Okay, well, the first pic is kind of awkward, bowed, small..but from what I can glean from it, I think a start would be your furniture arrangement. It looks like it's a long, rectangular room, so you intuitively lined everything up against the two long walls.

I'd change that.

Divide the room into two parts, basically. Put the sofa in the center of the room, facing the FP. Put the TV either over the FP (I can't believe I just said that) or on a wall-mount articulating arm on the wall to the right of the FP. Recliner to the left of the FP.

Get a console table to put behind the sofa, a side table which would work in the joint between the sofa and the recliner, and if you can, have an outlet installed in the floor under the sofa so you can put a lamp on the console table and plug it in w/o having wires going across the floor.

Looks like the pic was taken at night. What is the light like in that room during the day? I'm inclined to suggest repainting it in a warmer, brighter color. Are the blinds black? I'd change that as well. Can we get a closer pic of the windows?

Beautiful character home! I have an older home with a long living room with three double doorways, a large fireplace flanked by windows, so no walls to place furniture. For years I tried to avoid having my tv above my fire place but when I finally caved and put it there my room suddenly fell into place. The only TV in the upper level is in this room so we like to have the chairs faced towards the TV but when it is off the fireplace becomes the room's focal point.

I suggest trying the TV, mine is small and not mounted which helps with viewing, and float the sofa across from it with the chair under the windows aimed towards the fireplace. I find moving furniture away from the walls at least by a foot makes a room seem more polished and less like a waiting room.

again beautiful home!

The room is not super bright during the day because it doesnt get much sunlight but I wouldnt say it is dark really. The color was off alittle from what we had hoped for but did brighten the room significantly. We were hoping for more of the tan and got more of the gray.

The blinds are a dark brown. What color would you go with to match the dark wood work?

I would be slightly hesitant to put the couch in the middle of the room becuase I feel like it would make the room seem very small. I know the picture isnt the best but I think it makes the room look much longer than it is. Also, installing a outlet would be a good idea but I dont plan on being in this house forever and I am worried about installing an outlet in the hardwood in the middle of the room. I will update a different picture of the window side when my browser decides to cooperate, sorry for the dark horrible pictures (Im not home during daylight hours to get brighter pictures until the weekends).

If you know the dimensions of the room I could try to do a layout plan for you. It really helps visualize furniture placement ideas.

I think there is a similar size room on the board right know asking about window seat fabric. The owner had two matching sofas lined against the walls across from each other with the TV on the short wall, where your fireplace is it looks really nice too. I will see if I can find the picture.

Here is the pretty room of which I speak. I image your fireplace with a TV above instead of the window seat.

Putting the sofa in the middle, facing the FP, will make the room see small-er, and that is a good thing. It will also make the room seem homier and be more conducive to doing what that room is meant to do, have people congregate.

Room size is not at all relevant. How a room works is.

I also would not worry about installing an outlet in the middle of the floor because most people are going to have a carpet down in the middle of a room, and most will probably have an arrangement like we're suggesting, so it will actually be an asset. (If you put a rug down over a floor outlet, you simply cut a slice in the rug through which you run the plug. Slice is not in the least bit noticeable in the rug and can always be glued back together, from the underside, in the future if so desired.

For the blind, I'd get cordless wood slats in a stain similar to your trim. These are plantation shutters, but the pic gives you an idea of what I mean

Looking at the appraisal (all I have to go off of when Im not at home to measure). It appears the room is approximately 17' (fireplace wall) x 20'.

Here is a quick plan where sofa is floating, in this I image your TV above the fireplace, with components and smaller speakers in the bookcases. You could change the chair to the right and place your TV console on the left wall between fp and window wall too.

Here is a set up like SOH-GW. It might bother my ocd tendencies with the unbalanced doorway across from the windows. I tried to balance it by flanking the one sofa with side tables. Again this is with TV above fireplace and utilizing the buildings for components.

Are you thinking of buying new furniture, if so let me know and I can do a sectional mockup or all swivel chairs around a central ottoman, which is one of my favorite setups in difficult, off balanced rooms.

Are there any other options that dont involve putting the tv above the fireplace? Not sure if I like the idea of having to run all my cables through the fireplace. Sorry, I feel like I'm being "picky" about little things like outlets in the floor and cables in the wall but I also just like having easy access to the back of the TV and not have installing a new dvd player be a construction project.

It's not a big deal, Adam, and you're not being picky at all.

TV over FP, very close to mantel, then run the wires along the inside edge of the mantel and down to an outlet. You can then cover the cord on the mantel with all kinds of things: a routed out stripe of wood stained like your mantel; a decorative garland of some kind...

Here is yours tweeked with an extra chair, and sofa pulled off wall a bit. scale of doors may be off. I would also replace speakers for smaller ones. They have radio frequency remotes now and small receivers that are also wireless so wires are not always an issue any longer.

I have a very similar room--because it is only 12.5' wide I had my sofa under the window for several years. When I wanted to rearrange things I found that although putting the sofa directly facing the fireplace was too crowded, I was able to put one end close to the end of the window and angle it away from the fireplace. The chair is in the left hand corner about 3' from the FP wall and angles toward the sofa. TV is in the right hand corner.

In this picture the dog is standing by the coffee table which is in front of the sofa. Tv is behind the rocking chair which you can partially see on the right of the FP. Rocking chair is only there because of the Christmas Tree.

