Since you want to stay with track lighting, there are many nicer options available on lighting sites, e.g., Lamps Plus & others. Generally higher quality. Make sure they are dimmable. It’s much more attractive & less glaring. The dimmable LED’s require a different dimmer , Lurton carries them.. (?, not sure, I’m not an electrician :). )

Thanks, K Laurence. I do know there are nicer options. I was hoping for some suggestions for style. :)

Can you show a pic of your room with the tract lighting off and all your lamps lit? I'm not convinced that the tract lighting is the best way to highlight your art.

I think to justify the track as a highlight for art you need some big art - at least as wide as the firebox opening. Although you have a lot of art, you don't appear to have a piece large enough to work at the fireplace. I think good lighting seems to be missing in your space. As for replacing the track lights, your best bet is to just go to your local Lowe's or Home Depot and see what's available that appeals to you. Be sure to inquire about LED lights and a system that can go on a dimmer. You may be able to put your existing track on a dimmer, but also consider installing a single wall-washing pot/can light in its place highlight one nice large piece of art. Then add a floor lamp and some accent lights elsewhere. A good "rule of thumb" for hanging art is 5-5-75. Art or groupings hung alone should be centered 5' above the floor. Hung above furniture, the bottom frame should be at 5" above the piece of furniture. 75% of the furniture's width is how big the art can be, or if on a smaller wall 75% of the wall can be covered by the piece, but at least 25% of the wall should be visible on the sides of the art to prevent a crowded look. Hanging art around light switches and thermostats is tricky. Most prefer not to draw attention to those utilitarian items, especially if avoiding them throws the art off center of the available wall space. Between the front door and window you might be better off stacking three smaller pieces that can better be centered on the wall even with the switch being there. The art in the corner right of the window should be lowered considerable. If you like something tall there, you might use the two bigger pieces (one orange and the other matted in orange) to do a vertical stack there. Put the darker framed one below and the lighter one above so it doesn't feel top-heave. Or you could switch to matching frames.

You're quick! I was hoping that I could see some spots for a floor lamp or two around the fireplace but it looks tight. I think adjustable cans would be unobtrusive and would be a good replacement. (Hi kitty)

There is so much going on in this room, including a lot of clutter, that it's difficult to see anything clearly. As mentioned, you need a much larger painting over the fireplace. I would remove the bottles over the door, refresh the pillows, remove the pillows to the left of the pass-through and those around the thermostat. Your space is not that large and there is just too much going on.

I was thinking about your space the other day...I couldn't remember your username but your cute space always sticks out in my mind...I think one of the last times you posted was when you got a new sofa...??

IIRC, we've talked about Carrie's space before. Her arrangements and displays are very deliberate. She's put a lot of thought into each thing and is working with a very tight space.

I would dosomething straight and linear, cylindrical and white, like the basic 1970s style track lighting. The plainer it is, the more likely you are to just screen it out.

These houses often get track lighting because of the structure, and somehow it seems less invasive than recessed cans in these tiny antique houses.

Personally I much prefer portable lamping, and there were no ceiling lights in any of the living areas or bathroom of my 1830s house. But I lived in an apartment with large rooms and there was room for tables and lamps and sconces. There's really not room for tables and lamps in houses like these and the other thing is that the floors are often so uneven that floor lamps will look all askew.

As anyone who is familiar with these houses knows, unless you live a very minimalist lifestyle, the house is going to appear cluttered to many people. It's the nature of the beast. You are seeing the Entire Footprint here. This is It. There is very little room for any sort of closed storage. There is very little room for typical furniture arrangements at all. We've gotten used to the suburban model with swathes of open flooring around the beds and high ceilings. The ceiling here is probably 9, but the ceiling on the top floor is probably 7 at the most.

I looked at a house that had a half pyramidal roof instead of a gable and the ceilings around the two outside corners of the room were 5'6" or so. It throws everything off if you are used to visually scaling things at 8'. Artwork looks like it's hung too high, furniture looks massive, but it's the scale of the house that is "off" not the things in it.

Your fireplace is the feature that should be and is being highlighted. Could you do with just a one-light fixture? From Lamps Plus:

I love the bottles above the door.

Decoenthusias - I've had a couple different pieces of large art over the fireplace, and I just didn't like the way it competed with the brick, detracting from both. Maybe it was the wrong art, but... I've since moved each of those pieces into the bedrooms, one just a month ago. And I like it better without the large art - again, maybe it just wasn't the *right* piece of large art. I do know the "rules of thumb" of art placement - that's where I start - and then I move to what I really like. :) For example, the art below the light fixture/thermometer is in my direct eye view when I sit on the couch - and I so enjoy having that piece there! I do agree that lights on a dimmer make sense. Thank you!

d_gw - it is definitely a tight space. House footprint is 12' x 25', and first floor is living, dining & kitchen. I have put a lot of thought into the space, which doesn't mean I'm not open to other ideas and changing things, but it does mean that I don't always take advice. :)

Ingrid - point taken about the clutter. What do you mean by pass through?

always1step - I did post about my sofa! Since then, I've had some posts about bedroom re-arranging, too!

Palimpsest - You totally get my house! There did use to be a recessed can in that space, and I hated it. It only lit one thing at a time, and in my small space, where I don't have room for multiple lamps, that was a problem. I'd like to be able to light up art, maybe help me read when I'm sitting on the couch, and provide overall lighting to the space for parties and vacuuming. One recessed can just never did all that. I'm not sure what you mean by "straight and linear, cylindrical" - I don't want to ask you to do more work for me, but if you can post an example, I'd totally appreciate that.

Graywing - I do want to highlight the fireplace (non-working, btw) but there's so much more in the room, and just not enough space for multiple lamps. Whatever is there, needs to do double (or quadruple) duty. I like the bottles too.

From LampsPlus:
straight and linear, cylindrical and white

Thanks, graywings. I think I understand (it sounded contradictory, at first...) linear track, with cylindrical lights.