Can't really see the brick shelves in your pic, but replacing them with a mantel sounds like an improvement. I'd also get rid of the collegiate ladder shelves on the left. How about flanking the FP with a pair of distressed wood chests or console tables? Keep casegoods in lighter tones that will look good with a beautiful red 3-seat sofa. Add two chairs and your on your way. Ground them with a patterned rug.

Thank you so much for the advice; I never thought of putting chests/tables near the fireplace. That’s a great idea!

Here’s a better photo of the shelves— the tiered levels make it impossible to put things on it and have them look good. Luckily it sounds easy enough to remove the bricks, cut them, and put them back in.

Yes, get rid of those silly shelves. Other than that, I think your LR looks quite nice as it is. I would NOT spend money changing it. If you're dying to do something, splurge on a really great rug.

I don't believe your existing furniture is making the room feel dark. The rug yes, but not the furniture, at least from the photo.

A good lighting option would be a torchiere lamp with a 65 watt flood light that focuses the light onto the ceiling. It will light the whole room. And maybe a task floor lamp for behind one of the chairs.

Have you thought about adding a mantel to the fireplace? It would dress it up. I would lower the tree artwork that is behind the sofa I'm guessing maybe 8 inches.

Maybe you could move the small credenza to the left, getting it behind the two chairs and centering the Go West poster over it.

A couple of suggestions

Paint the walls a neutral color instead of the pale yellow

The biggest problem in this room is the dark rug that grabs all the light in the room. Replace it with a patterned rug that picks up the color of the fireplace brick

Change your accent colors from red to the rust/terra cotta color

I would switch the coffee table to a round wood table.

The table lamp seems to be in the wrong place and I would replace it with some type of arched floor lamp or large swing arm wall mounted light so you can place light where you need it.

I would add a combination table/table lamp between the two lounge chairs because there's just not enough light in the room.

Lower the Go West graphic so that it's a few inches lower than the door opening

The kitchen could use a different ceiling light also.

What color are the walls now? And I'm assuming that any new color will have to go with the kitchen cabinetry, so it would help to have a better picture of that part of the room, and cabinet finish details too.

Do you want to keep the red accents? If so, a Persian/oriental/tribal rug with touches of red would be nice.

Do you have any plans for the area to the right of the fireplace?

Just one more suggestion, have you tried floating your sectional/future sofa so that it faces your fireplace?

Yes to a much lighter rug and a few lamps. While you are looking at online rugs, if you find one you like, first order the smallest version if available. If you don't like the rug, it is much easier to package and send back. Also check the site's shipping and return policies.

A new rug will change the look of the whole room and you might not feel the need to make other changes.

If I had that room, I would paint the fireplace and remove the dark rug. Then you have the basis for a spectacular bright homey room.

Wow—thank you all for the tremendous responses! I feel much
better now knowing that this room can easily be transformed without breaking
the bank. I will do my best to reply to each of you…

Anglophilia- It seems like changing the rug will make all
the difference. I really do love the bones of the room, so it will be nice to
make an easy (and affordable) change like the rug.

Graywings123- I hadn’t thought of putting a flood light in
there.. that would add tons of light. Thanks! And yes, we do plan to add a
mantel to the fireplace. Likely one that is just plain/natural wood. I will
move the photo, so thanks for the advice. This is our first time hanging art in
a home so it has been a steep learning curve of all the height rules!

Decoenthusiaste- Yes, I can change the cover on the two
chairs! They’re just from IKEA, so it’s very affordable to do. They make the
covers in charcoal, beige, white, dark blue, brown, black, and red. We have
been considering a mantel that can slip over the bottom shelf to save ourselves
some work.. and that bottom shelf is at the right height for the mantel.

BeverlyFLADeziner- Wow, thank you so much! I honestly had
never thought of changing the accent color from a bright red to a rust/terra
cotta (doh!), but that matches the brick near-perfectly as well as the
red/burnt orange color on the nearby kitchen walls. Your edited photo shows a
completely transformed room with simple changes—I love it. The wood table would
look great and match the future mantel. The kitchen has the same horrible
60-70s light fixtures as in the hallway and bedrooms, since the ceilings are
relatively low we have been looking into replacing them with something simple
and flush/semi-flush that will also put out more light.

Becksharp- The colors of the walls are currently a neutral
off-white. We move into the house as-is, so we are certainly not married to it.
I can get a better photo of the kitchen once I’m home later, but the cabinets
are a cream color with bronze hardware. We really do love the red—or anything similar.
I think that your suggested rug type would be perfect (or something more
Southwest, like a rust color) because the accents keep from having a wildly
colorful room. We do not currently have any plans for the right of the
fireplace; there is a small office there that we do not want to completely
obstruct access too.

Clairebuoyant1- We have tried this! Although we felt that
having the back of the couch being the first thing you see when you walk in
made it feel less open/inviting. When we have people over, everyone always hangs
out in the kitchen/this room.

D_gw- What a great idea, I had never thought of doing this
before. Thank you! I think that we are going to start with a change in rug and
go from there—I hope that everything will look perfect with that one little
change.

Yayagal- Thanks for your insight. The rug is definitely going
to go!

What you need is the classic "triangle of light". You need a table and lamp between those two chairs opposite the sofa. Find a place for a 3rd.

I notice that in practically all the pictures posted here asking for help, there are no end table and no lamps. Are these rooms only used for watching TV? Does no one ever sit in them and visit or read a book? I know you're all tired of me constantly saying, "You need end tables and lamps", but they are essential in a living/family room. Heck, where do you even put the remote without an end table?

