Now it's beginning to work! Luv the rug! A few more red showstoppers, and I luv the post about matting your family pic, and larger frame for it. Looks like you might be a bit uncomfortable with the great post idea of moving your sofa out into the room away from wall. If so, could you accept putting it diagonally from the entrance doorway, across that corner where it is, stopping at the edge of your window? That's a bit of a move outward, still can see the fp and tv, and show off your new rug, which could go diagonally in front of the sofa. Then, if you like that, after a while you could move it on out as Deb K suggests. Sometimes intermediate steps are more doable for us than those big changes.Same with painting; if you could first paint just the fp wall, then later paint other walls...seems some color would really make it more homey. Would you cosider a quite contemporary fixture for the light in the center ceiling? Maybe a bit of red could go there!

If this photo from your ideabook is the look you are going for, try adding a rug and inexpensive coffee table. To keep budget down, try an indoor outdoor rug you may find on sale at the end of the summer. The other thing you could change easily would be curtains or other window treatments in a zingy color or pattern. Perhaps there are curtains in another part of the house that could be swapped with these? Try taking them down to get a good look at the blank space possibilities.

I've been looking at these plans for about half a hour now and I'm stumped. What did you guys decide on doing? If things came down to it, you could remove the fireplace. But I'm guessing you don't want to do that. Let me know what you decided to do!

Hmm, I'd aim for balance. The last time these colours were in fashion, in the very early 1990s, I had light pink, light blue , light green and black. In some rooms there was white instead of black. They all worked well together. There are lots of recent pastel rooms on Houzz photos. Also florals are about to appear on the scene, in big digital murals and digital printing on cushions, on rugs, etc. it's a modern version, but still florals. Pink and the pastels work well with florals. Which way does the room face? If it faces South, in the Southern Hemisphere, go for a warmer colour.