I suggest you furnish the room with a sofa and a pair of chairs, as you see in the photo below. If you need more seating, add another pair of chairs, or a bench in front of the fireplace.

Your rug need not be as big as the one in the photo. A 9 x 12' rug should work well for you, or even possibly an 8 x 10' rug. I'd like to see the front legs of the sofa on the rug and then the rug should extend to 6 to 12" from the front of the hearth.