we just moved into a new house. I am having a heck of a time laying out the living room. excuse the baby clutter, boxes, and nursery chair randomly sitting around - we are still in the process of moving in. the items we definitely want to make use of are the couch, 2 round side tables (one is hidden on the other end of the couch next ot the fireplace), and 2 blue chairs; we'd like to replace the bookshelves eventually.

Here is a panorama of the space:

For reference, here is a view looking the opposite direction, to the front door:

my wife wants a small area for guests to be able to sit and put away purses, coats etc and take off shoes to the right, below the window, and a small play area for our 1-year old to the left. Personally, i think the play area is far too big - i'd rather make that area a more formal sitting area for visiting or reading, etc., but that might not be a battle i want to get into right now so i'd like to try to make it all work in the area by the fireplace (...for now)

Ideally, i would have flipped the shelves and couch, but the couch wall doesn't have any power on it.

some other small dilemmas throwing me for a loop:

1. there is an odd little popout in the back left corner, so the shelves cannot slide any further back toward the fireplace wall than they already are - it is a utility entrance and cannot be removed:

Additionally, the fireplace is not centered on the room:

Another peeve i'm having is that the couch wall is short, so the couch hangs over the end of the wall:

and finally, the couch and tv shelving aren't centered - i'd have to slide the couch down even further into the entry way into the dining room to do that; should i center the rug on the shelves, or the couch?