A couple things:

--Start to create an Ideabook called Transitional. If you search for "Transitional" on Houzz, many examples will come up that show how to mix informal with formal (which is what you have currently) in a way that adds more texture, function, and coziness to the room. Don't worry so much about your palette yet. Focus on the feeling you want in the room.

--Think about what makes a room inviting. Well, if you come into your front door, where can someone put down a handbag or briefcase? You need an attractive chair in your entryway--something that says: "Put your things down here while I get your coat." Maybe you have an extra chair or bench you can put at the entry. Add a rug in front of your entry door to create a soft "landing spot." That adds texture and coziness.

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--In a large living room area, bring furniture somewhat away from the walls or windows. Move your sofa a foot forward from the window. (You could add a sofa table in back with beautiful live, flowering plants.) Move your blue chairs closer to sofa with a small round table in between and within reach of your coffee table. They should be facing the sofa. Coziness is created when people can easily converse, reach for a glass on a coffee table, pick up a book from a side table. This is something you can do right now. Don't worry about the empty space behind the sofa and chairs.

--Move your curved credenza to your dining area, so it becomes functional as a buffet. Right now it looks like a display in a museum.

--Get a modern console table, on straight legs, and put it where the credenza now is. (Don't try to match it to your formal furnishings. Get something more modern, though one of the finishes should echo metal legs, same wood as your existing furniture, etc. This is how you mix different styles. Set up a bar on the console to offer people drinks when you entertain. Get a couple upholstered stools for people to pull out when you have a lot of company. This will add a comfy, inviting area where now the credenza is more museum like. (BTW, if you can stand it, take off the fancy doors to the credenza--instant update!)

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Do you see where all this is going? Pieces should connect and have function that you, your family, and guests can use so they feel at home and not as if they're at a museum.

--Dining area. Change out the art work for some bold pieces on either side of the door. Choose subjects and colors you like but a little edgy to balance out the formality of your dining set. Your large wall space calls for bigger art works. Your current choices look lost.

--Change out dining lighting to something transitional with straighter lines. Metal finish should echo other finishes in the space. These are just for shapes:

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A pro will probably tell you to get new window treatments because they currently add fussiness to an already formal room. I'm all about recycling. If possible, bring your curtains to a seamstress to make straight hanging drapes and lose the drapey look. Hang the drapes as high as possible and have them end right at the floor but not puddling.

Those are some suggestions you can kind of implement now--starting a "Transitional Ideabook," rethinking layout, art, moving some pieces. If you're dissatisfied, then call in a pro. Once you have about twenty examples of transitional rooms you like, interview professional designers to help you bring about a cozier, more functional space. Tell him/her what you're trying to achieve; what your budget is; what furnishings you want to keep.

Wow, this was fantastic, thank you so much. I should add that these are pictures from the old home owners and their style. Currently this room is empty besides the tv, and buffet I mentioned. So this canvas is open :)

Hi. Lot's of potential here!

Yes.

1) Start an idea book, adding photos of rooms you like

2) State how you want each area to function (you've already done that to a degree)

3) Create a detailed floor plan, adding furniture and sizes.

Only then can you begin to look at furniture. Decor and paint choices come last.

Is that wall to wall carpeting or is there hardwood underneath? The sectional looks about the same color as your trim. When you are looking at photos for your idea book, check the colors you like too. It could be very pretty to use that color leather furniture on the carpet in the pictures but could be way too much if the hardwood continues. I'd use trim color in small doses in room like in this picture

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So much potential here. You can do this.

I think a good place to start if you like that couch. I don't know if it is possible to get any other leather colours for that choice, but even that colour is doable and works well with your oak trim.

What you need is a paint colour from the opposite side of the colour wheel to offset that.

I think I'd consider some chairs for the living area, other than the sofa you've mentioned. From the same site, how about something like this Swivel chair and I like the cream colour.

Here are some choices that work well with honey oak colour. These are all Benjamin Moore colours.

One of my favourites in this bunch is HC 147 (bottom left) called Woodlawn Blue. Also AF 680 - Wish (upper left).

But you can see that there are many choices and colour families you can choose from.

True Design House - oak paint samples.jpg (JPEG Image, 1000 × 1294 pixels) - Sca · More Info

And if you find that the Oak trim and doors is just too much with the oak flooring, then consider painting it out. Oak can be beautiful and is a wonderful hardwood but the orange tones are very bossy and you can certainly paint it, although some people will cringe at the thought of it.

