Wow! Nice place.

very nice! do you have furniture to go in that room? or are you buying furniture for it? I definitely would arrange differently and not put a couch along the window!

We have some furniture and will buy new if needed once we see how the layout goes when we move in next week. The only problem is there is really only one wall where we can put the TV (That plain wall with the entertainment cabinet). I was thinking placing the couch between the eat-in kitchen and putting chairs by the window.

Eventually you could paint some of that wood

I wonder if you could paint the spindles black and do cream couch and black chairs with gold tables

Thanks Danielle. I love the gold coffee table! We do not want to paint the wood right now...it maybe a project for later down the road!

I like teal with your honey wood and beige couches

I think a sectional would fit well in the room. Have it configured to face the tv and the fireplace, float it in the middle with a rug. Do you want this to be family space? Brown leather might be nice with the existing would work.

I love Susan's idea to putt in a sectional to address both focal areas of the space (TV and fireplace). If you aren't looking to re-paint or stain the wood for some time, mid-to soft levels of green might be nice in that room. Would work of the current oak and could go with a black or darker wood stain in the future.

Thanks Susan. Yes this area is the main family space. We will be finishing the basement for additional TV/kids space. We have a sectional now, so I will try it and see how it looks :)

And add a swivel chair in a print.

By the way congratulations on the new home. The room is beautiful. Don't try to make it the trend embrace its style and enjoy.

Thanks Susan. I love your ideas! We are very excited to be in something more open and modern!

The rug is on Pottery Barn website.

congrats on the new digs. I would not recommend a new sectional if yours does not work. they can be terribly limiting.

I also think this is a good spot to do back to back if you could. point couch to tv and have one behind or 2 chairs that face the beautiful windows.

It is a beautiful space with a lot of possibilities however now, looking at it from feng shui perspective, it is not practical and there are many areas which are wasted or have no sense. Hope this doesn't sound to strong :) I have seen or I have been to many places where my first impression was just wow!!! they were gorgeous, just wonderful, beautifully designed...especially if they were photographed by professional photographer. But once I lived there I have realised they were not useful, no one could find a cozy place or no one could stay there to long, or there was something always wrong and in long term it was affecting the relations between people and the whole atmosphere of the place.

I would start from thinking about creating first cozy areas taking advantage of what you have... For example starting from small detail.... I would place small coffee table upstairs at the library and a comfortable armchair and maybe little plant or a lamp (hope there is enough room for that, ) so, whenever you wish to be alone you can sit there in silence and read having a "control" over the whole living room. It would be a small space but thanks to the visual sensation it would be very big. That would be your first cozy place (of course if its big enough to put an armchair, however I think for some parts of your living room I would recommend some structural changes.)

Creating spaces help that the energy stays and don't move or move slower just with the speed you need. This helps to have better concentration and to be more productive whatever you do, either doing yoga or talking to best friend.

The energy in your living room so far doesn't stay there because of luck of separation, there is several "energetic currents" which flows in different directions and with different speed, probably that's the reason you don't know where to start with.

How far would you like to go to make your living room more "liveable"? Are you willing to remove, build or reconstruct some details? Or you would like just to change or add some furnitures and accessories and the layout of the room? / Marcin

Beautiful home!!! For starters, don't do anything to the oak. The oak and style of the home are just gorgeous. Enjoy the panoramic view by not covering the windows. Think color when decorating the room. Bigger pieces of furniture, like sectionals and sofas, I would pick neutral colors; accent pillows, chairs, throws, wall art, I would pick more vibrant colors; end console and coffee tables, I would pick colors darker than oak or a completely different material, like glass and metal, leather, upholstery; large rug for the room in neutrals with a touch of bright color; I would also think about floor lamps. Lots to think about. Have fun. I know I would ;)

MM Feng Shui, definitely things to think about and I am certainly not up on feng shi. As for the upstairs "library" area. It is really just a hallway, no real space to put a reading chair...it is really just wasted space. It is really the only thing about the house that I dislike.

I am not really sure what you mean by structural changes and I do not think it would really work for the living room area....well I am sure it could be done for a large amount of $$. So for now we are keeping the footprint as it is. We love the large area that is open to the kitchen (especially coming from an 1800s farmhouse with no open space).

geroudecor, we have no plans to do anything with the oak at this time, we just want to live in the house for awhile to get a better feel for it. I like your ideas and that gives me some ideas for when I am looking at additional items for the room!

Thanks everyone who has commented so far!!

I, on the other hand, think that the library space compliments the room. I love books and to be able to have a beautiful collection of books displayed up above, makes me smile. Without that, you would have a very high and empty wall. Just think that if you had to hang art work up there, you wouldn't be able to dust off anything, unless you owned a very tall ladder. Don't know about you, but I'm afraid of heights :)

cerb tis ok, you are working from a wise position. if you get things so you can live with it then give it a year or two you would be surprised how unimportant things become. often saving you money and allowing you concentrate what really is important.

