That really is a gorgeous room!

Bobbi P's idea of a chandelier is great! Maybe one of those orb chandeliers like in the Restoration Hardware catalog to break up the angles a bit? (They have them in the Home Decorator's Collection for substantially less $$ than RH). Maybe paired with some of the reproduction filament light bulbs?

Sconces would work really well on either side of the television as well - something slightly unusual or maybe a little colorful?

Also, I can't help but wondering if long, solid color drapes would make it look more "cavey"; what about light colored sheers?

I dunno, just thoughts. It really is a wonderful space!

That would be curtAIns nit curtians

Good light fittings can be expensive but I seen very good value and product's at www.bid4lights.com

Love plantation shutters.....BUT, like blinds, they cut your available daylight by forty percent!!! A natural woven shade allows you raise or lower as desired, without giving up light when you want it. Yes to more lamps!! in any case. Not a fan of overhead lighting on bright, it just washes interest out of the room and adds glare.

absolutely gorgeous room, but between the dark wall colors, the dark furniture and the plantation shutters , only changing the lighting will not be enough. Either you remove the shutters and choose lighter fabric on the side of the windows to let in the light , add the lighting changed suggested above
(a large chandelier) or ,you will have to repaint, with a much lighter version of the one presently on the pictures. I love the room

How about an unusual vertical ceiling fan? ( might help all those beams)Fanimation makes some great ones.

I'm confused, the dark beams and leather say country casual, but the fireplace and builtins say traditional. If it is casual change the surround to brick or stone and paint the cabinets one color with the back of the shelves a dark brown to go with the beams, add some great throw pillows and maybe a nice throw over the back of the chair. A floor lamp beside the other chair and maybe a sofa table behind the couch with a couple of matching lamps. That should take care of the lighting. And to finish it off replace the throw rug with a bright colored navajo rug. Hope this gives you some ideas.

Instead of rope lights think about up lights, it would be a lot more dramatic.

Annep2
Questions!
What is the room opposite this room? And what color? What was the goal when you painted it a deep color? Was it to absorb the beams and the leather furniture? To make it cozy? I personally do not think you need the beams, and doubt there is anything structural to them. They fight the built in units, and particularly the arched detail in those built ins. Best...remove the beams, second best, paint them trim color. If the goal was a cozier space, there is a bit too much leather in the room. Perhaps some fabric on a chair and ottoman, and send the love seat out. I don't think it needs curtains ... I think the plantation shutters are severely cutting your light. And yes to lamps ! Also, if you REMOVE one shelf on each side of fireplace, adjust the remaining to equidistant spaces between, you will likely find you can place a lamp on each side of the fireplace built-in units. one far left, and one far right. You may need an electrician, but worth the extra light, and focal point effect.

Remove the candles and plants from the top of the bookcases (plants and candles look implausible ten feet up in the air) and install up lights behind the molding. I agree that the furniture should come off the walls into the center of the room, and a table behind the sofa would bring light down to where you need it. A chandelier would be pretty but the light from it is still up in the air. If the love seat can come far enough into the center of the room, a chest or table on that wall with a lamp on it would add some ambient light- although the furniture is too big for the room and if you could take the love seat out and replace it with one or two smaller occasional chairs you could put a floor lamp or table and lamp next to them. A small lamp in each of the bookcases would add ambient light as well.

And grandee, the would be "not" and not "nit".

Hello!
I would love to see answers to the questions that were asked by Jan Moyer, directly above me. You had a direction in mind when you painted and I would love your thoughts. I would love to incorporate your goals in my thoughts.
I think that your drapery idea would be a beautiful addition to your current photos shown. I like hangng about 5" from your ceiling line or below the crown detail. In addition to that thought, you could bring in a color tone with the drapries, a light buttery yellow, a soft green tone or even a beautiful light robin egg blue. A strié would be beautiful too. Make sure your draperies are lined, if they aren't line your color will be washed from behind, ruining your goal of bringing in the softness of color.
Your fireplace is beautiful! I, personally, am not a fan of rope lighting because of the polka dotted effect you get. I think that you could lighten up the fireplace by not having the wall color above the mantel and/or entertainment detail. You could step down the wall color by 50%. By doing this you would still accent the entertainment and fireplace color. I also think that you need more height spacing between your current shelf spacing. I woud have a total of three shelves instead of your current spacing of four. More spacing would lighten up the area's feel as well.
Lamp lighting will not eliminate your shadow affects. It will probably actually add more. You have vaulted ceiling, lighting from below will not be able to project in height, but would provide ambiance lighting. Ambiance lighting usually translates to 'cozy' lighting which is soft and shadowed. I really feel that painting woud remove your shadowing.
Should you want to chat directly, please do not hesitate contact me directly, moniqueflesher@gmail.com
Cheers!
m.

