I'd find the art first. It's hard to say go bold on one and not the other. You just have to look at the two together and see if they work.

Can the couch go elsewhere?

wow, how did you do that?? I like it. I could rearrange the furniture or even get a new couch - wouldn't mind a pull out since we changed the guest room to a nursery and have no place for guests now. please excuse the mess. this is from another angle. couch is on the right. across from the tv are two white recliners and behind them is the dining room (no wall or barrier separating dining room). picture is taken from kitchen.

Keep the scale of the rug pattern tuned in to the are you hang behind the couch. Make that wall pop w something like one large painting against an accent wall done in reverse stenciling (almost tone one tone, cream & very pale lime?) OR make a collage of small works and arrange them closely to form a mosaic of stories, shapes & colors that draws the eye. Maybe a low glass topped or pale marble coffee table? Good luck, it has nice energy & I'm sure you can make it work by just adding a dollop of color & gloss.

I hate the fireplace. the mantle is nice but the brackets holding it up are this pink marble with grape vines. I would like to change it to stone or tile.

Hm, tricky space. You have a lot of entry points and a corner fireplace. I would just go with one sofa that has a chaise. In the meantime, you can try rearranging the furniture.

Do you actually play a piano, or is it something that is never used? If never used, I would get rid of it (sell) or put it in a different room. If you do use it, how about switching the piano with the couch? See what feels right to you.

Also, take all the small things hanging on the wall and laying on piano for now. You can do a collage or a gallery wall with some or most of those things later on, when furniture is rearranged or changed.

Whoa! Way too much stuff. I think this is a pretty simple fix, though. Take everything off the walls to start. I would remove the mantel and reface the entire fireplace wall. Give it a bit of drama. Then we can work on the rest of the decor.

Simplify. Find a surface you love and reface the entire fireplace wall. It can be a total diy. Choose a rug that doesn't disappear into the floor.

I might rearrange the furniture, but it's bedtime here, so it'll have to wait till tomorrow.

well great news is that we have a community yard sale next weekend! hopefully I can sell lots of the clutter, the sofa, rug and mirror over the fireplace and have some $$ to put towards the new look! The piano stays... at least in the house. the only other place to move it to is the dining room, which I'm not opposed to. what about one of these couches? they are all sleepers and less bulky then our current couch. i like white and beige but if I paint the walls cream and the recliners are white, maybe the couch needs some color. I know the recliners aren't adding to my situation but we use them heavily and I want to keep some functionality.

the previous pictures have the legs cropped off of the couches for some reason... they look a little strange.

fbstuart, I like all the couches you've posted, but I'd avoid the white one with a baby. I actually love the color of the green, but the lines of the blue one are my favorite. In any case, I think you're heading in the right direction.

Could you give us shots of the room from all four directions so we know exactly what we're working with here?

sure thing! thanks so much for your feedback. I lack vision... I can't really imagine what things could look like. I agree we need to simplify and I want to brighten things and be more contemporary.

I have a blog post that may help you out.

http://timothyriversinteriors.com/2015/05/30/how-to-design-a-living-room-that-architectural-digest-would-photograph/

Happy Designing!

Thanks for the extra photos. First thing you need is a good decluttering. I would remove everything from the walls and surfaces and get rid of anything that isn't special to you. Keep the family photos and mementos; dispose of the generic stuff you got from the shelf at Hobby Lobby. Hide it away for now. We'll reintroduce stuff when it's time to decorate.

It's hard to tell how much space you have, but I would try replacing the sideboard in the dining area with the piano. Then scoot the recliners forward a bit, and move the sofa off the wall till it meets the left recliner at the arm. This will direct your traffic behind the sofa instead of through the middle of the room.

Is there space enough to do that and still see the TV?

Here I've pulled your sofa off the wall and up to meet the recliner, then added a round cocktail ottoman since regular coffee tables and babies usually don't mix. I'd probably hang a single large piece of art on the wall where the sofa used to be.

Here's a tip: in a small room, be sparing with your decor and eliminate all the little stuff. One large thing--painting, vase, candleholder, whatever--takes the place of a bunch of little ones and makes the room feel larger. And calmer.

That looks better grover.

I will have some suggestions for the fireplace later tonight or tomorrow.

Here's a simple thing you could do to have an immediate impact without redoing the whole fireplace wall. Remove the mantel and the row of tile with the corbels. Replace with a larger plain wood mantel. The current mantel is too small and too high anyway.

