One more thing - should the white chair rail be removed or painted out, or just leave it?

Could you put the tv on the wall facing sofa and the love seat facing fireplace, on the wall where tv is backed?

I don't mind it, it gives the wall some definition as it is so close in colour to sofa. I would change wall colour and then paint it out, but if you stay the same colour keep it. A nice latte colour would work! Bottom right one.

Just saw the green you have on other walls, latte would not work as well as the chocolate you have now with that colour.

After staring at your pictures for the longest time I've decided that you have arrived at the very best placement of your furniture and although I like the white accent I think it makes the ceiling appear lower than it is and that makes the room look smaller.

Hi bizzymama109, Marie here.
I'd get rid of the loveseat all together and replace with two chairs and a round table.

I'd also finish painting your dark brown accent colour and wrap it around the corner around the patio doors. It's too jarring to just stop the paint like that - nice rich colour, just needs to be finished off.

I'd also centre the TV on that wall, and then put the sofa either under the window or leave it where it is now, build in lower bookshelves or media unit under the TV.

I wouldn't add anymore browns to the space, I'd add warm grays to give it an edge. Overall very nice space - just needs some tweaking and i love the fireplace - try and add some fabrics in here - too much leather always makes it feel cold as well. Good luck...

Could you put the tv on the fireplace and move the sofa and love seat to the walls?

Can't you have the sofas face each other?

And center the tv on the wall it is at now? Then a coffee table and soft window treatment.

Thanks for your suggestions! Susan, I neglected to mention that there is a vent (the only one in this room of the house besides the office (behind the french doors which are usually closed). There are however, four vents under each window in the kitchen eating area. Would this be ok to cover? We actually did have it arranged this way before just before this arrangement. We had the TV pulled forward so the vent wouldn't be covered.

Thanks for the paint colour suggestion. Love it! And will do this.

JWinteriors, that sounds like a great idea. I picked up a nice vintage Huntley cabinet/side table (3 drawers on each side and double doors in the centre) that I'm planning on refinishing in the spring. I couldn't decide to put it in the office or the family room. But we can put the tv on it against the full wall. Any suggestions on the colour I should repaint it? I was thinking a espresso or I would like to go bold but hubby says NO!

Oh wow! I didn't see the other great ideas as well, while I was typing up the last post! Thank you!

Center the TV, Have the sofa's face each other and bring in two chairs in front of the fire place.
and I agree with Marie, bring in some fabric, which can be the chairs as well as a fuzzy throw on the bigger of the two couches.
Another thing that can be done is to replace the love seat and have a chaise facing opposite the sofa, and the two chairs in front of fireplace.

The chair rail can stay the same. If you like, you could paint the walls above the chair the creamy color that Susan suggested. It will lighten the room. and definitely adding stationary panels would soften the room also. The blinds could go on the inside the window instead of the way it is right now. And I would hang the curtains from floor to ceiling to give it some height.

Hope this helps.

Lets see what you do with the room then we can all advise on that piece once we see it!

Susan, the walls are actually grey throughout the Rest of the house. The kitchen cabinets are off white/cream. Warm vs. cool. That's another discussion in itself! Lol!

Is there any way a vent diverter can be used? I cannot see the bottom of the tv unit well enough.

Oh it reads green on my iPad. As far as putting chairs near fireplace, I think with it being a step down, there is not the room for it. What is the width of the fireplace and the openings?

Ah, I see the dilemma. There have been some really good suggestions, but I thought I'd ask; what do you do in the family room the most? Do you mostly watch TV or is there any time spent hanging out by the fire/socializing? I'd stick with the 3-seater, get rid of the loveseat and get two comfy chairs instead.

I've seen this setup a lot and it usually means either the TV viewing angle is compromised or the fireplace is ignored. I'm interested to see what you decide to do!

I would lower the mantle, hang the TV over the fireplace and fill the mantle with more substantial accessories. Then move leather sofa over and eliminate the love set. Add two chairs with a large ottoman that doubles as extra seating and a table and use a larger, warmer area rug.