enough with typo comments, who cares

By the way, I think that once you decide the chosen solution to the lighting issues, then we discuss furniture details. You have a very open pallette right now. Fabric and texture decisions would be next, deciding how to incorprate, whether it is in draperies only, new furniture pieces, accessories; then incorporating all those thoughts into furniture placement. Would love to know your thoughts!!
Cheers!

I would remove the loveseat from that location and replace it with a couple of small chairs with a table between them. As for the lighting I would replace the ceiling fan with a very large chandelier and sconces.

The overall feel is very dull , DARK N Depressing , add some good lighting here .

Getting rid of the items on top of the cabinets would eliminate those shadows for sure. If possible change out some of the leather furniture to something more fun and lighter. That would play better against the darker walls and with all the white woodwork. Maybe something with light blue, cream and beige. Then some pillows to pick up or compliment those colors. That, improved lighting and some nice panels rather than those shutters at the window whould really brighten things up.

This is a beautiful room! The furniture is a little dark in comparison with the rest. The dark beams should remain the accent. The furniture should be slipcovered in cream. Then choose your favorite colors and add accent pillows and draperies in a colorful pattern. 1,000,000% add a huge, rustic chandelier. This will solve all of your lighting issues. No room for floor lamps. Track lighting is tacky.
http://discountdesignerfurnishings.com/site/product/422

Have you thought about adding some lighting inside of the built-in bookshelves? If wiring is too difficult, perhaps battery powered LED or halogen under-cabinet lights tucked in behind the arch on each built-in. Also wall sconces would be nice if there is available wall space, it is hard to tell from your pictures. If there is room for a nice potted palm or peace lily, place an uplight below it. And definitely some type of lighting on the top of the built-ins, maybe rope lights? Use the 1/3 rule for lighting placement: 1/3 at overhead level, 1/3 at midway level, and 1/3 at tabletop or lower level.

What are the room dimensions? I have almost the same room except I have french doors on the left wall and a foyer opening on the left wall. I wish I could place my furniture like you did.

The fan in your room looks out of proportion. I'd hang a massive chandelier, perhaps iron with at least 8 lights or more and put that on a dimmer switch so you can raise or lower the light accordingly.
If your budget allows, new couch and chairs in a neutral fabric (linen, oatmeal) and bring color into that seating areas with bright colorful patterned pillows and accessories. All dark leather furniture tends to make a room feel dark and cavelike.

I think the dark beams and the more formal fireplace are fine. i support white walls, a white rug, huge chandelier, and lots of pillows with the predominant color being white!

Here are some answers to some questions: The room opposite this room is the kitchen. We have the same color cabinets in the kitchen. We recently re-painted the most of the main-level all the same color (open floor plan) with this darker color to accent the woodwork. Previously, it was all "builder beige" and it all blended in. To the left of the room is a large 2-story great room, and the darker color really helped bring the walls in. I probably should've used a lighter shade in this Keeping Room.


And, the majority of the house is traditional style. We have plantation shutters throughout the main floor. I agree that its cutting the light out.

I like the ideas about changing the furniture to something lighter, less brown, and spacing & lighting the bookcases. All good ideas! Thanks!

Anne
"Helped bring the walls in" is a telling choice of words! You seek cozy. So if you were my client, I would just say, that you CAN have cozy without darkness or dreariness. And you seem to be a person who consistently gravitates to a warm pallet, but a room entirely leather is too much brown. You will need lighting no matter the color of the walls. Add the lamps to the bookcases, get some pillows for all that leather, and then see how you feel. Adding some recessed to the ceiling should not be difficult, and put it on dimmers. Pools of lamplight can't be beat, and lamps are like jewelry! Deeply colored rooms need enough decoration, or they turn dreary. There IS a difference!

