One word about the bench in the dining area we have a total of four boys so I found that the benches Actually allow us to see everybody pretty comfortably without chairs taking up too much visual and physical space

Also the ballerina picture will be moved to the hallway I had it up because I just couldn't bear to store it it's one of my favorite pieces in the house yes I know it looks weird. The mirror over the mantle will go where the TV currently is and the TV will go over the fireplace I just have no clue what to do about wires and components as pictures that I see online never seem to show cable boxes.

Im not an interior designer, but maybe carrying the same style of flooring through the living and dining room might help the flow of the rooms and allow for better furniutre layout. TV above the fireplace may help also...but from a masonry viewpoint, perhaps the shape of fireplace is what's throwing the room off a bit. If it's in your budget perhaps bringing the fireplace up to the ceiling. Maybe even covering over the old brick with stone.

they are there,some are hidden with"clutter"and some are put in cupboard or behind false walls!!

Wow you really do have a design conundrum. The TV should actually be at about eye level when seated so putting it above the fireplace will really strain the viewers neck. I would even move it right on down and set it on the shelving you have underneath it now. But that is coming from someone who really isn't a fan of mounting TV's to walls. Is different furniture an option? I think the coffee table and two slipper chairs are too big for the space. I would change it out for a square coffee table. I would switch out all seating for a clean lined sectional. I love your dining area.

@cooldesigns interesting ideas thx. I just wish I was into sectionals.

@ brown brothers masonry totally agree about flooring. This is a rental and if I owned it I would do wood flooring as in the rest of the house. Given that reality if renting. Not much I can do about fireplace either :(.

@alilisa68, yeah, truth is I'm not a huge fan of sectionals either. I've been thinking about your living room because we also have a long narrow living room too that I get frustrated with. I would love to see what you end up doing!

Well I'm pretty much done the tv has been moved and that's the last of the major work. I see what you are saying about the chairs but they are so damn cozy and we have a family of 6 and the way I had it before didn't allow our younger boys to watch TV. I will Proabably downsize and get rid of some accessories so the room can breathe a bit. Send some pics of your room.

I love it good job

No matter how hard we try for the average person With the family it is hard to replicate some of the beautiful homes that we see in architectural digest HGTV and our beloved Houzz. But with a little effort and creativity we can come close as I said in my original post this room has been a struggle and that's the whole house is been a struggle because it is a rental and something that I would like to do unlimited by because the fact that we don't own it there is an opportunity for us to buy it so we'll see what happens then. With that said I've done my best to make a beautiful home that is gorgeous to look at yet livable for a family of six. Realizing that in the process of this I've broken a few design rules for example someone trade my audio components for something more slimline and digital, some would say that the slipper chairs are too large for the space as well as the dining table, And many would say TV placement over the fireplace is not a good option. But despite this I've done the best I can to make the space livable and beautiful. Now that the TV is over the fireplace I have a challenge of what to do the windows in a perfect world I would love to buy some nice shades but don't want to invest that much money into a house that's not going so I will forgo shades and put up some silk curtains that can be drawn back and forth as tv watching allows but that's not heavy where the room is not pleasing to the eye or unbreathable. With that said here are the new pictures ideas are very welcome. The only thing I wish I had in this room or wood floors so that there is more continuity with the floorspace but it is what it is.

The one thing that's becoming eyesore at this point is my husband's computer I'll be surprising him with the laptop in a few weeks I can get rid of that thing and put it in the kids room

you know, even the the floors are different, i wonder how it would look to treat the LR floor treatment more like an area rug and have the front of the furniture legs just touch it. i can see if you took the two chairs out of the walkway across the from the fireplace and maybe placed the couch with the front legs just on the LR floor section opposite the fireplace it might flow better.

Those are interesting ideas.

I will try it when I get home. When I tried that before it closed up the room and didn't look as open. But I will try it again and see how that feels

Just a thought - the benches for the table are useful, but might look nicer if the color were black or stained as dark as the table legs to blend in.

Ok just moved mirror that's twin to the other over console. Not sure if ill keep it there but for some reason I like it.

I am thinking about this lilly loveseat to place in front of large window what do you think?