It’s funny you mention that because we are considering staining the rails dark. I recently refinished an old desk using gel stain and it turned out great! Big concern for me is how to do it without my 2 and 3 year olds getting into it since it’s such a time consuming project.

I am in love with reclaimed wood for an accent wall

I'd rather see art on your walls than shelves of doo-dads. The art over the sofa is a little small for the space and needs to be hung lower. It might look more proportional if hung 5-6" above the back of the couch. You just need a little tweaking. :)

Having an accent wall will definitely liven up the space of the living room. You can have darker colored accent wall, like dark gray or blue, or a lighter colored accent wall, like orange or green. You can also have a print of some sort (like a wallpaper) as an accent wall, as well. Pick something that you think would be eye catching.

I like your idea ,dark handrail and 1 dark accent wall!

Three shelves with things in them on the wall above the railing don't work for me for some reason. I also don't care for their being placed stair step fashion. It seems to me that wall should be left blank. . .so it doesn't give the feeling something could fall on the heads of those seated below or climbing the stairs. However, I really like what you've done above the three windows.

Thanks for all the great advice and ideas! Does anyone have any suggestions for furniture placement? I read where you “shouldn’t” have everything pushed against the walls but I’m not sure we can do much else with the layout and furniture we have. I was considering a couch table behind the large (ugly, husband’s) straight brown couch. Of course me and my husband combined furniture when we met, and none of it was bought for this home but I need to try to make do with what we have for now. The only different thing that will happen soon is that the big dark brown couch will be replaced with its matching loveseat because it’s falling apart, so that will shrink but be the same style and color.

Decorate below the window and door frames, where the people live. Drapes or fabric roman shades will do a lot to warm and soften the hard edges of your room's architecture. Agree about the railings. Here is before and after of a project I advised here on Houzz.

What if you reversed the sofas, putting the mushroom one where the brown one is, and then the brown one pulled away from the windows, with a coffee table in front? Or the (shorter) brown one in front of the railing?

I think a large plant would add color. If you are not into plants, how about a colorful throw?

And would love to see some drapes with color on those windows. Once you get the sofa off the window it will make more sense.

A colorful print would be great on the wall where the brown sofa is now. Is there a color or theme that you like, I'd enjoy looking at examples for you.

I'd take away all six shelves, and put family photos in a hallway gallery-style by making the frames all similar.

You can certainly rearrange what you have and make the room look new! If you try moving the furniture post pictures along the way and you will get more help...

If you think an accent wall will help update your space, you might want to look into what colors you want to try first. Do you have any specific ones you are looking at?

Our couch is definitely on its last leg and we have decided to buy a new one. Any ideas on what would look nice in this space? The large dark brown one is the one to go. We just got the new canvas print and would love some ideas for a couch/loveseat!

Also lose the stickers and decorations over the windows.

Stickers?

Wow, We love your home. We would like to suggest a coffee table in the middle of the rug. The perfect coffee table for your home, bringing a unique mix of form and function, is the Noguchi coffee table. The glass top on the Noguchi Table is attached to the wood base. The triangle coffee table top is made of sturdy tempered glass giving you a transparent window to the unique base below. The glass used to make this Noguchi table is tempered glass which is toughened through a process of extreme heating and rapid cooling during manufacturing.

You can check our stores

https://www.houzz.com/products/tribecca-traingular-coffee-table-walnut-prvw-vr~90615945

I agree with Healthy Gal and Linda; remove the smaller wall decorations and leave blank. I love the openness of the space; wonder if an accent wall would break it up too much? Will follow along; good luck!

The carpet should be larger. A feature wall generally makes the space feel smaller.

Lower the art, and add floor/table lamps for flattering lighting.

Following

Any couch/loveseat suggestions to replace the dark large brown one?

jbtanyderi, lower the triptych? I though we did better with that one than the old picture.

Art without glass won't reflect light. Add more art.
Window treatments for a bit of privacy.
Darker handrails will look good.