The dimensions of the room are 18' wide x 16' deep. It's opens up to an eating area and kitchen behind it, so there's also a walkway behind the sofa.

About the chandelier suggestions. Are you suggesting that we replace the fan with a large chandelier? Or mount the chandelier to the ceiling between the two beams? I I often watch the TV from the kitchen island about 12' behind the sofa. I'm thinking that a large chandelier mounted on the beam will block the view from the kitchen.

I'm thinking sofa table w/ lights will work. Lights in shelving, and above the cabinets. I'm also considering taking the stuff down that's creating the shadows (ruthmand). Good points about the leather, that came from our old house that had white carpeting/white walls. Our 2 boys are growing up and might be able to handle lighter colored furniture. This is a heavily used room.

Wonderful room. I'd be inclined to strip the bookcases, mantle, etc. -- all the cabinetry at the fireplace end, but leave the marble -- and stain the wood to match the beams. Then bring on the white -- white walls, white trim; the ivory curtains sounded great (great room too!). Ivory ceiling? Leave the color for the furniture and carpet. That carpet looks great. Yeah, the shutters are too much. Ditch the fan/light as well and instead maybe drop a few (four?) simple iron chandeliers with multiple lights to add light both above and below, and balance the room a bit. (I too thought track lights at first, but then felt they'd be a jam-up with the feel of the room; ditto LED). Good luck! I'd love to see what happens.

How about a rustic style chandelier to complement the wood beams, that has a lots of lights on the order of the pic attached? Also some LED's inside the built ins to chase the shadows out and help illuminate the room overall? Won't generate heat or require rewiring that way...

only works if you don't actually use the fan of course

If you get a narrow sofa table you can probably keep the leather sofa. Then you only need to get a couple of lighter pieces and some pillows that tie them all together. Can you get your boys to stay on the sofa? Hahaha....

Nice room! The beams are beautiful. I like the idea of a large chandelier. If you can ditch the fan, DO it. The fixture is way too small for the room anyway proportion-wise, but don't expect that center fixture to give the most important light in the room; your table and floor lamps will do that.

Avoid light sconces on either side of the TV (glare on the screen). How about adding a sofa table on the back of the sofa? That way you can add two table lamps on it. (If you can add an electrical outlet in the floor, that's the best way to do this. You'll want a table and lamp over by the loveseat too. Consider having various lamps switched at a wall with a dimmer, so you can turn two or three on at once when you enter the room.

As for drapery, do ahead with the ivory panels, but why not add a pattern or design for some interest? Give the viewer something to look at and soften the room. There are plenty of patterned fabrics out there with light/white/ivory backgrounds.

Don't forget to stack the draperies off the window and on to the wall, to keep all available window light coming into the room (your current rod brackets would not allow for this the way they are placed now. The drapery rod should be at least 4 inches above the top molding and the drapery down to the floor. Consider one long rod over the two windows on the left hand side, so that the middle two panels fold back against each other on the middle part of the wall.

I'm not a big fan of lighting the beams, but I'm sure someone has done a good job of it somethere. Maybe you'll want some occasional lighting on top of the bookcases? You could throw some christmas tree lights up there first to see if you like the look.

Thanks, I'll look for a light pattern for the panels. Yes, I had valences before, and when we go with panels, we'll re-position them to lay next to / not over the windows. I placed a console table behind the sofa and my boys are bummed because the can't jump over the sofa anymore! So it has an added bonus . We do use the fan a lot. We're in Georgia. But, I'll consider the chandelier. The adjacent rooms both have chandeliers, so I'm wondering if they need to coordinate? I have a traditional one with shades in the breakfast area.

And lighting the bookcases and up-lights on top of the book cases. We're going to look into LED lighting, light strips, etc. There are a lot of new products out, so we'll research what some options are there. We have rope lighting on our porch that has dots, and we want to avoid the dot appearance.

