pretty large den.

Replace the fluorescent lights with recessed lighting. Bring color in with roman shades on the windows. Throw pillow also in coordinating fabric. Coordinate a lighter area rug with colors in the roman shades. You will notice the lighter rugs in your idea pics. I would also resurface the fireplace. Either paint it to match the paneling or dry wall it. Your idea pics show a more formal library/den area.

What style are you going after? I would paint everything something in the gray blue white hue.

I was going after a room that is multi-purposed : tv, mini-library, and a place to watch the aquarium. The room is very dark, so it definitely needs lots of light. The floors are concrete but we're planning on adding wood flooring and area rugs. Somehow bookshelves need to gomin here but I dont want the room looking too busy with "stuff".

Is whole house dark? If so you're probably tired of it... just read that it needs lots of light, but they say if you'll use a space mostly at night that changes things?? Otherwise a dark den can be nice with the lighting amount you have! Our dark paneling --we decided not to paint. I used teal white painting, a throw and vase in teal/ brown. Maybe you'd like FLOR tiles over concrete, even a bright color you truly can love living with.

Photos with light paint: antiqued metals and warm woods. Do you like brick/industrial/organic-shaped look? Let the textures of brick, paneling, the fish tank be the focus by using simple shapes elsewhere.

Room does have a few large windows...stick with the white grays-blues, and would paint the fireplace and mantel White, super white. The fireplace looks like it is new brick, not old brick, so I would paint it.

The Fish tank appears to have white and some pale green in it...Work with those colors, and textures. Love the Fish Tank.

I would seriously consider lightening up the area. I nice white over the paneling is an easy fix. What-washing the brick in another. Add some nice mirrors on the wall. Sounds like a fun project.

Thank you for the ideas. Yeah might do the white washing of brick. There's 2 types. The mantle wraps around the entire chimney.

Here's what we started. Leave it as is or finish painting the fireplace? Just wondering if I paint it will everything seem to fade into the background together?

After..much better

Paint the whole room. Leave the stand alone. Replace existing bulbs with warm leds. No need to spend a lot here. Save the money for art and furnishings

With that massive beam above, the piece of art should be vertical and no wider than the firebox opening in order to help lift the feeling of heaviness created by the beam.

oh. Thank you. I was wondering about that. It had all the right colors just wrong size.

Primming for painting. Havent decided whether to paint the window box or not. Itnhas a single florescent bulb in it.

Huge progress, congratulations on moving right along. Yes, time for the fluorescent fixtures to be removed. You might think about a rope of LED lights around the ceiling, perhaps with some cove molding.

Soooo cool! Thank you.