Thanks Jan! I know, I have mixed feelings abt the cutouts. I think they provide a sense of spaciousness that a solid wall wouldn’t give— a semi-open concept feel. So why have walls there at all? Not sure if any structural reasons perhaps.

Overall I really like the floor plan of the house. It is a ‘not so big house’ that feels comfortable for us, and we were definitely looking at some options with much more space. It was custom designed back in ‘95.

so you say ditch trim and ignore the height, huh? I think with this poll I’m finally convinced to ditch that moulding— it was my inclination, I just needed a vote of confidence before taking out the crowbar!!

But— Im still tempted to embrace the height.Big high beautiful art? Open to being talked out of it though.

Keep the art at “human” level, not “giant” ....

Ok ya'll, you are going to laugh and cringe, I have no Photoshop so I just tend to play with my thoughts in MS paint. . .VERY badly!. . . but I will be brave and share with you my current mockup and where I was going when saying 'big art'.

Was thinking possibly placing large art canvases on long rustic shelves of reclaimed pine (I actually have 2 long 8" shelves that I had made for my old business), to bring in that rustic/farmhouse element I love throughout. FYI the mantle is being custom made and will be a block of wood (cut from a tree in our friends' lot!), will have rustic looking finish -- so these rustic wood elements will be scattered throughout.)

I honestly don't know if with the terrible use of MS paint if any of you can see where I'd be going at all with this but. . . why not share. ;)

details on the image above:

the fan is just a suggestion of style, not necessarily color. Same with the art. Just an example. I'd find canvases that I love.

The sofa is light blue and has to stay with us. Not really that shade of light blue in the image, it's much more muted. Has nice lines. It's Rowe which generally gives you an idea of our ballpark-- we're not 'fine furniture' people but at this stage in life tend to go for mid-range lines (like Rowe, we've been happy with it), we like made in the USA construction whenever possible due to human rights concerns about many Chinese factories.

Kitchen table is staying. Can't justify new kitchen table. That's the actual finish shown. Currently has grey nailhead Parsons chairs around it, which in new home will move into dining room (we have nice dark-stained farmhouse long dining room table that was stored elsewhere for a while and will come back to us). Gold chairs pictured are a new purchase, trying to embrace my ecelecticness even more (and with more space we needed more chairs). Chairs are Remy chair from Restoration Hardware in brass. That gold side table is also a real thing.

TV console pictured is a suggestion/possible purchase. Thinking about purchasing that specific one. (it's also RH. Made in China of course-- I know I'm contradicting myself! But of salvaged wood from England which I thought was cool. . .). Given the layout of the space I want the TV console to echo the weathered-grayish finish of the table. I'm gonna be mixing woods all over the place but trying do do it with some rhyme and reason. . .

If you squint into the family room you can also see a kilim on the floor that I'm thinking about getting. . or something very similar. would love to buy a real kilim,preferably vintage, as opposed to a knockoff-- so have been scouting the internet for the right color mix. and then if you squint above that I'm thinking of a brass and glass coffee table of some sort. The Leona from PB is pictured but any other suggestions are welcome. In addition to buying the new chairs, hoping to only buy a new coffee table (as inexpensive as possible) and TV console (open to spending, as it's inherently going to be a focal point). Want to put $ toward actual remodeling projects rather than furniture.

Any thoughts/suggestions on any of the items above is welcome.

Thanks!

(PS. Denita if you see this-- I still love your idea of art doors for the TV! However my husband STILL doesn't want the TV wall mounted. For some reason. He's budged so much on the other things, I'm not gonna push him on that one ;) ). Maybe he just literally does not want to have to deal with mounting it, ha.

I like you art on shelves idea but I wouldn't go with shelves as wide as you're showing.

My immediate gut reaction was --it looks weird. Personally I would take it off the TV wall.

Thanks for your candor! I agree that the art on staggered shelves idea is a bit out there. Sometimes I need help sorting through my ideas that are ‘out there’ into ‘good unusual’ or ‘bad unusual’ ;) What would you put on the TV wall?

Hmmm,I don't know what I'd choose to do. (beyond losing that trim piece) But look forward to seeing what you do.

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Hollybar! Thanks for chiming in :)

So maybe it’s possible that big high art = good here. but perhaps just placing it high and making it big is enough. No need to add shelves.

And yes— mentally I had always been planning to lose that trim (and let me tell you, I tore into that mantel and fireplace:

with not an ounce of hesitation!) but somehow with crowbar in hand I was just oddly chickening out about pulling down the huge trim piece. I needed 26 Houzzers to tell me to get on with it, ha ;)

What was that green stuff? Just tile? And yeah,I think if you are going to go bold-n-high with the art,ledges are too busy for me. More eye candy.... incredibly assured use of scale in the second one. Makes me wonder if this evolved or was it always in the plan?

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Lovely, holly! Really lovely. thank you for the inspiration. And the green was an unknown stone. Quartz?

Do you have a second living area where you could locate the TV? We put ours in the den, and left the living room free of electronics. We also have a high ceiling and lots of glass and the acoustics are not good for TV.

Instead we have several large, hung at normal height, oil paintings. No glass on the artwork, that would just add to the bouncing sound. A large wool rug with a wool felt pad helps quiet the room down. I have considered hanging a rug on one high section of wall that is separated from the rest of the walls and windows, but have never acted on that idea. I also thought about ceiling to floor drapes, but don't want to block any of the view or lose the space to sides of the windows where I've hung paintings.

I think the large colorful art is a good idea, but would skip the shelves. They chop up the wall like the molding you decided to remove. I've seen antique salvaged carved doors/gates hung as art - that would add a rustic element to your room.

Make sure you do some floor lamps! Floor level lighting will add a human scale to the room. Put all the lighting on a remote so it's easy to turn on.

We had two fans in our house (built 1991) just like yours. I was dancing around the day they came down! Never turned them on anyway. The room looks bigger without them. We replaced with led chandeliers that do not have a heavy visual presence.

P banos thank you so much for your great input and suggestions. Will have to add floor lamps! And I’ll keep my eye out for any cool ‘objects’ to consider for the wall :)

As for placement of TV—we do have another space, a small formal living room- but with just as many windows and facing the street. :( So this one is meant to be the tv room. I dont think theres actually a truly ideal spot for TV in the whole house! But this is what we have to work with although believe me we considered finding another space for the TV., good thought. Thank you again!

Definitely lose the trim ! No to shelves, and yes to big art.

I love big art. It would look great on those large walls!