Sounds great! As for the draperies, you might look at your local Calico Home (www.calicocorners.com) for fabric. They have lots of fabulous choices! (As well as lots of helpful advice. Full disclosure, I am a former employee.)

If you need to keep the fan, consider a new, bigger one then, more proportional to the space (look at the fans in real size in a place like Home Depot, then once you decide on a size, you can go elsewhere for more choices). Also, consider ditching the idea of a chandelier or central light mounted on the fan all together. Just go with a beautiful, new, and bigger fan, and use your lamps as your central lighting. As Candice Olsen would say -- those ceiling lights basically light everything and nothing at the same time. And the ones affixed to ceiling fans can be pretty ugly (always exceptions, of course).

I really think those floor and table lamps can, and should do the majority of the lighting work in the room. Think "soft pools of light" that you can bring up with a dimmer. You can add lighting on top of the bookcases, but try the christmas light idea at first before you pour a whole lot of money into LED lighting, light strips, etc. I DO like the idea of adding light INSIDE the cabinets.

Also, with the majority of your lighting closer to the floor than the ceiling (if you were to get rid of the ceiling light), the beams may recede into the ceiling a bit more and you won't have as many shadows up there.

I should add that I do agree with a previous poster who said to get rid of the candlesticks, etc. at the top of the bookcases. I never thought about how implausible they looked until he/she said so, however. LOL!! If you really want something up there, think green: good faux ivy (I know, I know; but I've seen it look great!) and maybe boxwood or evergreens during the holiday seasons.

Also remember that seated, everyone should have access to a place to put their drink and a light for reading. That may help you with your lamp and table decisions. I agree also that once you can get new seating, try exchanging the leather loveseat and chair for fabric ones. The boys will want to sit on the leather sofa anyway, right?

Good luck!

Oh, and the plantation shutters are perfect for Georgia. Keep them! They also mean that your draperies can be purely non-functional -- you'll have a lot of beautiful choices for style AND they don't have to take up a lot of space on your walls, nor be too expensive. (see previous mentioned website for some choices)

I don't think you need drapes. It would just add visual weight and does nothing to bring more light into the space. You already have nice shutters for privacy, and adding drapes just seems like adding decoration detail that you already have plenty of.
As far as lighting, I like the idea of adding uplighting on top of your cabinets. I would advise you NOT to attach anything to the beams, lighting, or otherwise. As it is, it provides clean straight lines and very rich feeling beauty to the room. You could also think about dropping down pendant lights in equal spacing in between the beams, having the bottom of the lights in line with the bottom of the beam (maybe 4-6 total). If you don't like the color temperature of your light bulbs, that is a super cheap solution to brighten up your space that you can try. Look for something with a higher color temperature like GE Reveal bulbs to not make the lighting look so orange.

also, you've already made a huge improvement to the lightness of the room just by having painted the ceiling a white/off white instead of the same as the wall color that it was previously. Even though you've picked a darker color for the walls, i still think you've overall lighteened up the room. Now any uplighting you have shine at the ceiling will be much brighter and have a better impact on the entirity of the room.

If I may make some suggestions, I would suggest you may want to get some color in the room. Pull a color from the beautiful carpet and use it for drapery panels for the windows. It looks as though there is a green or blue in the carpet. The panels I would suggest be a sheer fabric thus giving the room an ethereal quality. They would be decorative only on the sides of the windows thus allowing the greatest amount of light to come in from the exterior. An end table with lamp by one of the chairs and a floor/table lamp by the other chair. I would suggest utilizing a 3-way switching system as that will give you more control of the light.

On the wall with the fireplace may I suggest you put some lighting in side the cabinet and above the cabinets. I would put them on a dimmer system so you could control the light output. You could control the light to get the greatest amount of light or utilize it as a source of ambiance. Also by doing so you will create a much more dramatic focal point in the room. It would give the room that wow that is lacking.

As far as the fan/light, I would get rid of the fan light and utilize a more appropriate fixture to go with the decor. If it had multiple lights that would be a good thing also. And putting it on a dimmer would, as previously suggested give you more control of the light.

