Here are a couple more views of the room. I am just not able to get one large shot of the room unless I use my cell phone and then the images are dark.

Could show pictures of the rest of the space...to see how this wall relates to the whole room?

I have also ordered a rug for the room, I will add it here. I was wondering about curtains though. Right now I have very neutral curtains, basically the same color as the paint. But was thinking about adding a pattern. What do you think of these?

when someone stands up from sitting on the sofa will they hit their head on that shelf?
It's an OK setting but not for over the sofa. IMO

Angela, here are a couple of other angles. I have turned our 'formal' dining room into an office. Just starting that project though. And the other angle is the front window, which needs something as well. Open to ideas!

Thanks for posting bigger wall photo. I think I would leave it just the way you have it. Looks great;)

Anne Dee... no thankfully! My husband and sons are 6'3" and there haven't been any issues YET.

Well, anne dee has a good point about someones head hitting the shelf. Have you thought about that?

Never mind, you just answered;)

Margo and abbyjean... what about the curtains? Should I leave them neutral or try the patterned ones?

if you have ample room pics that pick up the color in your throw cushions

And what about the office wall? Any ideas on how to help the transition between the living room and office?

I will leave curtains to abbyjean, I am curtain challenged. LOL BUT, I do think a sea grass wallpaper would look great above the chair rail in the office/dining area;)

Thanks, Margo......I was going to defer to you! BUT my thoughts are this, and just thoughts.......sometimes I might suggest curtains to add pattern to the room, but when I look at your couch, you have pattern with those pillows. And the curtains you have now do not fight with those......they are the silent person in the room, smiling and nodding and that is still a good thing.

The good news about curtains if you buy them local. Try and if you don't like, return.

Margo I love that idea! I was thinking about planking the whole wall but the seagrass idea is really good!

I can see it;))))

And those curtains look sooooo nice with the paint and the table right there, too. Whew......I am a nervous wreck!

Barbie- what is this *planking*? I have never heard of it?

Seagrass........that is good......great transition as it would make that space different, but still not fight......like some posters on here!

Know what......I see curtains in the office area......THOSE I might agree to being different and more fun to keep you awake while working. THAT would also help make it its own room. Any other colors being used in this room?

Just wondering about the window and the chair and the table........shouldn't/couldn't the chair angle toward the couch with the table on the other side of it? More toward where the black chair is? I am not crazy about the black chair there. Do I see two in this area???? Black chairs? So another thought would be to put the two black chairs together by the window with the table between them and then the larger white chair over by the office area.....it is ok if it blocks that opening a bit.

abbyjean, the reason the white chair is facing that direction is because we use a tv in here. It is mostly a back up tv but we have a large family so we need lots of seating. :-) Here is a picture to what the chair is facing. I do not like what I have over here. I love the cabinet because it hides the tv but do not like whats on it. Also, the chairs are a dark brown wicker. I would love to replace them with something but can't right now. I am hoping once my jute rug gets here that they look better.

Margo... here is an image of planked walls. I love them but it's pretty permanent so I need to be sure.

I like the curtains you have now. I would like to see a full pair on each window, hung higher and wider. The fabric will fill in that space on either side of the shelf that look a little bare to you.

iplay10s... so you mean adding more curtain panels so there is one on each side of the window?

Empty frames are just that, looking trough them onto a colourless wall wont do it , you need to add a bit of liveliness to the room .

iplay10s... I moved both panels to one window. Which way does everyone like better?

2 panels but I like the blue one best

Genevieve... these are old window frames. Any ideas on what to do with them? I know my style is very neutral but I try to do a lot with texture. BUT I am trying to implement more color, it's hard for me :-) I do have an empty frame in the office area but can't decide what to do with it for sure, still working on the office and am open to ideas. I do have an World Map I want to use, I think you can see that in one of the above photos.

abbyjean or anyone ;-) I took the curtains from my family room and added them to the office. Yay or nay? Of course I wouldn't use the old and new curtains, was just too lazy to take down the old ones.

I am giving them a yay........three reasons..........love the pop of color........love them with the rug........and love them with the map as they pull colors from each other.

OK......make it four reasons as I am looking at the floor and see the same colors in the floor right there, too. Now I realize there is no white for the trim and that is ok. The wall color is a shade of the background color. What fun to have already had them in your home! That might be reason number five. We are getting close to Letterman!!!

I think it looks good but you could add a slender plaque under the shelf to give it the illusion of being lower. Something like this or similar...

Is there a glass in them ?

if yes that would save you some money if not have some glass and mirrors put in and use them as picture frames
http://cdn.decoist.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/DIY-art-upcycled-windows-frames.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qRiuGnzwlL0/UXYBM0CvAaI/AAAAAAAABfU/ArB2OF5W7Ao/s1600/mirror1.jpg

abbyjean... you are cracking me up. :-) The only downfall is now I have to replace the family room curtains. haha

Barbie- thanks for showing me the planking. I have mixed feelings about it, as it looks to much like outdoor siding. Seems cold. I also *hanging head* am not liking the curtains with the rug or the map. I feel bad going against abbyjean, so, looks like you will have to break the tie:)

Barging in here - those curtains do look good with the rug, but not sure if this is what you would want in a den. What about something in a solid, and pull a color from the rug - olive green, for example?

I also love the blue and white curtains you are thinking of getting. They seem to pull the room together, especially picking up on the pillow colors.

Good that you posted more pictures! Getting a complete view of the room changes everything. I see great ideas going here.

I think I might keep these curtains in the family room until I come up with a plan for the office. I really like them where I had them and I do worry it might just be too much especially being next to the living room which is quite simple. Now to come up with that plan. You all have such great ideas... now I need to make decisions. ;-)

Ya, that is the hard part.

Go little by little. Less regrets than a bunch of huge changes and shock.

I do have to chuckle though because my living room curtains that everyone loves are actually painters drop cloths. ;-)

That's the way things go. I find a treasure at a garage sale and everyone raves, I spend the big bucks on something else and no one notices. I bet more people will now be shopping the paint store for their drapes:)

You know now that you told us they are drop cloths, I wonder how they might looks with some hand selected paint purposely spattered on them? hmmmm...

Do you remember the splattering rage a few years back? It was the thing to do for kids bedrooms. Oh my.

Drop cloths! Note to self on that one! Love it!!!

A collage of different art picture in any type of frame and size.

Barbie, I love your arrangement and really love the pair of drapes versus one. I'm thinking that you could even extend your rod so it's about 4 inches past the frame if possible. I love the neutral drapes, but would also really like a simple pattern like the one you showed - I think that's totally up to you. I love the idea of a saying or words underneath the shelf - either in wood or vinyl on the wall. One thing to think about... and is my first thought was that I would feel like that shelf would fall on my head when sitting there. I'm thinking it's because of the dark color. I would maybe consider painting it a distressed creamy white so it didn't feel so heavy above the head? I do love the pop of black, but the M does that as well. Just a thought!