Our living room is an awkward space - it is the main entrance to the house, and we don't have a mudroom or foyer. Ultimately, we'd like to remove the brick hearth and replace the floor there with hardwood and get the rest refinished (we did the other half of the first floor's hardwood last year with the kitchen reno) but that may not happen anytime soon because I have a kid heading to college next year. the pathway from front door to kitchen needs to remain clear - I only made the floor plan showing the usable space, not pictured is a coat closet and then the stairwell to upstairs to the left of the door as you enter. The other door opening near the hearth is to the dining area. The whole space is just half of our first floor, the other half is kitchen/dining, the home itself is ~1000sf on 2 stories, upstairs are the bath and bedrooms.

I don't like the tv next to the front door, husband doesn't like having the tv on the longest wall because he doesn't like the idea of people looking in at our tv (even though I feel like it makes the most sense to place it there!) The heat pump has to stay where it is.

Husband is over the 10+ year old ikea sectional (I don't care either way, the slipcovers were ESSENTIAL for little kids but the cushions are definitely showing their age) and we use the Kallax units with bins to store hats/mittens/etc. Not pictured is a shoe rack that is against the stairwell.

We are a family of 4 that lives in 4 seasons so the dual function of entry + living room is a lot (and there is no option to change, that is the entrance - no attached garage or anything.

I wouldn't mind a larger tv (ours is 40" and also over 10 years old), husband would love it if we could somehow make surround sound work.

How would you arrange this space?

This is basically the view from the stairs.