here are a couple more photos of the space.

steel and stone seem to be nice looking and practical.....also, do not match the end tables and the cocktail table.....check out cocktail and end tables in living rooms on house and see what appeals to you and go looking......end tables should be height of arms with an inch of give higher or lower.

This room has a lot of items that would look great in your home with your sofa, etc.

two small cocktail tables paired, pharmacy lamp, drum shade floor lamp shorter table lamp, simple burlap /linen curtains round table as an end table between chairs, and the fun part is the bold area rug that centers all the furniture, start with the rug and go from there.....there are so many great reasonably priced rugs as Marshalls, Home Goods, etc....just some suggestions.

I would paint the walls an eggshell color ...the blue in this space with so many heavy large and wall To wall furniture make the room look uncomfortable and overloaded . It needs to lighten up . Why are the drapes closed ? ..how about blinds ? also did you try and place the sofa differently ..or does it have to be where it is ..? And the furniture underneath the big screen ?? Do you need all the furniture in this room ? I would buy small end tables once you know the permanent position of the sofa and a small long table in front ..simple pieces ...please take more pictures with the drapes open to see about light ...during day and night ...lamps ?

I understand the temptation to better a space right away. But you are fighting GRAVITY, hon

I'd start the piggy bank, so you don't wind up buying things you may later want to replace.

The sectional is far too high, heavy, and bulky for the room and it is literally weighing it DOWN.

The projector, while staying, is not the best solution for a living room. That is suited to an out of the way media room.

The hearth and paint? That is selected based on seating colors, rug colors.. etc. And you're not there yet. Window treatments, such as curtains, follow. If that must be addressed now? Add inexpensive wood blinds, or a room darkening shade......and separate the curtain panels to stationary.

What I am saying is wait, save, save, save,

Draw the room to scale with all dimensions, begin figuring out best sized seating arrangement, with a permanent tv /flat screen locale. Work towards your idea book, in other words. While resisting the urge to jump in and buy in haste.

OH , and I think your tables are beautiful ! They Don't go with your bulky and dark furniture but ..in a way they soften the heavy overbearing look of your living room and make it better looking . I can not see a wood table or more wood anywhere in this room .

While you save up, I'd work on decluttering those cabinets by the windows. There is way too much going on there. Since your tables are contemporary, get a more contemporary lamp. Since the sofa is staying for now work with it, not against it. Take out frills, cute and soft and stick to clean and contemporary until you can afford to totally replace all your furniture. Painting doesn't cost much, so do that too.

Not a Pro.

Looking more at your pics. The Wall Unit is so heavy. Can it be moved to another room?

Adding light colored full length drapes and just art on the both sides of the window would really help.

Took down my previous post.

Is the white area a screen or painted? If painted, why is there a black border or frame?

I agree with the poster who said to simplify the cabinet. Removing the items from the top would improve the look - it's not a good idea to draw the eye up towards the ceiling of a room. Could you remove the smaller cabinets and just leave the 2 larger glass-fronted ones?

Also remove all the small decorative items from the fireplace and the TV cabinet. Your look is masculine and these small items don't go.

Have you thought of also painting the fire place? White or Off white for the brick, and maybe a light shade of gray, that would blend with the color of the sectional, for the walls. The room will look more open and contemporary.

Do you have any art work that could sit on the fireplace mantle, instead of the mirror? The mirror doesn't reflect anything attractive, so art work would look better. I'd also move the wine bottles to the right of the fireplace box, or in the under-TV cabinet. They look squished in that space.

hello all!

Thank you so much for your input and encouragement. As you can see the room doesn't have much natural light, which contributes to the dark and heavy feeling of the room.

We will definitely be decluttering the cabinets and finding different pieces for the mantle. I just moved in and am excited to update the look and feel of the room. I'll start looking for some art that I like.

Thank you too for the suggestions on saving and finding pieces I truly love. I also like the suggestions of moving the large cabinets by the window elsewhere or at least separating them.

The white paint with the black paint frame is permanent - my husband has used the living room for his home movie theater (I enjoy movies too when it's night) and painted the walls for that purpose. At some point down the road, I'd like to convert this room to an actual living room but for now, we're keeping it as is.... hence the couch and it's awkward positioning.

