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cover the brick with a nicer facade. something in a paler color. the red brick is jarring to the eye.

I would beef up the mantel a bit with an oversized piece of rough hewn walnut and paint the nook a rusty orange to help bring out your sage green accents.

I agree on covering the brick. I would paint it something lighter as well. The mantel too. Also, the lamp is a bit too high, like the other things mentioned. A shelf or two behind the chair with books would be a nice touch. And a small side table between the chair and the wall. You definitely need a little area rug too. A little foot rest wouldn't hurt either, inviting someone to sit at your feet by the fire perhaps?

i would lower the mantel and beef it up like others have said but i'd also put more accessories like a basket where you can store blankets or perhaps a small ottoman. a rug is definitely a must. i probably wouldn't have used that wall mounted light. Instead I would have used a floor reading lamp.

before chanigng the mantle check the fire code for your area. You may not be allowed to lower it

1) Find a salvaged fireplace surround/mantle at an antique store. Something with an opening much larger than the actual fireplace would give it the presence it needs.

2) Paint the brick. A lighter color will update the fireplace and make your gorgeous green vase popl.

3) Remove the mirror and replace with a larger, rectangular piece of colorful art hung horizontally.

I love the chair and the wall lamp.

you need to create a conversational seating area around the fire. a single chair is lonely, floating in space. there's enough room for at least two. use a matching pair -- the symmetry will look stylish.

some other ideas...
- paint the brick white
- flank the fireplace with matching topiaries in urns
- find a mantel with more presence, and lower it
- group your candlesticks together
- use bigger accessories -- the clock on the mantel looks too itsy bitsy, has no weight

if you don't completely want to lose the brick, at least give it a white wash-some of the brick will still show through but will have a lighter airier fell.

the chair is a bit big, heavy, and dark. it almost overpowers the corner-use it with the matching one elsewhere in the room if you can. a slightly smaller piece with an ottoman or foot rest and the addition of a small table would make this an inviting reading nook.

lower the lamp. it is task lighting for the reading nook-should be hung at that height.

i might lose the mantel altogether, or at least beef it up! use quirky accesories that are meaningful to you. layer objects and artistic photos etc.

the art piece seems to be hung too high. lower so that the center point is at eye level. i think something with more color would also be good there.

good luck!

A second chair for symmetry, if there's space, would do wonders.

A rug and choose some accessories with lighter colors that pop. Those candlesticks on the mantel are getting lost in the color of the brick. The big vases at the base are nice, but again they get lost in the color of the fireplace base. For some additional pop, you could always stain/dye the shade on the wall lamp as well. Could you maybe paint the mantel and the brass surround of the actual fireplace the same color?

i thi

http://pearlsandgreentea.blogspot.com/

While I like brick, in this case, I would paint that brick white. I like the idea of beefing up the mantle--maybe some pale re-claimed wood. You could hang a picture or mirror. I would also get rid of the gold surround - very dated. Go for something black (iron looking--spray paint it flat black if nothing else). Not crazy about the light on the wall. Angle that chair more towards the fireplace and put a floor lamp either behind or beside it. A fluffy rug and a small footstool would help. Extend th tiles on the floor to go wall to wall. Add some iron fire-places "tools" and some pieces of wood.

Did you repaint? From a camel/tan to a straw yellow?

And new window or glass door treatments?

The carpet is a beige? Gray? And the mantel is gray?

Both the red on the mantel and the olive at the base get lost in the dark brick.

Perhaps picking up one of the deep tones in the brick and creating a dark nook would help balance out the fireplace brick. Only painting the wall with the mirror and the wall with the light.

Seeing the yellow and curly iron reminds me a bit of this:
http://www.sensible-chic.com/images/gallery/armonia/cellarafter.gif

The before picture is here on the left:
http://www.sensible-chic.com/other-gallery.htm

Plants look great with the yellow, but again, the green of the plants will be just as lost again the brick...

But I wonder if it would create an illusion of a much deeper space by using the darker red/brown tone in that niche, and having a good-sized plant, both on the right side of the fireplace on that triangle of carpet...and on the left side of the niche, out a bit farther than the baskets is next to the chair.

Plant(s) on the mantel. And have a gallery light installed over the mantel along the ceiling and a nice bit of art...

Check this image to get a feel for the lighted art and the small trees on each side of the image, look at the second image down on this page:
http://www.crockerpond.com/details.html

The trees can be finicky, but the Dracaena varieties seem to work really well, even in darker rooms and withstand a bit of neglect (at least from my own personal experience).

The walls shown here are too orange for your room, but you can get a slight idea:
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/4hplants/Flowers/Dracena.html

The Janet Craig variety would be real nice:
http://www.plantoasis.com/plants/1001_1020/1008_janet_craig_dracaena.htm

The Dracaena Warneckii is great too, I have one right behind me, and even with a substantial size, they only need a very small pot, see it and many more varieties on this page:
http://www.plantscapers.com/plants-pottery.html

Most of those you can find in your local Home Depot. Check IKEA too, they have incredible deals on plants sometimes, and had a 4' marginata for $10.00...maybe three or four stalks.

That's about all I have come with...to make it a tiny niche to 'get away from it all'...to read a book, enjoy a fire. A small table in the other triangle of carpet on the left side of the fireplace proper. Something to put one's feet up on would be nice. And maybe a lap throw.

Too much blah green! Paint the walls & the brick something else to set off your green accessories, chair, and curtains.

You already have too much clutter. (Sorry.)

