There are some limitations here. If you block the pathway to the small window, how in the world are you going to clean it? And of course the space is defined by the fireplace next to it.

Now, if you could forgo on the light of that window, it would be another thing. If you place a piece of board on that wall to completely cover that wall, you could fill it with floating shelves from the height of the desk up to the ceiling. From the desk to the floor you best make two small doors on it to prevent dirt from getting in there and to be able to store things, that are not too nice to look at. The desk would go till where that niche starts, or your husband could make one to fit the entire space. Whichever you like most, although I think the first would be best.

But if you cannot miss that window, I'm afraid the desk will look kind of awkward. Do you really need that space? For to me it is the perfect place for a tall-but-not-wide plant. If however you need the space for storage I would stick with a bookcase. Be it one that is more straight.

Black (or maybe even dark brown) would be your best choice of color for whatever piece of furniture you decide to place there, since that blends nicely in with the mantle on the fireplace and the tv. You don't want competition with those two, so keep it relatively simple.

I think you may be asking a lot of a tiny space. But if you are living in a very small house, then you have every right to ask a lot of a tiny space...

First clear everything away from the window - the shelf, the toys, the curtain, the storage on the hearth. Then you can have clear idea of what the space looks like. If you put a desk all these items will have to be moved anyway (can your clever spouse build some storage elsewhere?). Post a photo here, and one of the room at large.

Then add a chair and maybe a large box to stand in for the desk. You can imagine then how it would work to use this area as a desk. Post a photo of this as well.

I had an idea this window might be fun with everything cleared away and then use colored glass instead of a curtain. Making an awkward space into a feature, and removing all the "stuff" that makes the corner unappealing to you.

Thank you everyone for your helpful tips! Some really great ideas. It's not a "must" that I use that corner for a desk, I'm just trying to think of the most useful thing to put in this space. My husband has pushed and pushed me for years saying we should put a desk there but it is a small space.

I've posted some pictures below of my current living room with a view from the front door and a view from our hall/dinning room (please excuse the mess). I want to utilize every inch of space in our living room possible since we have a small house. Ideally I'd like this room to be a combination of relaxing (couch and TV, Fireplace area) and also area for my daughter to play and area for a desk. We currently have a large desk but I feel like it takes up so much space. I'd just really like to use this awkward space for something useful. Maria Privat, we don't get much light from that window so I'm not bothered if its blocked. One idea was thinking of putting a bookshelf like the one I'll post in front of this window. And then a small desk next to it, directly to the right of the fireplace, but the more I think about it, the more I think that space is just too small.

The dog crate and small wooden chest next to the fireplace will be placed somewhere else.

My goals for this room:

1. Relaxing and cozy

2. Functional

3. Room for my daughter to play & put her toys (I also just bought a toy storage shelf)

4. Room for desk

5. A layout that flows well

6. Maybe one more chair

* Would love some additional advice on what I should do with the space. Thanks so much everyone! :)

You could do a lot in this room if you were able to get rid of the large desk and a lot of the 'stuff'. Then rearrange the seating and add floor or table lighting and rug(s). You might divide the space into two areas, one for tv and one for play/study.

Are you comfortable watching tv with the set so high? Would you consider decluttering, replacing the large desk? Do you have a realistic place to move all the things on shelves above the desk or could some of that be eliminated?

You need a big-time declutter if you want the room to work. Why would you need two desks? Are two people working from home? What's the rest of the house like, and who lives there?

There are things you could do with the space but honestly before we can give much in the way of help we need to see the space without all the clutter. I will say that corner cannot handle much and take the book shelf out for sure. Take all the toys back to your childs room and bring out a few to play with and at the end of the day they go back in the bedroom.

If you could give us a measured drawing of the whole room, it would really help. Measure the whole space, and plot it on graph paper, showing the locations of windows, doors, and openings to other rooms. We need to know your daughter's age and if either of you works from home. Please include the measurements of the desk, the sofa, and the chair. Please list the sizes of any other furniture pieces (bookcases, small tables, a console cabinet), whatever is in the room.
The big problems: too much stuff, a large sofa in a bad location, a tv mounted over the fireplace, the ladder bookcase, not enough light fixtures, and more stuff. Putting the tv over the fireplace forces you to put the sofa where it faces the tv....in this case, the wrong place!
While we are waiting for the measurements and floor plan, start removing some of the excess stuff: pillows, books you are not currently using, the ladder bookcase, all decorative items. Put the toys in a couple of boxes: she doesn't need all her toys at once, so give her access to one box and put the other box up for another day. Does she have her own bedroom?
My plan is to put the sofa where it fits and then find a good location for the tv and the desk.
Let's get to work.