If your room is really 17' wide I think you will have plenty of room to have the sofa face the FP.

Here is another option, I like the sofa facing the fireplace so this still has you moving you console from where it is.

I like roarah's suggestion. If you don't like the look of the back of the sofa a sofa table behind it would look nice and you definitely have the room. You could also move the sofa slightly to the left, closer to the window. That will look balanced with the chair on the right and give more walking room around it. I have the right arm of my sofa lined up with the right side of the fireplace. This is very close to the set up that I have in my room. I have a tall bookcase on the rear left side, behind the sofa.

Here are some photos for ideas--

Santa Monica Beach House · More Info

Berkeley Bungalow · More Info

Sudbury · More Info

Hawthorne Craftsman · More Info

Craftsman Living Room · More Info

New St. Paul Home · More Info

Kirkland Traditional · More Info

Masterful Craftsman Revival, 1910 · More Info

Here are CZ's suggestions, or at least what I think she means.

If shopping for new furniture go smaller scale not pottery barn oversized. I like the flexibility of swivel chairs too when dealing with older homes floor plans.

I love your house's character! And those are some beautiful inspiration pictures jlc posted. We have a smaller living room, but it's very similar in terms of the layout (and stained trim!). We put our TV on the window side of the room, though we don't have a bank of windows so it fits between 2 windows. If your windows aren't too low, or if you don't mind a little overlap of the TV coming above the window level, you could try the TV on the window side of the room and see how that feels in your space. We have a love seat across from the fireplace and couch across from the TV, though in your space I'd think a couch across from the fireplace and love seat and recliner (or better yet, a Morris chair) across from the TV might work better. The back of our couch faces out to our kitchen so is very visible, as yours would be. I think mission/craftsman style would look especially great in your home. Google "prairie settle" and see if you like that look. I think they're comfortable and timeless, and they look beautiful from all sides.

Maybe I'll try moving the couch in front of the fireplace to get a feel for how it might turn out and go from there to determine where the other furniture might go.

jlc712, thanks for the images btw. You were able to find quite a few examples of similar layouts.

Should I paint the brass on the fireplace insert just flat black?

I had a 1925 bungalow with a similar layout. We had the sofa where yours is and the TV in basically the same place, but instead of flat on the wall, angled towards the sofa. Then a chair where you show the Xmas Tree. Similar to the layout on Berkeley bungalow above.

Brass is coming back into style so before you paint it you could try sanding it to a brushed finish. BTW Bose makes some small speakers that deliver great sound without taking up floor space.

Yes, I have a pair of the bose speakers but I am reluctant to get rid of the larger ones because they have extremely good sound with the record player. ;) I suppose I will have to give up on them eventually.

This is a very nice room....and bound to get better with all of the great help that you are getting! If you look at the beautiful pics posted above you will notice how bright the rooms are....natural light does that. I would remove those blinds in an instant.....and use fabric window treatments. I like privacy at night but cannot stand covered windows during the day.

What Roarah suggested the first time, except add a hearthside rocker (just an idea, something I love). Buy some cabinets for the tv and stereo that are solid wood and go with the style and woodwork of your house. Get those speakers up off the floor. You should have room for all sorts of fun media stuff there, but put it in something solid wood looking to go with the style of your house. Put the TV on a swivel base so you can turn it slightly depending on who else is sitting in the room watching TV with you, if ever!

If you go with what Roarah suggested in the second post, then go for low minimal profile for the tv stand and maybe mount the speakers on some shelves kitty corner from the windows, if you can do that. Or on the shelves next to the fireplace, although I can't see if there is room or if the shelves can be moved up or down. I would absolutely not mess with the casing, but perhaps making the shelves adjustable would not be sacrilege. I'd try and avoid it if possible, but I too have ginormous speakers with great sound that I am loathe to trade in for the newer, smaller digital models.

The sofa in front of the FP and in the center of the room is going to feel very awkward and counterintuitive at first, so stick with it for a while, and arrange as much of that design as you can so that you can really get a feel for it. Again, a console table behind the sofa will also make a big difference and make that arrangement feel and look "finished".

I would paint the FP surround, only because I personally really like iron and brick and wood together. But make sure, if you do it, that you know what kind of paint to use, not only to adhere to the brass but also to withstand the heat from a fire.

I think you need some accessories to make it look more modern. Floor lamp and table lamp, pillows with pattern or texture.less small items on fireplace and a simpler arrangement.lighter window treatments. Drapes would look lovely with some lighter shade treatment. You have a lot to inspire you now. Keep at it.

The dog is darling.

Adam,

Love the original features in your room and I admire you for wanting to keep changes to a minimum. Removing the floral wallpaper has done wonders for making the room more current. I wouldn't do anything else except maybe add curtains, but the room looks fine without them.

Is this the only space you have for watching TV and listening to music, or does this room need to serve those functions plus entertaining guests? How many people are typically watching tv in this room? Those answers will help you decide how to furnish the room. My suggestion involves separating the TV from your audio equipment if possible, because I think your setup is very bulky and because a 20x17 room is plenty big to have a listening area and a tv viewing area. You said you like the speakers for playing vinyl. Do you also use the speakers for your TV's audio? I can't tell if you have a center channel in your setup. If not, I suggest a soundbar for the TV and the speakers exclusively for your audio.