Hi, projects like are so much fun! It's all opinions but comes down to your personal taste. I would take the chair rail down and repaint that room to the same color as the other areas or pick a color that is more complementing. Put the TV above fireplace or center it on wall where art work is. get rid of love seat, and maybe consider overstuffed chair and ottoman or 2 chairs, (placed opposite sofa) just depends on what's more practical for your family. I would also change window treatment like suggested. Good luck!

Wow! Thank you all again for all these GREAT ideas and suggestions! We use this room mainly to watch tv. I do love the idea of the chairs in front of the fireplace but I agree with Susan - there is not enough space for them. The step down on one side is on an angle.

The fireplace is 7' wide, the opening about 30".

My husband would love to have the TV over the fireplace and we prob should have pulled the wires when we had he popcorn ceiling removed but I thought it wood be way too high. The ceilings are about 8.5' in the family room. I'm afraid by lowering the mantel, because the fireplace is double sided, it will look odd when you view it coming into he house.

I like the idea of a round coffee table and fabric. We had cushions in the past and would love to have fabric sofas but its not practical as we have 5 kids who would prob destroy them in no time flat. I had to throw out many cushions in the past because I was tired of picking them up off the floor or when the dog was younger, he would lie all over them or chew the trims off them.

As for mounting the blinds inside, we can't because the frame between the two windows are not inset so we decided to cover the entire window. A decorator actually suggested this. We had the Hunter Douglas roller blinds which had a sleeker look mounted the same way but at the time (but the top part was quite bulky), they provided NO privacy at night at all which is what I told the decorator I was after. She should have recommended the heaviest two way fabric. We had installed a pool 7 years ago and the neighbours had cut down 6 full grown ill looking pine trees. I could see outside during the day but standing in the backyard, the neighbours could see right into our house including what was in my cupboards if I had the doors open! I hate the choice in window covering I made a few years ago. Now that our new hedge in the back has grown in for full privacy, I want to take these down but we get full afternoon sun and in-your-face sun at supper time in the summer because our house is elevated and the neighbour's house behind does not provide any shade. Today, I wish I had those roller blinds back.

I'll take all these ideas away and post a pic when it's all done! Thanks again!
Anna

Ps. The hall wall reads greenish on my iPad as well.

you could also have bamboo shades for the window. if you are changing them out. they would be light weight visually too and should be installed on the inside of the window.

Hi everyone,

So far, what we've considered all your comments and so far, this is what we've come up with! We're pretty happy with the results but we aren't done yet

No pics posted!

We did a few things as suggested. We repainted the walls with Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal on the accent wall and Benjamin Moore Museum Piece and also wrapped it around to the patio door wall. We changed out the heavy blinds to drapes with a sheer from Ikea and took the love seat out and replaced with two grey ektorp chairs (still have to steam out the slipcover). We opted for comfort rather than style although we think it looks good once we added the greyish-brown much larger shag rug to pull it together.

Things we have to do are to get a round coffee table (I haven't found one that fits our budget) and I have the dresser that I am going to repaint when the weather warms up to do so. I've managed to convinced hubs to let me paint it red, however, on the condition that its not a candy apple red. Initially I was fixed on yellow but I think red might be a good choice for us. Anybody have a nice subtle red that would still pop in our room they could recommend?

We also changed all the blinds throughout the kitchen to bamboo blinds and added the linen backing to help filter the light in when the sun shines bright at dinner time.

I'll have to find some pictures to put on the right and left of the TV which will be centred on the accent wall on the painted dresser.

Love, love, love everything so far. Looking forward to sharing the final results with you all soon!

Looks great. Trust you will move the two gray chairs over a bit closer to the tv wall. Very nice!

Haven't read all the posts, so don't know where the dresser is going. My suggestion would be under the windows on the raised area, it if isn't too tall. Where were you thinking? Under the TV?

wow...love your changes! The buffet is a good size and shape for your tv.

I'm impressed with how a few changes makes such a difference. The room looks a lot cozier now, and I think your dresser will look great in red.

Here's where we are today!