Thank you for the pictures and for the list of 'demands' of this room. That helps.

First: if your husband wants a desk in that small window corner, does that mean, that he (and you) do not need that bigger desk you already have? For if that's the case: follow my advice given before for that corner and sell the bigger desk. Buy two of the same not-to-big chairs, that match well with the style and color of your sofa, and place those chairs next to each other in an L-shape with the sofa. So that the back of the chairs 'face' the large mirror. And so that there is some walking space in between the sofa and the chairs.

The chair you have now, sort of stands out, because of its much lighter color. If your place is decluttered, it would function as a focal point, but it shouldn't. So I'd sell that one too, nice as it is, for it does not help your living room. Not in the color scheme you have now. With the two new matching chairs, you don't need it anyway.

Love your floor, so warm. I'm sure it greatly adds to the cozy feel you wish. Have you thought of putting up just a few beams across the ceiling? Perhaps in the beautiful color of the floor? That would transform this room beyond belief. The picture Komma Hem shows what I have in mind. Yours would go from the lower end to the higher end of the ceiling.

Many people believe that more things add to the cozy feel. That's simply not the case. For more things create a feeling of unrest, rather than rest. Unrest and cozy are mutually exclusive. Which means for your top request of 'relaxing and cozy' you will have to declutter big time. For that, you need closets with doors in front of them! So you can store things out of sight. Teach your daughter to store her things too.

That also means: find another place for the coats. If there is no other place, buy a beautiful closet in which to hang them all and in which on the shelves you can place gloves and the likes. And right above the bottom you have another shelve, under that shelve go some shoes. For your growing kid, you can buy a rod to hang up coats halfway. I don't know the name in English, but the big shop from Sweden sells them. By the way: black is your theme, so keep closets black too and don't go for white as well, for it will demand all attention is this room, and you don't want that.

If however you don't like the black that much anymore and really love white more nowadays, this would be the time to change it all, possibly including the sofa. Personally I do not like the combination of small children and a white sofa, because it requires ongoing extra attention to keep it clean. But maybe a lighter gray leather sofa would be possible? Oh, and then the chair you already have would fit in lovely. For an extra chair, you could buy a second one and place it next to it, in the way I describe above.

The black mirror is oversized. Could you replace it with a smaller one? Underneath would go a low buffet in which your child can put away tons of stuff. If you already had to place a closet there for the coats, pick matching low closets, that are just as deep for optimum storage place, for you need a lot of that. Then you can put two nice, stable lamps on the buffet part next to the mirror (or just one, if the coats closet you pick is rather wide).

Alternatively, you could place book shelves above the lower cabinets, for optimum functionality. Like this:

I love how color is brought into the room, behind the book shelves. The things in it look only nice, because they are well balanced. The less time you have for tidying up, the more bins you need, where little things disappear, without cluttering the place.

The area between the buffet and the two new chairs will be your daughter's privat play space. Maybe a kid's table with little chair would fit (under the window) there, for her to draw and do crafts. She'll love to have her own furniture! And kids also love the feel of a rug. Be sure it is easy to clean though! And that it fits with the rest of the living room. The two chairs that face the other side usually, could easily be reverted, so you could play with your kid. How's that for functionality.

One more thing: are you sure the color on the walls helps for that cozy feeling? It eats up the light and makes it look rather drab on the pictures. A soft white on the walls could open up the place a lot. For some extra color you could choose one or even two walls. Say in a warm orange (goes well with both black, brown and white and can even handle gray).

The rug could help bring in some color too.
For cozy I'd also place a green plant here and there. Fake if must be.

The layout you have now from door to opening to the dining area will stay that way. Just declutter. I would hang up a light above the place of the coffeetable/ottoman.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

Wow! I hope you can move the desk out of the room, it's way too big. If not, you may want to start by moving it to the wall that the mirror is on and remove everything else from that wall. Most of what's in the room has to go.

Thank you everyone for the info and help, got some great ideas and also realized I need to de-clutter and clean. lol. Maria Privat: I loved your ideas very helpful! Thank you! Here’s some photos of the cozy type feel i want, definitely not what I have.