I hope that the suggestions are helpful to you. "Bon chance" with your decor.

I would like to suggest that folks commenting on these long threads read previous posts prior to submitting theirs. It would help reduce the length of the threads and eliminate redundancy. No offense intended as I know everyone means well.

I took some advice and changed the easy stuff. I added a floor lamp, side table, console table, and three lamps. I put some small lights on the top shelf to see what the inside of the cabinets looked like lit up. Then, I strung christmas lights (temporary!) around the molding in the eating area and in the keeping room to see if that helps lighten the ceiling. I also threw some extra christmas lights above the bookcases. I didn't yet remove the stuff above the bookcases, because I didn't have helpers to hand it down. I think the lighting is a little overboard at the moment. But its giving me some ideas of what could be done. The swatch on the loveseat is a linen/cotton ivory curtAin that I'm considering. I don't love any of the lamps, I like one opinion about the lamps being jewelry for the room... I may need to start shopping.

Anne,

No rope lights necessary I think!? Yes, I said lamps are like jewelry, and like good costume jewelry they need to be appropriate in feel, and size and scale to the rest of your "outfit". I will say the most difficult thing is to stick to a "feeling", for the room, and not jump all over the place .You DO have a cozy bent, but that need not mean a lot of clutter! If you must have some items on the top of the shelf area, think bigger, and less! I don't think the candle sticks are necessary, and a cluster of three "plants" is better than too many ideas up there. It is hard to see the lamps in the photo, but you can tell there are nice pools of light. You truly don't want the room so overly lit that you can do surgery. :) I think some well placed recessed in the ceiling, on dimmers, in combination with lamps would be plenty of light. And if you give the shutters a twist to more closed up at night, the room will brighten. The darkness of night pulls the lamp light out of the room!

I unplugged the Christmas lights. I agree , rope lighting isn't necessary. I am still thinking uplights over the cabinet, and LED lights within cabinets. I may repurpose a few of the candlesticks on mantle or by the fireplace, and look for something different as you suggest.

I would have an electrician wire some lights to sit inside the angles of the wood and point light directly at the ceiling. This will naturally bounce light around the room and eliminate the need for additional fixtures, just a beautiful space. Other than that I would recommend some LED lighting inside the top of the cabinet space to shine down onto the shelves. Beautiful light doesn't always come from a expensive fixture, sometimes it's simply the shadows it casts. Just BTW-I also spent 3 years as a lighting designer and I am a licensed Interior Designer in Texas. Hope this helps.

Anne,
Trust me on this.... you won't make it cozier with more doo dad "stuff". You could stand some art, some pillows. No matter what, the shelving units will look better with one less shelf, (remainder adjusted) because an odd number of them always looks better than an even number! ( the base cabinet top, counts as a SHELF) Don't add a thing next to the tv on the mantel, it is just fine. You are "conflicted/cozy"! And you need something other than leather in the room too. Would love two fabric chairs to take the place of the love seat! Too many things to stare at confuses your eye, makes the room jumpy... and anything but cozy. Try taking the remainder of "stuff" off the top when you re-do the shelves. My bet is you will be surprised.

Tanyasmirabal - that sounds good! I was looking for LED lighting options yesterday on-line. I'd be interested in recommendations for lighting specialists in the Atlanta area.

You can order them online from lumens.com, they make some great one's called LEDme and you will also need a driver to convert from standard line voltage to LED compatible. I don't have any particular contacts with lighting designers in the Atlanta area, but would be happy to look one up for you. What I'm talking about doing though, you just need a good electrician, I can ask my electrician if he knows anyone in that area for you.

Jan - Thanks! I'll give the shelving adjustment a try. . I do want to get rid of the the heavy brown furniture. I'll see what we can do there. In the meantime, pillows and art.

tanyasmirabal -I'll ask some friends in the neighborhood for a good electrician. Thx for the lead on LED ideas.

You're very welcome! I'm sure it will be beautiful. On the uplights in the space, just make sure they are brown or bronze so they blend in with the beams. You have a architecturally interesting space on it's own, that's the best slate to start with. Let me know if I can be of any more help. Good luck!

Hi Annep2!
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