My final thoughts, congratulations on your beautiful home. Enjoy every single inch of it. Cheers!!!

Here is an idea for your great room. Consider two seating areas. One sofa away from windows enough to create a seating area behind it with a sofa table and two chairs (small scale) to look out the beautiful windows (cozy). A sofa looking at wall and TV. Two chairs one either side angled to TV with large coffee table. Up in the library area put a Fat Boy bean bag to cozy into with a book. Hang a piece if artwork from a bookcase shelf to draw eye upward. This would create a cozy and better energy flow creating joy! Find a fun chandelier for the great room that makes you smile. Something that resembles a mobile. A soft beautiful rug to anchor your furnishings in the great room would be great. Something light and soft. These ideas are designed to make you want to be in the space and let joy reside.

If you can provide room measurements and location of the openings i could do a layout of these ideas for you.

I would add a sectional will greatly reduce your options in this room. Wait before you start buying stuff. Even though it seems huge that is because of volume from the high ceiling. So wait, get measurements and details of the room so you have no future "furniture regrets" which we see often here.

That window is stunning! You want to make that a real feature. You mention window dressings for it but I think anything would disguise the natural shape of it which would be a shame. Also having a sofa under the window means you can't look out of it. Instead I would suggest you place two arm chairs just either side of it, angled slightly towards one another so that it creates a cosy corner where both can see the TV

Further frame the window by placing a tall plant one side and maybe a reading lamp for the armchair on the left of the window, even a small side table to rest a cup of coffee and a book on. I'll try and find some pictures of what I have in mind. I think if you start somewhere small like this, it grounds the room and gives you something to work with. Your sectional will be great in here as well. I think once you have your furniture placed then you can have fun with your furnishings :)

A large rug hung up on the wall leading into the kitchen would make a real statement about your style and could be a good starting point for any accent colours. It would also draw the eye up and bring notice to the balcony which is yet another gorgeous feature in this room. The scale of a large rug would also stop the room feeling a little old and even, I would imagine, less echoey. The picture of the room I've found demonstrates how a rug can work to draw the eye up and warm a big room

Here are some examples of the angle of the armchairs in front of the window i suggested with a reading light and tall plant. The advantage of the plant is it softens the look of the room and again plays with the height of your room.

I would try a u shape furniture configuration facing the fireplace wall, and use one of the current built-ins to house the TV and such

And it's a beautiful house, I would leave the window as is

I just noticed that above in the bookcase area is a large blank space that would be a place for some great art! That would be wonderful and then two smaller pieces hanging from side bookshelves to complete the balance. I'll see if I can find a photo to show what I mean.

First, something for that center area like this big "print" with big blocks of white or color so it is quite visible from below. This is example of book shelves styled very well, with about 1/3 books, 1/3 small deco items and 1/3 open space. Makes easy on the eyes and lightens up look.

This is example of putting little framed pieces on the outer edges to add interest and break up line of too many books! Another idea for the bookcases, is to paint the back panels or put wallpaper on the back panels. This adds interest and design focal point. That color/look should coordinate with other elements in the room of course. In this case, they used the wall color. But you could have pumped up the look with the blues or a patterned wallpaper. Just some thoughts and ideas to consider.

Thank you everyone for all the ideas and help, it is greatly appreciated!!

I am not sure there is enough room to have chairs looking out the window and a couch in the room. But we get into the home this Friday so I will be able to mark it up and see if it that will work. I do think we could put the sectional at an angle so it would be towards the fireplace as well as the TV and have a chair at an angle by the fireplace.

Flo: I love your idea of hanging a piece of artwork in the middle of the upper bookcase area...that is something that I never considered and really think that will help breakup the oak!

CathyLeeper: I had not even considered that large blank wall entering the kitchen, so another great idea!

Once you get in, and can get some good measurements for us, we can help do layouts for you. Angling furniture in spaces is a great way to create interest and provide good viewing in a number of directions. Love that.

WOW! you have a beautiful two story space, and I wouldn't cover the top window with shades, it's beautiful!

I can imagine one of our extra long chandeliers going all the way from the top floor to the first floor, and creating an amazing look in the space.

Our lighting are made with fused glass and hand blown glass in unique exotic colors, so you can add a pop of color with a colorful glass chandelier.

Each style is available in different sizes and can be designed in any length.

I invite you to visit www.GalileeLighting.com

To receive our catalog by email, contact Sales@GalileeLighting.com

Call us today 305-807-8711

We deliver worldwide.

Some from our hand blown glass lighting collection...

Wow your pendants are AMAZING!!!

Thank you :)

Very nice. You might need also some art decorations with nature wood frames as I saw on this site: http://www.mixedmediapainting.org/shop-now

oh dear, if you find those prices scary, i can help with alternative options to original art.

It looks like you could place a tv to the left of the window. (My husband always insists to see outside and tv at the same time