We have a Gambrel Colonial (similar to Dutch but more often found here in New England.) Our living room dimensions are similar to yours. What I have done is to cluster a sitting area around the fireplace. At one end of the room is a piano, and the other end has a drop leaf desk. Yes to the beams! We have them in our home in both the family room and in the living room. I can see some nicely boxed in beams to match the wood in your living room. Have fun decorating! I agree with getting rid of that wallpaper and there's just too much "stuff". Will you be painting any of the woodwork white? If so, consider white beams if you add them.

You need to think about this as two rectangular rooms, not one big L-shaped room. One option would be to put the living area on the left, in the 130.5"x234" space. Then the 9'x12' space by the stairs (and close to the kitchen) is a dining area. From the light fixture in the photo, it looks like that's what the previous owner did (light fixture over dining table). If you don't need a dining room, think about what other function you might need, but regardless, think about that space as a separate area. The remaining space (about 11 x 19.5') is a bit long and skinny for just one seating area, so don't try to fill up the whole space with one conversation group (or TV viewing area, as the case may be). Set up your seating so it feels comfortable and use the left over space for... a library, a piano, a game table, or another small seating area. I've got one corner of my room devoted to a cat tree. I would think about putting my TV on either the 130.5" wall or the 164" wall. Lots of wall space with no windows opposite to create reflections.

Thanks Patricia, I'll upload a PDF with the room dimensions. As far as ditching the fan lights, I tend to agree with you. I hardly ever use the fan lights, it puts off very harsh light. I can't get rid of the fan though, I live near Houston and it gets hot here in the summer! I planned for the recessed lighting to be more for an accent and ambient lighting, just to brighten the room a little. I'm installing caseta dimmers and will probably have them dimmed to 20% or so most of the time and will probably have the ones near the kitchen off most of the time, which is why I'm splitting the lights into 2 circuits. I'm also toying with the idea of installing individual dimmers or relays to control each light individually. But when I have them all on at full brightness I don't want a bunch of shadows, so that's why I'm having trouble with the layout. I'm just not sure if I have enough lights and I also don't want my ceiling looking like a mini golf course, lol. I really prefer 3000K lights, I like how they are close to incandescent bulbs in color and the ones I have are 80 CRI which is average, but they look really good in my kitchen. There were existing 6" cans in the kitchen and I put surface mount halo led's in that are 3000K and the color in the room is very nice, to me. Edit: I added dimensions to the original PDF in the link in my first post. Thanks!

IMO, if you remove the storage bench under the window and remove the quilt rack, you could angle the couch to face the TV and might have room for the leather chair in that conversation area and have ample angled access to the dining room. You could put the area rug in that area. And then a couple of chairs and a lamp table in the area across from the front entrance. And declutter as much as you can.