Good luck to you.

Overall.. more lamps and light. Paint walls a warm neutral. Change out rug for something lighter and patterned. Remove fireplace shelves, but do NOT paint the brick!!! Take time to consider a mantle, if any. A mantle could hide brick disruption from shelf removal. Resist calls to lower artwork if you are tall.

An end table or two would not be amiss.

My thoughts, anyway.

Yellow, whether in the the off-white paint or in the lighting, will accentuate the red in the brick. I was thinking about white washing or doing some treatment on my red brick fireplace (similar -- goes to the 14 ft vaulted ceiling), but I couldn't decide on whether and what to do, so I put that on hold and painted the room first. We went to a cooler grey beige (SW accessible grey at 150% -- a little darker than the original formula because the original color looked a bit chalky next to the brick). The change in the look of the brick was surprising -- I no longer hate it and plan to leave it just as is.

I would change the paint color, change your light bulbs to LEDs with at least 2700K, 3000K if available, and get a lighter rug. Then re-evaluate the coffee table and other elements.

Hello,

I would also take away the bookshelv and place there a wonderfull green plant. Then I would also take away the dark carpet and replace him through a bright carpet, for example a orientalisk Gabbeh Loom in golden Safran Colour. On the wall where you have hanging the poster go west, I would would hang a mirror, because hecathches the light from the window.The Idea with another Lights I find also a very good idea. The fireplace is nice, but when you do not like the Stones from the fireplace, then you can make/pave mosaik on(over) it. Or you can also make with different tiles a picture over the stones. This is not expensive and can looks crazy..,and also wonderfull... good luck!

(Excuse me I dont speak so well english, because I'm Swiss)

I’m curious how you are going about removing the brick shelves. Can you share what you are planning on doing? We have a fireplace that has something similar propping up the mantle and we are interested in removing those bricks so we can drop the mantle height down.

Anglophilia- We love the idea of the “triangle of light”. It
will do so much for the space. I totally understand your rant of lack of tables/lights!
You can find me reading pitifully curled up next to the only lamp in the room,
with my drink out of arms reach on the coffee table. I think that these
suggested ideas of where/what types of tables and lights to add in will make
this a much better space to hang out in.

Artemis_ma- Thank you for the insight! I appreciate it. That
seems to be the general consensus of what to change in this room. I love this
red brick, so I’d much rather design a room around it than to paint it!

Lascatx- Great advice, thanks. And thank you for the helpful
LED information, I’m sure that will make all the difference. We’ve already
started the hunt for a new rug—we’re excited to see what that does for the room
and where to go from there (for the coffee table, etc).

Artdreamer- Thank you for the advice! We used to have a
beautiful palm tree in the corner, but unfortunately it only lived a year or
so. Not sure if I just don’t have good luck with plants, or if it didn’t like
our cold, dark winters. We may try again! Those are great rug suggestions, and
I like the idea of adding a mirror to reflect light to further brighten the
room. Thanks!

K Fitz- No problem! I’m sure it will be more messy and
difficult than the internet makes it seem (aren’t home projects always this
way?) but… 1) We plan to follow this set of directions to remove the brick: https://www.wikihow.com/Replace-a-Damaged-Brick
). 2) We will then cut the brick in half (either with a circular saw or by hand
with a chisel https://www.thisoldhouse.com/more/how-to-hand-cut-brick
). 3) We will then re-insert the brick, pushing it back in until it is flush
with the rest of the brick wall.

Emily, I just mentioned on a different thread that not fyi all palms do well indoors. Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana) is one of the more forgiving/successful indoor growing ones.

Part of the problem I think is that so many more varieties are now available, and cheaply, at Home Depot, Lowes, Ikea, etc. But not all are good for growing at home.

I was walking through Costco yesterday and saw Christmas decor that brought you - your fireplace - to mind. It was a set of three jars with LED lights inside. They are small, and maybe too small for your three ledges at just 7 inches high. But so cute. LED jars

Beckysharp- That’s incredibly useful information! That’s
exactly what I bought—a palm from Lowe’s. I’ll have to look into local
nurseries to see if they carry better varieties like the one that you
mentioned.

Graywings123- How did you know that I am OBSESSED with
holiday decorations?! Seriously, my boyfriend never lets me go to Michaels
alone because he knows that I’ll walk out with a cart full to the brim of
adorable little decorations (for every season). I’ll have to go to Costco ASAP
and see if mine is carrying those! Too cute.

Emily, you can probably find a Kentia in one of the big box stores, I think that's where I got mine. Just check the label (and maybe Google on your phone) before you make your final selection and take it home!

Dear K FitzI would let the bricks on the fire place mantle. I would put white tiles on it. If you take classical tiles , with them you can manke different template, or you take victorian tiles. On the end where you wnat to have the mantle , there you can put a tile border.You can make different templates, it depends, how you put(lie) the tiles on it. You can

Excuse me, correction: with them you can make different temlate.....On the end where you want to have the mantle, there you can put a for example a tile border or you fix in a wonderfull wood. I do not know how your stile is, but you have many possiblilities.

What a difference painting brick white can make! Our great room in progress.

decoenthusiaste - where do I find the source for the first coffee table you posted on this thread? That would be perfect for my family room....Thanks!

Dominos: I found that mentioned coffee table on Houzz.. https://www.houzz.com/products/palliser-furniture-julien-coffee-table-with-acacia-wood-top-round-prvw-vr~60503945