Here are some ideas AI mocked up. While I have you- what sr people’s opinion on sofa placement in this room? Thanks all!

I think the furnishings are not arranged in the optimum placement.

Ahh that’s interesting to me! We don’t have a TV in this room. I am wondering why you like the back of the sectional toward the kitchen? Thanks for your input!

#6 replacing the 3 windows for doors is a large expense and may not add much more light. Access through the doors may be difficult with the sectional’s location.

You can definitely paint the room SW Alabaster White if you want to brighten the room, but first of all, you need to add a good size lamp on your end table. Another thing you can do is to draw your art more to the right centering it on the wall, and add two sconces on each side of the art. You can use portable sconces or if you are willing to hire an electrician to install hard wired ones, there are many great selections that you could put in a dimmer and will change the mood and the character of the room.

Sorry I thought that was a TV over your fireplace. That art doesn't fit there it needs some space around it to 'breathe".

If you select a large canvas with a white background you'll get the light bounce off the canvas that will help lighten your room.

Selecting some type of wall sculpture over the blocky fireplace details can only help the appearance of the room.

You have a fan with a light - turn on the light. I have a dimmer switch and brighter bulbs in my north facing room, and that is the best way to brighten up the room when it’s gloomy out or at night. My walls are a creamy yellow with a hint of peach, so very warm.

I really appreciate all this input! Very helpful to me. Please keep the feedback coming

Smaller pieces of furniture, or even less furniture, will help with an open, airy feel. An elephantine dark-colored couch is working in the opposite direction.

The rug also has a dark, heavy feel.

I'm cracking up that nowhere did your extensive list of big ticket changes include adding more lighting. Never use AI to approximate lighting. It sprinkles fairy dust to make everything look much brighter even when there are no new sources of light.

We used a fantastic lighting designer who got us hooked on these architectural lighting sconces. (Architectural vs decorative, these are not fixtures to look pretty, they are to make the room brighter. Paint them the same color as your walls so they blend in.)

LINK

They are freaking powerful. They bounce light up on to the ceiling as well as down on to furniture and flooring. I'd place them in these locations for sure. The will throw light evenly across the ceiling in that whole back nook by the windows. The will light up the wall wall and sofa well by the hanging picture.

If you change the sofa I would not repeat the sectional. More smaller pieces would give you the ability to face some towards the windows and still leave space for people to get into the room from the kitchen. My first thought was to reorientate the sectional since you don't have a TV to work around, but as you noted blocking the kitchen is not optimal either. Mirrors over fireplaces can work when they reflect something good--in this case the light and outside view..... We live in the woods so I know all about the lack of sun shine/natural light in a home. Side lamps are going to be much more inexpensive than tearing your walls and ceiling up to put in lighting. It's funny when DH and I are here alone we have gotten used to the lack of light, but add even one guest and we are running around turning on all the lamps!!

Thanks again everyone! I am not opposed to more lamps but I fear that it won’t feel like natural light. We don’t like the hospital operating room vibe of many LED lights, and would need to look for some with an intentional warm hue. Those wall sconces seem like a cool solution! I wonder if that light temperature comes in a warm light.

10-4 about smaller furniture pieces. If you were starting from scratch where would you put which size pieces? We are open to all new furniture. As others said- it would be cheaper than adding windows.

I’m not in love with the art on our wall but it has a bit of a story so we could move it to another room and put a new piece there. I feel the primary colors aren’t really my style and to compensate/ make it fit, I tried to get pillows to make it work.

I did this in my living/dining area. I put a couple of uplight fixtures in corners behind furniture. I got some plug-in timers and set them to turn on in the evening.

You can get led bulbs similar to incandescent bulbs in soft white (2700-3000K color temperature). Forty-watt equivalent would be a good starting point for brightness.

I’d separate the changes that will actually increase daylight from the ones that will simply make the existing light work harder.

A lighter sofa, lighter cabinets and lighter walls won’t create more natural light, although they can certainly make the room feel brighter by reflecting more of what you already have. Of those cosmetic changes, I’d start with the dark fireplace wall and the greige walls before replacing the sofa. A warm light paint with a relatively high LRV could make a significant difference without making the room feel cold.

Of your structural options, replacing the three north-facing windows with much larger areas of glass would obviously have the biggest impact, but probably at the highest cost. I’d seriously price out the west-facing transom as well — that’s the option that could actually introduce light from a different orientation, especially later in the day.

I also wouldn’t automatically make everything white. A north-facing room can become flat or chilly if all the color is removed. Keeping some warmth and contrast while improving light reflection usually gives a much richer result.

I recently transformed the same living room in four completely different ways, including major changes in lighting, color and overall atmosphere. Since you’re trying to decide how far to take this transformation, seeing the same space interpreted in very different ways might give you some ideas:
https://youtu.be/R-2ZyyBc6EY