I can remove the side shelving on the glass cabinets, which would make the space by the windows feel less cluttered. I'd also like to add a rug and then find some end tables and a coffee table or ottomon for the couch area. I will stay away from wood - someone said I should look for metal and stone instead?

Curious...what is the adjoining room used for? Wondering if you couldn't re-arrange pieces between the two rooms. I would strongly recommend NOT buying anything until you have the furniture arranged and spaces de-cluttered.

Not a Pro.

Revamping your wall unit and taking down all your nick knacks will feel freeing.

Try your table and end tables with your new area rug before getting rid of them. You may find they work.

Please post pics as you go along. I would love to see how you choose to redo your room.

Here is some inspiration:

@hollybar - one adjoining room (to the left if you're facing the window) is the dining room. The cabinets could work in there but not now - the room is painted a deep red and the cherry would clash - I think! I want to paint it something more neutral eventually. The room to the right is an add on and one we're going to redo this spring. It has awful wood paneling and terrible carpet. It'd be ideal for a media room but gets a ton of natural light so there's part of me that's hesitant to convert it to that. It might make more sense in the long run though.

The cabinets need to go elsewhere. The mirror also needs to go. Get two more drapery panels if you're going to close them, which I assume you do to watch movies. I would treat the screen wall like a regular TV wall with a proper console below it. I'd eliminate the black border on the screen and paint the walls something other than blue gray which doesn't enhance the fireplace brick at all.

I rather like your tables, but the sectional overwhelms everything in the room. I would put replacing anything with huge rolled arms and giant cushions at the top of my “replace” list. Sorry. I know you said they are staying, but we Houzzers do have opinions. Feel free to ignore me. The tables will work better with smaller furniture.
Fuller drapes with some pattern would look more permanent than the pale ones. Another
Houzzer probably knows what the suggested fullness quotient is for drapes. Twice the width of the window? I would also put the rod through the second channel sewn into the drapes so that the top channel looks like a gentle ruffle.

C-tables from World Market, currently on sale:

This is an oddball suggestion, but is your sectional leather? It looks a little dull in the photos so I’m guessing it is. If it is, order some Leather Honey off Amazon and give it a gentle wipe. That stuff is like magic and will revive and shine the leather and make it supple. Don’t slather it on. Better to do a couple of light coats a few days apart than to glob it on there. Something as simple as that can brighten a room. And I agree with others. The black framed mirror facing the black framed projector screen is too many boxes.

J Smith Consider making an overall plan for your room and get your new hubs on board with it. Point out how having a plan saves $$$$. (umm,that often works with mine) and that the goal is for you both to love the refreshed spaces. Get as detailed as possible. If you post a simple sketch with room dimensions, folks here will give you a layout or two to consider. For free!

You wrote " .....one adjoining room (to the left if you're facing the window) is the dining room. The cabinets could work in there but not now - the room is painted a deep red and the cherry would clash" Well,I would not be worrying about clashing so much as getting the furniture where it needs to be. That is the only way you will know what new furniture you actually need and what has to go.

And you wrote this: "The room to the right is an add on and one we're going to redo this spring. It has awful wood paneling and terrible carpet. It'd be ideal for a media room but gets a ton of natural light so there's part of me that's hesitant to convert it to that. It might make more sense in the long run though." Again, to me it sure sounds like you need to decide on function for each room first, then shop your house, and then buy what you need to have the rooms as you both want them to be.

Best of Luck. I wish we were friends IRL, because I am itching for a big,ole project like yours. Will paint for cookies!

Lots of good ideas above. I'd paint the whole "projector screen" wall white, and the other walls a lighter color.

hi friends! This is still a work in progress, but I wanted to show you what we've done so far. I bought floor length, light and airy curtains that let in a lot of natural light during the day. We removed the additional pieces on the cabinets so it's not so crowded. I found a rug and round coffee table on Wayfair and lamps and an end table I like from Home goods. I haven't done much with the hearth or found art for the wall, so no photo share yet. I just wanted to share our progress so far! We don't have plans right now to get a new sofa or paint the walls, but I'm pleased with what these few changed have done to the space.

Looks great!