The ceiling could look appropriate stained transparent white or a deeper toned stain. Seems as though there is plenty of light in the room. The decision maybe be determined by what type of furnishings you plan to place in the room. What maybe you should reconsider is your selection of bamboo flooring. Looks as though you have spent a lot to do this addition. Also looks as though you are up north, based on your picture. Sorry but I don't think bamboo floors contribute to increasing the value of a home in a northern address. Oak or maple seem more appropriate.

NO to painting the fireplace. Look at it. See how deep the mortar joints are? Those joints will always be dark because they are recessed, so you will end up with a checkerboard grid that looks awful. Plus, it will be very tedious to paint those joints. Plus, plus, the joints are simply dust catchers. If you had normal joints, it would be different--you'd have a subtle variation in texture. This will look like a huge mistake. See the difference in this photo. Finally: That paneling is surely applied over wallboard. It probably pops off with little trouble leaving wallboard with a few small holes in it from the short paneling nails. Easy to patch and will look better than painted paneling (which, IMHO, is a very mobile home look).

Hi, Nicole-- Just a quick reminder that if you do plan to actually close these drapes for light blocking for daytime TV viewing (depending on light angles), you'll want to make sure that any panel you select is blackout-lined, and, as groveraxle mentions, attached with rings so you can easily operate them from ground level. Grommet panels and pole-pocket drapes are much less obliging, especially at longer lengths like you'll need, and seams/cuts wear much faster from normal open-close activity on the rod.

We actually think you could replace the chair you have now, and another chair where the dog bed is with swivel chairs. That would solve the issue of seating and also allow people to be able to watch TV. As for the sofa, it looks like there is plenty of room to the right if the sofa. What is there? Do you normally had a side table there or another chair? Before you purchase anything we recommend taking more pictures of the other side of the room as well, and posting dimensions of the room. However you can easily get a 3 seat sofa on that wall as you have now and it looks like two side tables will fit easily as well. If you post more photos of the other side of the room we might be able to help more.