Note that there is a dark charcoal colour in the top right which means your distressed black buffet should work just fine.

It looks in the pictures that the ceiling colour matches the current wall colour. I'd change the ceiling to CC-40 Cloud white pictured above. You've got a lot of high ceilings with changes of plane going on - I think an offwhite would help the ceiling feel more defined and a bit architectural. Right now it just seems to blend in with the walls too much.

As someone above suggested, those curtains need to be changed to something a little more substantial looking. Even if you just remove the top scarf type pieces, that would help.

I'd look for some light fixtures that have some black on them. Maybe black iron lantern styles. They come in several sizes and you could change the hallway and the dining room light fixtures out and that would help tie in your black buffet as well.

You mentioned a gaming table, I'd go black with that as well or a charcoal colour if you can.

I agree with removing the wall to wall carpeting. But I think if you are going to continue the oak floor, then you'll want some area rugs, in the living room and likely under the dining table as well.

I'd start by choosing paint and furniture that you like. Then once you've sorted some of your colour choices see what you like in rugs that will pick up some of those colours.

This is a big job for sure and it might be worth paying a designer to come our for a few hours to help you with choices and tie ideas together.

But a good place to start is right here on Houzz. Start saving pictures of rooms that you like and colours that appeal to you. Light fixtures, art, rugs, etc....and that will help a designer help you bring all the pieces together. It is often cheaper to pay a designer to help rather than make expensive mistakes on your own when you are not clear on your path forward.

Please come back and show us the progress you make.

Thank you so much. It is wall to wall cream carpet :/ I intend to replace the carpet with the same flooring and keep the oak throughout. I removed all the rods and drapery. Yes, the interior is all this color :/. I think I will go with painting the ceiling as you suggested. Would you agree with bringing the rods to the top of the wall or keep them at window level?

Although you sound pretty sure about how you'd like to use the room, you don't seem very confidant about the style you like and have mentioned little about furniture you may already have and want to keep. Your uncertainty leads me to think this isn't really a DIY project for you. Hire a highly qualified designer to guide you through this. You don't need to pick a paint color first. Upgrade the lighting to 3500-4000K LEDs so you have proper light to help you in selecting colors. Get your new floors in and nicely matched to the existing ones. Be aware that the old ones may have to be sanded and refinished as the new ones are being stained to obtain a consistent color throughout. Paint colors need to work with art, fabrics and textiles, so upholstered pieces, rugs and any art for the space should be chosen/brought in first. Bring paint sample cards to your home where you've upgraded the lighting and test them out there. Once you've found good candidates, go to samplize.com and get big samples to move around your room in differing conditions and times of day to make the right choice. Meanwhile, if you have the budget you may as well go head and prime the walls/ceiling, as that all white background should help clarify the color your room needs to really shine, and you'll be ready for your color to go on the walls. Before you paint, you may want to consider drywalling the niche on the stairs closed. They show up here all the time as decor dilemmas because they are hard to deal with.

I advise against a sectional as it is extremely not versatile. It is unwieldy, cannot be moved around.

If you need a lot of seating in the room, you are better off with two sofas and two chairs, a sofa and 4 chairs, two sofas and 4 chairs, depending on the size and configuration of your space.

If your husband likes a recliner, he can have one for himself, it doesn't need to dictate the seating for everyone else in the room.

I think right now you need to make a scrap book of the things that you like, and categorize them as to type of furniture, and write why you like them.

And also keep photos of rooms that strike your fancy, too. Even if they aren't perfect.

i.e. "I like the overall feel and style of this room, I just wish it was in in different colors. Or fabric."

or, "I hate this room, but I love this Persian carpet."

or, "I don't like anything about this room, except the color blue in this throw pillow."

You can do the scrapbook on paper, (I know, that's old-fashioned)

or electronically.

But if you do it electronically, feel free to save actual things, like a piece of fabric or a sweater that is the perfect color or texture, or a magazine article.

Anyway, get everything together and then, collect recommendations for interior designers.

And remember, you wouldn't pick a surgeon because they charged the least, would you?

And when you talk to the designer about taking on your job, please be very honest about what you can spend for everything.

Hi. Please see my post below. One of the benefits I bring to clients is to save them money.

It is common on here to see people moving "backwards". They want to decorate first. No, that is the last step. Same with painting. Would you choose jewelry and then get dressed? No.

