Alexandrea - How exciting. Wood floors, neutral backdrop, hearth / fire and decent light. What colors are your favorites? Do you have any existing furniture / upholstery colors that you need to incorporate for now / want to use? Perhaps you could browse Houzz living spaces and save the ones you LOVE so we can see your style preferences?

Since the ideabook photos show a house w/ 4 bedrooms I'm guessing you have a young family. That means you need to incorporate lots of seating - I see how the kitchen opens to this and I see another "dining" room is probably around the way behind the fire, and that the entry may be off to the right of the first photo. Doing something like a hall tree / bench behind the front door can be very practical.

My first observations are just about furniture and layout - Probably the long connector wall along to the kitchen / dining is the best place to place a console with a television on top since it is the traffic pattern. Put it closer to the front windows so you can have a seating area there that serves it - an angle arm will allow you to pull it out and swivel it so you can watch it from the kitchen sink when no one else is there. Worth it to spend a bit more to hang it up for that flexibility.

Because of the angled chimney you need to make a separate seating area by the fire traffic flow, I would look for a dad chair / comfortable reading chair to put by the fire with a floor lamp to fit in the corner behind - and a large circular sculptural piece to put on top where you expect to see a chimney - something with visual weight to "fill" that area - perhaps you can stack up a few pieces of stone tile to have some height underneath - some kind of pedestal.

I like slipcovers when kids are young because you can upgrade (and keep clean). One option is to do a corner sectional to run along the windows and side wall - you will get the most seating this way and they are great for families. I know it can be a challenge when you want all your natural light - since the windows are tall, perhaps use a sofa table behind the sectional in front of the windows. Then the drapery can hang, the sofa table will offer more low lighting

You will want a nice lamp for that sofa table in the center (home goods is a decent source) and if your kids are young you may want to skip the coffee table altogether in favor of a large rug and open space - maybe an ottoman / mini pedestal table at the reading chair.

Let's find you an inspiration fabric or piece of art. I'm seeing navy on the sectional, a craigslist storage find you can paint an accent color for under the television (with a remote sensor for all the components), a rug with lots of color to bring life to the space . . . one large gorgeous piece of canvas art centered over the sectional stretch on the long wall . .