How about white washing the brick fireplace? That would look great!

I would remove all decor from walls first, place the couch directly across from the fireplace like mentioned above with one rug horizontal in front of it. Put the desk against the far wall. You could put one framed photo collage over the desk but make sure it's not too high.

A coffee table and a pair of end tables will add comfort to the seating area with some lamps for task lighting. Overhead lighting can be a little aggressive and removes the coziness factor. If you have a couple of chairs to anchor the sofa, you will have a cozy conversation grouping. You can put them at right angles to the sofa allowing for traffic to flow between conversation area and fireplace.

OR use as a dining area if you need it and lose the couch altogether.

Thanks for the comments. Made some changes but need more help please. My house is a 1970’s ranch with a stereo/intercom system on with two speakers in the walls. Covered the speakers with pictures in the in the past. Would like to have them taken out but I have to live with them for now until I can find someone to take them out. Should I continue to cover them with pictures or a painting?

Have a living room and dining room. This is our den and we use a lot since it is open to the kitchen. (Plan to give the kitchen a face lift soon) The furniture I have in it now is just to give the some prespective to the room and I can take out anything that needs to go. I like casual elegance using neutral colors.

My questions are:
What about the syle of the couch?
If I keep the desk should I paint it?
Would it look better to have two bookcases on that wall?
What about the the left size of the fireplace?
Do the collages need to go and if they do any suggestions about what to replace them with?

Thinking of buying two new chairs to replace the ones on either side of the couch Any suggestions? Also want to replace the rugs with sisal ones.
I would appreciate suggestions and comments. Thanks for your help!

Forgot to add this picture. Thanks for your help.

placing your desk on the wall with the bookcase, and stacking the collages over the desk with the top one hung about the same height as the bookcase and painting the desk dark like the bookcase will make them compatible. The items on the window ledges might be better suited for display in the bookcase along with some books. A large potted plant could go where the desk is now. Look at options of using wicker baskets on the wall above your sofa to cover the speakers.

here's several ideas on using the wicker baskets for decor. http://www.houzz.com/wicker-baskets-on-the-wall

What a transformation putting the couch across from the fireplace! So nice. The chairs and wicker look great.

I would take the items off the window sills and use them on the bookshelf with whatever else you put on there. The window sills would be beautiful empty.

I like the idea by patriciarhall of putting the desk next to the bookcase and painting it the same color, or painting both a surprising new color. It makes sense that the desk and bookcase would be together. And like mentioned, stacking the collages will add balance over the desk to match the visual weight of the bookcase. (And leave the top of the bookcase empty in case the flat surface looked tempting... ;-)

Going to make the changes suggested paint the desk and then move it next to the bookcase. Moving the pictures too. When I saw wicker I thought what wicker then I realized the wicker side tables. lol Anyway thanks for your help. I love this site and the people that help others solve their decorating problems!!!

you are going to like your new look. be sure to post pictures of the changes.

The changes you've made already are gorgeous. This is such a great room!

It looks so much better now than when you started.

looking good! I saw wicker baskets done differently at an Ashley home store here. They hung them with the open end to the wall such that the flat bottoms were facing out. They hung various sized square and rectangular boxes, then mounted various clock faces on and among them. You could use stars or round mirrors to continue the shapes of the pillow or lamps. Sorry I don't have a photo to clarify. Regardless, the "upside down" wicker boxes/baskets would conceal your speakers well.

I would get away from the square rectangle look and go for something that looks cozy. A gathering place in front of a warm fireplace. To set and read a book. The current sofa will not do it. Treating this space as a separate space will give you what your looking for. A warm tone rug that picks up on the color in the brick and a foot stool in front of a smi circle sofa. The last one for a little fun for the kids.

rugs

I like the desk but the space you have it in makes it look very small. A larger piece of furniture would look much better.

I love the way you moved the furniture! It looks really nice.