I'd paint the corner to the left of the fireplace a darker, richer color. (Maybe a brick red or a deep gold.) (If standing in the room it looks like it would improve the rest of the space, you could also do the slider wall, but I can't tell from these pix if it would work.)

I'd spray paint the brass fireplace screen (remove it and take it outside, use the appropriate heat resistant paint and primer...) flat black.

I'd get rid of the green vases, the wrought iron candle stand, and the box next to the chair, and add a small side table that can hold the books and whatever is in the box...

I'd move the mirror elsewhere and hang a larger piece of art (painting, preferably) which contains green, whatever darker wall color you pick, and a color from the brick. It should be fairly large, vertical in orientation, and visuallly touch or come close to the top of the chair.

Either get a different lamp (floor lamp or table lamp to sit on the new end table) or else, at the very least, hang the wall lamp so the shade is the height it would be as a table lamp, next to the chair.

Cluster the three red candlesticks a few inches in from one end of the mantle, with the clock just in from the grouping, maybe overlapping it a tiny bit. If one of the green pots can sit on the other end of the mantle, you could put one there and relocate the other one. (I wouldn't put anything on the hearth except maybe a basket of firewood.)

An area rug in a dark color or combination that blends with your color scheme parallel with the fireplace and going under the front of the chair would help, especially if you add an ottoman which can serve as a foot rest for the chair or seating for a second person.

A lot of this is about the wrong proportions - too many small items and one large chair.

1) Get two chairs or add a ottoman to the area to make it look more comfortable.

2) Get rid of that candle holder and wall lamp and add a floor lamp in the area.

3) If you are going to stay with those colors and the brass fireplace insert, add accessories like an area rug or a cushion or art work with some pop to coordinate everything.

4) Put the candles on one side as a grouping and you will have room for a painting or print on that mantle.

5) Put the vases below as a grouping as well and you will have room for a basket with fireplace supplies (a few logs, matches).

You have to make it look as if you use that space in a way that you enjoy.

Before you spend a penny, I recommend rearranging the things you already have and proceeding from there.

I would remove the mirror from the wall and put it on the mantle. Then I'd place the taller vase (if it fits - I can't tell from the photo whether the mantle is wide enuf), maybe one of the larger candlesticks and the clock on the side or in front of the mirror. I'd play around with what goes on the right or left and find an arrangement that works best.

Everything else can probably be used somewhere else in the house - some shelf or table which could use a shot of color. You'd be surprised where they work out. And you might find something else in the house which would work in your nook. (I'm all about finding new purposes for old possessions. There's a recession going on, y'all!)

Then, budget permitting, I'd get a colorful print, a rug, or another chair etc.

And I guess I'm the only person who likes bare brick. Must be a Baltimore thang...

If you want cosy a deeper warm shade on the wall behind the chair would help, and a less restrained, more colourful piece of art.. something that makes you feel alive and free. I would deffinietly add some comforting texture with a nice rug and a couple of large low candles on the mantle to vary and soften the height reducing the sparse look they have now- and add some depth of field by sitting a framed piece on the mantal- I am a sucker for mantals.. even high mantals- they can be changed through the seasons even draping garlands and collected natural materials.

I think I see a single book laying there? I think reading books is cosy- if thats what you enjoy for a cosy feel bring more into the space!

Good luck and enjoy!

I would get rid of all the items on display.
I would replace the art work (by something more colourful) the fire place screen. Maybe reupholstering the chair (colour)? And do add an ottoman!
Good luck! Will you share the result with us?

I'm the original poster for this thread. Thanks so much for the feedback. I think the easiest fix will be to repaint the walls to the left of the fireplace. That idea has been dancing around in my head. I will also play with rearranging the mirror and candle sticks. I do have a second chair, but I can not place it on the other side of the fireplace due to the deck door. The mantle is actually a piece of gray slate attached to the wall by mortor and brick supports underneath. That change would definitely require a good contractor!

Another image to look at, found right here on AT:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/reallife-reading-nooks-091402?image_id=247707

The fifth photo. Again, the wall color is too orange for your bricks, but you can get a nice idea of how nice that looks with the dark brown of the back of their chair and the darker bookcase.

The deep browns of theirs are similar to your brown in the chair and your mirror frame.

A bookcase in the darker tone, that is about mantel high would be swell. The glass doors would make it hard to access the lower shelves, in your situation, but then again, the image shows a chair directly in front of their bookcases too. LOL!

That type of bookcase would be great because of dust potential by the fireplace and the deck door.

And even a lamp sort of like what is shown in their reading nook, it has a little built-in table. You don't need a HUGE table, just enough for a beverage.

Last, they have a small stool/table/ottoman, which could work in size, because it could be moved to that small space by the deck door, with the legs kind of over that corner of the fireplace...which also squares off the fireplace corner.

If you have the chair with it's back against the wall where the current lamp is, that also squares off that area. I think that could work quite well as your reading area.

Could look outside onto the deck. Can watch the fire. Can read. Even nap.

To further the "separate room" idea, if you want to, you can add one or two swing arm rods, with curtains, that are short rods, sort of sectioning off the small area as it's OWN room.

The deeper paint can be used on the narrow wall between the brick and the deck door, up to the area where the curtains will fall. You can even add a bit of vertical white trim to really separate.

Here's an image showing the rods swung into a room:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__MInKf-H-Do/SfjGbpaD7UI/AAAAAAAAAAc/TYB7i2my-YM/s320/ss_100238184.jpg

Rods available at many places, like Restoration Hardware.
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod3560020&navAction=jump