If there is room after moving the piano out, perhaps a small storage unit like Ikea's Kallax with bins or baskets could take its place and hold baby accoutrement.

oh wow, that is a great idea for the fireplace!! The mantle is right height it is skewed in the picture but i might be able to get rid of those things and get a mantle like that, it looks great. The reality is that I don't have the budget to do 100% right now... our most immediate need is a new heating/cooling system, so that is more feasible. but if I can simplify, get a new couch (if I sell this one), and some other things... paint has to wait though.

Groveraxle thank you so much for your help. it's going to take me a while but your advice is extremely helpful. you know, I haven't purchased almost any of the decor or things on the wall, they are all gifts or things that have been passed on to me and I'm sort of tired of trying to find a place to put all of these things in my tiny home! I'm looking forward to a cleaner look that is MY style and not a collection of things other people have picked out (although I do appreciate the gifts and sentiment).

I bet the mantle looks low because our ceilings are a little low. eventually I want to get rid of popcorn ceilings to open it up some visually. removing the top row of mantle would make it waist high which is too low.

You could create that look simply with birch plywood- three sides and a top right over the current mantel. Stain it to your liking. I would consider rearranging the furniture so that the sofa backs the dining area. Move the TV to the piano wall and set the recliners opposite the sofa or where the sofa is in grover's picture above. That would give you the longer wall for a needed storage unit. Large armoires and outdated TV cabinets (easy to add shelving inside)are often found for free on craigslist.

I've made some changes! Sold the mirror, couch and rug. Also sold and got rid of little knick knacks. Making lots of progress! Here is the new rug and couch. The new couch is back ordered and won't be here for 6 weeks but I will take a new photo of the room one it's here. I've struggled to find art work that I loved and could afford. I would love a big horse painting like this one attached but I can't spend $500... We actually got a great deal on the rug and splurged on the couch. I found some at work I could live with for $20 so that is what we have for now.

ok for some reason the pictures always get cropped, I'm going to try again. also I took the mantle down and we're going to put some effort into changing the fireplace.

I like the sofa and the rug, but on my monitor, the rug has a definite pink undertone, and I fear it won't play well with the sofa or with the creams, blues, turquoise, and lime you said you love.

Glad to hear you removed the mantel. It just did not have the heft you need. Better no mantel than one that's undersized.

It looks like you have or had a number of framed pieces on the piano and on the sideboard. You could probably take many of those pieces and arrange them in a grouping to form a gallery wall. This kills three birds with one stone by eliminating clutter, keeping your favorite pictures in view, and filling wall space until you can afford the art you really want.

Here is an excellent article about gallery walls, covering which photos to select and how to hang them: [https://www.houzz.com/magazine/edit-your-photo-collection-and-display-it-best-a-designers-advice-stsetivw-vs~9626857[(https://www.houzz.com/magazine/edit-your-photo-collection-and-display-it-best-a-designers-advice-stsetivw-vs~9626857)

I like the idea of the gallery, thank you. The rug is more gray than it looks. I got that picture online... I'm glad you said that though because I will need to remember that when we eventually pick out paint! I'm not sure I'm still going to use lime... So far definitely have blue and turquoise in the mix.

There is some great art on Etsy. I checked for pictures of Horses and there are lots. Here's one that I thought would go with your color story.

Thanks everyone for your feedback, this is a great resource! I have remodeled the living room but at the same time it's heavily lived in and my daughter is now 2 so her toys have really multiplied. My husband and I went back and forth for ages on the fireplace. My mother in law found the mantle I was looking for (like a railroad tie) one day and that set the fireplace update in motion. I decided to paint the hideous tile to see if we could avoid removing the tile and I'm so pleased with the result. I'm getting the itch again. We wanted to move but can't afford it so now I want to love the house I'm in. My next goal is to re-paint walls light gray, remove popcorn ceilings, add recessed lighting (we have low ceilings) and get a more modern low profile fan. Your g feedback is always welcome!

here is some inspiration for future lighting

Before and after of fireplace

That fireplace is an awesome transformation. The living room looks much better, too. The only thing I'd note at this point is that all your art and photos are hung too high. I'll try to remember to rehang them for you in the morning.

Thank you so much! You're right about the photos and art. I knew something was off with the photo gallery.

It's hard to tell from these two photos but I also tried to simplify the decor/ knick knacks. Though now there are just toys everywhere...sigh!