As you mention, there are many choices and it is overwhelming. This is something that a good designer can help with. Once all of the homework is done in terms of measuring, style, function, etc, choices can be narrowed. So, instead of looking for a sofa, you are looking for a certain color, fabric, size, style that functions in a certain way (in your case, reclining). So, that narrows things down quite a bit. See what I mean?

As far as a general answer to your question on the paint, I recommend painting the ceiling the same color as the walls, in your case. There are so many intersecting lines, trying painting the walls and ceiling a different color, is going to look really choppy. I'd choose a lighter tone than what is on there currently.

In general, as far as the drapes, I tend to go higher, but I'd have to have more measurements on the arched window and also what adjacent rooms have going on. Also, I doubt those sheers would be what you want in the end. Again, this is not the first thing you should be doing.

So, making these later choices now is shooting in the dark.

On your own, you can start an ideabook and add rooms that you like. Searches you might consider are "organic modern" "scandinavian" and "contemporary." This can be a stunning space. Here are some photos you might like (based upon what you have said so far).

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I read a study once where they tried different ways to find the best person for a job. The candidates were all college students.

They picked a group from resumes, they picked another group from interviews and a third group from only seeing their dorm room.

The most successful selection was based solely on seeing the dorm room.

Your home reflects who you truly are. If you pick furnishings that don't match your personality it never feels right.

I have a huge family. We are all older (59+) and between us we have tried a lot of different styles and colors, and each landed on what works well for us.

My oldest brother was a laboratory manager and his wife worked at a nuclear power plant. Their home is white on white, traditional.

My oldest sister was a pediatrician and her husband was a pharmacist. Their home is conservative, transitional furnishings, beige, navy, sage greens and colorful, fun artwork.

My middle brother and sister in law have country style furnishings, tans, cornflower blues and peach tones. Lots of oak. My brother owned a company that represented sporting goods. Fishing and hunting equipment. His wife was a stay at home mom.

My middle sister and her husband have a Tudor style home and Queen Anne antique furnishings mixed with industrial. Her husband was a electrical engineer/computer engineer who became a high school computer teacher and primary parent while she was an industry leader in consumer insights. They have a fall color palette with a mix of greens and golds and deep orange reds and blues. Their home reflects the same level of complexity as their personalities.

I am a statistical data analyst. My home and furnishings are Mid Century Modern / Scandinavian. I love bold colors and simple clean lines.

I think all of our homes are beautiful, well styled homes with attractive color palettes. My middle sister's home won a design award for new homes in our county the year it was built. All the textures and colors and patterns and things her home are beautiful, but they exhaust me. I need a nap after a few hours in her home.

Who are you? What styles represent your energy? What colors make your heart sing?

Choices in seating are also highly personal. I see the posts saying sectionals are right or wrong, recliners are right or wrong, TV above the fireplace is right or wrong, but I think the right answer has to be what works for you and your family and the way you relax in the evenings and how you entertain. One thing I have noted, all though recliners are generally given a really bad rap from designers every one of my sibling and I have ended up with reclining furniture in our living rooms. I have a sectional with 3 built in recliners, the rest have one or more reclining chairs. All of the men wanted a recliner, all the women except one ended up getting a recliner for themselves at some point.

Love this input Jennifer, it has given me something to think on and it very well be Im over thinking it all :)

That is why creating an ideabook and then determining what functions for you come first.

You are not overthinking....you are just trying to think of too many things at once. Take if a step at at time. Ideabook. Functionality. Floor plan.

This is the process I use with clients. I also have them fill out a questionnaire, which answers a lot of the questions.

My pleasure.

Great idea!

@Colleen Hamilton

I also suggest looking at your laundry. It tells a story about the colors you wear, the type of clothing you wear. Are you more casual, or business or downright fancy. Do you wear pearls - lace, velvets is a good match, if you wear jeans & cowboy boots - leather, sweats - cotton tweeds.

Then look in your closet and find the outfits that make you feel like a 10! Then look around your home and pick out the art and vases and things that you have bought that you love. What colors are most prevalent?

We all like to feel good about ourselves. You are going to be sitting in your living room, on the sofa, surrounded by the walls, covered with the throw - don't you want to feel like a 10 while you are sitting there?

I could go through my family again, but will shorten the dissertation - Every one of the homes has colors that the woman of the house looks good in and a neutral that complements the colors she loves. She loves the colors because they make her look good and feel good about herself.

It wasn't a conscious decision, but after 40+ years of decorating their homes and experimenting with color it is where they landed.

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