features and MCM furnishings.

Are you up for painting the space all white? I think it would do wonders for minimizing the more traditional features of your room. If you don't use the ceiling fan, swap it for an MCM light fixture. I'd place the furniture on a thick pile, shag rug near the fireplace, and get more contemporary artwork for above the fireplace.

These pics show how much white paint can neutralize the historic feel of a space and provide a cleaner backdrop for more modern furnishings.

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@elcieg

I agree it's an oddly designed space, but this is indeed the living room in a split foyer home. The formal diniing room is to the left of the kitchen with an identical tray ceiling.

@ShadyWillowFarm and @mjlb I have added a floor plan and clarifying notes. I plan to replace all lighting.

Would it make sense to switch the dining room and family room? The dining room furniture would float in the room, and thus leaving lots of pathway. The present dining room probably has more solid wall for furniture?

So on the floor plan, the room labelled family room is what you call the living room, and the room labelled living room is what you call dining room? If that is the case, it does seems like it might work better reversed.

Seeing the floor plan Ill go back to what I said, seems like a passthrough area to the kitchen, and because of where the doorway to the kitchen is, clustering too much furniture there will become a pain. I would put two chairs in front of the fireplace, is that something you could try so we can see? Or as I suggested this should be the diningroom.

I strongly feel like the floor plan is mis labeled.

I've added more pictures that will hopefully better show the layout. I've never thought to switch the living room and dining room! That's an intriguing idea.

@RL Relocation LLC I like the two chairs by the fire place. I would also have to put a dining room table in that area. Would it work to have the chairs facing away from the table?

Looks like the kitchen has a banquette spot for casual dining. I think you could use either room for living/dining. If you use the fireplace frequently, or would like to, I would make it a living room. I see stairs, and assumed they went up due to the location, but since there are three bedrooms on the main floor, I am not sure. It looks like the main traffic route to the kitchen is through the fireplace room, so you need to keep that route clear. I think you need to decide which room would function best for which purpose. Flip a coin???😆

You need to do some test runs, start by trying the two grey chairs there see if you love it, but i feel like the dining room would be way more balance, and accessible from the kitchen in this area than in the much larger room its in now. much easier to decorate the larger space and get the feel you want.

Not to be pendantic, but I think the floor plan may not be drawn correctly in some key areas. If you look at the plan with stoop at the bottom of the page, and living room left of foyer, I think the left wall of the living room should be same length as the right wall. That would make the kitchen (tall cabinets) closer to the front of the house, and possibly the overall kitchen larger as well. The eat-in part of kitchen,near the patio, may be larger than drawn, and the doorway into the family room is probably much wider than drawn. The fireplaced family room may be wider than drawn, as the window would not fit next to the fireplace, or maybe the fireplace is drawn too wide. The hallway looks more than 5-ft wide, which could be, but is not typical.

If tv is a consideration, the left wall of the family room has a pass through, so the right wall would be the tv location. Similarly, in the living room, the right wall is a pony wall, so the left wall would be the tv location.

The fan in the family room, and light fixture in living room, lead me to believe that the builder's intent was for the living room to be a dining room, and the family room to be the living room. I think they are basically the same size room, except the family room could perhaps borrow a bit of space from the hallway.

Floors def. Need to be refinished, they are all buckled

Following

Swapped the living room and dining room as suggested. Is this any better? I need to change lighting, add a rug etc. Is that art going to work in this space? Suggestions on rugs, curtians... Is that black working? Is that black and gray giving garage color vibes? Thank you so much.

Looks much more comfortable in the current space. I don’t think the accent wall is needed with everything else going on on the walls. A spectacular light and rug will be huge! Maybe some side panels on the window with a simple black rod.

bravo, this looks amazing, can we see the dining room too?!