Looks like adjacent spaces have green and red in traditional hues. What about using navy and off-white here? So the room doesn't feel lined up on the side walls, you might consider a pair of sleek navy loveseats facing each with ends at the bay with your console table behind the one facing the foyer - desk behind other one or take it out. Slipcover desk chair in a small print, recover bergere chair and use it on back wall opposite window w end table or buy a new metal base table to add some modernity. Add panels outside bay window frame in large scale cobalt and linen print. Add a new coffee table and consider an oversized piece of modern art on a canvas to hang behind the bergere and make a statement. Perhaps take the leather chair to another room. Paint the back of your bookshelves the wall tone.

Let me bump this up to the top again, and suggest some fabrics for you - here's a great fabric to recover your wood chair and bring it current - http://beautifulfabric.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&page=1&categoryID=18&productID=9328&pStart=200&recNum=353
and here's something you might consider for curtains http://beautifulfabric.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&page=1&categoryID=18&productID=8929&pStart=600&recNum=794
Of course, you can do one loveseat and use two chairs across - the burgundy leather chair will definitely work in a room of blue and buff ..

Go the tone on tone look. Taupes, creams, white. You need to paint both rooms. The red is dating the home. Taupe on walls make sure it has a gray undertone. Then cream sofas facing each other. Ones with a curved back would work. 2 chairs in a cream and troupe geometric design. Like Ikat. On side of opening into dining. Floor mirrors tall 6 ft. Lean on wall centered. Z Galleries has some very nice ones. This will open up space and bring in light. Panels on ends of windows. White iridescence, satin very full. Large glass square 36" coffee table. Your carpet will work. Unless you want wood? Big oil art pieces. Again Zs or check on line. Use pastels in art. Light cooled frames. Traditional.

Remove all furniture in room. Easier to tell how to place. Push piano onto that wall leading to entry. Do not angle furn. Use big palm on opposite wall. Get a dark brown ceramic pot for it big. Put small palm by chair next to big one in a pot go mirrored. I'm sorry not seeing right. Forgot about bookcases. You can't use mirrors like stated before. But remove every thing from bookcase. Add only reflective items. Like small mirrors on stands. Mosaic white pearl pots Pier One carries all these. Stay in the creams, whites tone. No family pic. Just one or two items per shelve. . Big tall Glass jars fill with seashells. Place on coffee table. A mirrored coffee table would work too. Dining rm needs help too. Follow tone in living room replace chandler with a big lantern type or sphere type from Restoration Hardware. Hang 36" from table top. Remove frames. Replace mirror with cut glass sunburst 36". Replace seat fabric. With one you have sample on chair in pic. The room looks heavy.

If you could add recessed lights in ceiling. Would update room.

Can bookcases be removed. It's making the room cluttered. Also could you just take those walls down. Would have to keep beam. Give it a updated look. When was house built? In the 70 s?

I don't mind the living room color but would re-paint the foyer and dining room in other shades from the same color strip card the living room paint came from - lighter for the dark foyer and a deeper color for the dining room. Take a look at this tutorial on greige which I think your present color falls into. Is the large black item on the floor in front of the bookcase a TV? If so, I'd consider getting a glare proof flat screen to mount on the wall above the credenza across from the window. Fabric roman shades under stationary drapery panels will soften and help with any light issues. I'd prefer the piano be placed against the wall left of the doorway instead of angled in the corner. Then I'd hang a piece of art above it. Your plant might look nice in the dining room in the corner behind the smaller bookcase where I presume there is a window and good light. I'd replace the two chairs with two matched swivel chairs and use two small scale sofas in an "L" floating out in front of the window with the swivel chairs forming a "U" with them and having their backs to the foyer. Put your octagonal table between them and your sofa table either behind the sofa whose back is to the dining room, or under the art hanging right of the window. Add a traditional club chair and floor lamp in the corner where your leather chair is now for a nice reading nook. Here are two pretty shaped swivel chairs that would work with your formal tables. I'm not advising this upholstery but the shape. Same with the club chair for the reading nook. It looks comfortable.
https://www.houzz.com/magazine/going-greige-tips-for-choosing-this-all-around-neutral-stsetivw-vs~577375

I don't have an issue with the bookcases themselves, but they do need styling with 1/3 books (standing, lying and propping) 1/3 large decor items and 1/3 open space. I think part of the visual issue at both ends of the room are the door corners. For a real update you could take the doorways up to the the level of the bookcases and it wouldn't be so jarring. You could also open them all the way to the ceiling.

Good eye enthusiaste - the corners on the door openings give a kind of dutch colonial feel

Maybe it is a Dutch colonial exterior???

What functions does this room serve now for your family, and are there other functions you would LIKE it to serve? i.e. Do you use it for reading, or hobbies, or just for when visitors come, etc? Does it serve for holiday gatherings, like Christmas? Are there small children in the home or as frequent visitors? Answers to these questions would help in determining colors, fabrics, size & placement of furniture. Love the piano and that console or cabinet you have on one side of the room looks interesting, too. Is it a vintage piece?

What about some of these fabrics and colors to warm up the space? Hate to see suggestions to totally redo your adjacent rooms since you only asked about updating the one. If you are happy with colors in your other rooms, what about adding some brighter fabrics like these? (AND IGNORE THE WALL COLOR, WHOA, IT IS BRIGHT, but I did like the chair fabric and sofa selections). http://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional/living/upholstered-chairs-red-and-cream-check-

I have just redone the furniture and layout in my living room. I have two ideas swimming in my head. First, I have an antique mantle with a mirror on top that I would like to attach on the long wall and have it behind the sofa. Next, I'm thinking of taking down two of the bookshelves at the end of the room and making it more open into the dining room. I would either leave a wide opening or build a low shelf on both sides with a cabinet underneath. In either case, the tall bookshelf in the far corner would remain. Another idea would be to take the two discarded bookshelves and flank each side of the mantle. Please help me with suggestions. Thanks.