My first instinct is that there's too much furniture in that little space. It makes it hard to relax when a space is busy and cluttered (for me at least) and hard to work if there's lots of distraction too. I'd keep the sofa, the comfy chair in the corner, and the desk chair, and get rid of the other 3 chairs (which look like maybe spare dining chairs). I'd also get rid of the table between the sofa and the bookshelf and the tiny table beside one of the dining chairs. I would imagine that just that extra space would make the room more comfortable and serene (and also give you more re-arranging options because there'd be less stuff to fit in).

What a nice place. It just needs a little editing and rearranging.

First, you need to get rid of some of your furniture. The room looks like it's packed to the gills with chairs (5 plus the sofa and I spied a few more in the next room!) and little tables. So I'd sell the three dining chairs and the dresser next to the desk (or put it in another room). I'd also get rid of at least two of the side tables (I counted 4). That would improve the flow of the room.

Then I'd put the armchair in front of the bookshelves, but angled so that its side is closer to the books rather than its back. Put a side table on the right side of the armchair and place one of the lamps from the desk on it. Put one side table next to the sofa furthest away from the shelves and put the other small lamp on it.

Leave the tall lamp where it is. Put the desk where the reading nook used to be and put the wide dresser where the desk used to be.

I'd also replace the coffee table with something a few inches lower. It has a small footprint, but seems too high, which makes it more visually intrusive. Or at least move that plant elsewhere. It is really big and makes the table pretty much unusable, as well as adding more visual height.

I also really think you need a rug beneath the seating arrangement to pull that area together. It will also define it from your "office".

It seems to me that you currently have three "zones" - a group sitting area, an office area and a reading area.

I think you need to bring it back down to two zones, and let the natural passageway between the doorways divide the two:

(1) A group sitting area - at the window end of the room, with the sofa facing the shelves, the large chair and one of the dining chairs backing up to the window and the other dining chairs with their backs to the shelves. You might also consider breaking up the two matching chairs, rather than having them beside each other. This would be a more sociable layout for when you have friends over, but still give you somewhere nice to read a book.

(2) A working area, on the wall opposite the windows between the two doorways.

I'm not sure what you should do with your two dark chests of drawers, because of sizing/doorways. But if possible move the wide one away from the centre of the narrow wall where it just makes the wall look narrower. Either move it to the wall on teh RHS, perpendicular to where it is now, or if it will fit put it where the desk is now. Then put the taller chest at an angle in the corner, to the right of where the wide chest currently is.

I think maybe you have too many different fabrics on your sofa, which are making it look cluttered. Could you lose the cloth on the main seat cushion? Or else reduce the number of colours of your throw cushions.

Also I think your central coffee table is too small, it's more a side-table size, a larger one would work better.

Nice to see a fellow Astorian on here. I'd be anxious to see your space after you rearrange it into a way that you like.

A quick way to streamline the busy-ness of the room might be to organize your books by color and reduce the number of pillows/textures/fabrics in the room for a simpler color palette. And I agree with comments above suggesting moving the work space to the corner that currently houses the arm chair, and working that cozy chair into the living space. 2 zones should give you plenty of functionality, and a lot less clutter!

Of the five photos only the first makes the room look overly cluttered and cramped. Is there another room for the bookshelves, a hall or a bedroom? Removing them from the small living room would open it up.

I am sure that room would be much better balanced if you removed the adorable black and white kitty and sent it to me.

Wow, you have a fabulous ceiling and moldings. I am envious.

And your windows give the room some natural symmetry! Even more envious...

But you have: Too much furniture, and too many finishes.

I agree with the others to get rid of the three dining-room-style chairs, by moving them to other rooms if nothing else. I would also get rid of or move the two bureaus unless you desperately need whatever they're storing to be stored right there. They're all beautiful, but they're just overwhelming the space. And I'd get rid of the purple chair too and leave the tree on the floor (or maybe on the pretty white table, which is just a little too tall to be a coffee table).

Once you've done that you'll be down to, as far as finishes, white paint, the dark wood of the bigger chair, and whatever the sofa base is. It will instantly feel calmer.

Move the desk to the corner where the big chair is now, and the big chair over to the seating area. If the tree can stand to be away from the window, I'd move it over near the desk.

I'd actually add furniture back in, in the form of more bookcases to reassert the lovely symmetry of the windows, but we've already established that I am a bit more desperate for symmetry than is perhaps rational.

At some point, I would do something:
--With paint to emphasize those pretty pretty ceilings and moldings
--With fabrics to bring the number of colors and finishes of curtains/upholstery/pillows into a little more harmony
--With frames so that there aren't quite so many different sizes/weights/textures of frames in the room

But those three would become less urgent with less furniture and some rearranging.

You obviously have an eye for beautiful things; I think you'll be able to appreciate them more if you are looking at fewer of them at once.

P.S. What's with the curtain rods? I actually own the same ones, and they're cute, but they're not hefty enough to compete with your window frames, and they don't appear to be associated with any... curtains.

You already have some good suggestions above, but I just want to put in my two cents.

1) Move the bookshelves to the wall with the credenza opposite the windows. That'll give you a good foot of extra room in the living area.

2) Move your desk to the wall perpendicular to the new bookshelf wall. (Where the large poster is now).

3) The sofa now goes against the wall where the bookshelves used to be.

4) Replace your high, small coffee table with a low, longer one.

5) The credenza can go where the desk used to be, and it looks like that tall thin chest of drawers can fit in the space between the windows.

6) From there you can rearrange the remaining comfy chairs in the living area next to the windows with the small tables and plants.

I looove how many plants you have, and you have some beautiful vintage pieces. I'm not sure if the dark dining chairs with the lavender cushions are doing anything for the room, but if you rearrange as above they might fit in more clearly. I would REALLY love to see before and after shots!

One thing to keep in mind... you don't need to center your artwork above large furniture pieces. In fact, it might be better if you center them in the spaces above the less impressive furniture (small chairs etc.) That way your collectibles on top of the credenza and drawers are given some visual space to breath.

Zones are your friend, so group "like with like" as much as possibel to get started.

The office situation seems to be overly complicated by too many smaller individual pieces. Rework with fewer, but larger pieces.

Personally (since this is fantasy and I don't have to move them!), I'd put the stacks of bookcases on the wall where the dresser and lounge chair is, work the lounge chair into the seating end, even if it ends up floating in the room (you seem to be a wall-hugger a bit).

Also, you have too many "dining room chairs" which is further cluttering the place up with too many legs.

And not every piece of furniture needs multiple pieces of art above it. It's all starting to lose its impact.

The arrangement I would suggest does depend on the condition of the back of your desk, but it will certainly divide the room into two distinct zones. Where the wide dresser is now, place the bookshelves, right into the corner where the lamp currently sits. On the other side of the bookshelf, place your nice big floor plant. In front of the bookshelves, so that you would sit facing the windows, place your desk and work chair. (This is now your workspace, tucked into the corner, behind the diagonal path that results from walking between the two doors.) I haven’t measured your furniture, so you might switch up the dressers, if that works better, but I think the couch belongs on the wall where your desk used to be, one of the dressers (the high one would be best, I think), between the two windows, the comfy chair in the corner opposite the couch, and the wider dresser beside it (as you have now). I think you need to switch for a coffee table that’s lower and larger, and possibly purchase a rug underneath it to further define this larger triangle of the room as the lounging area, but those things can be brought in as budget allows. (All of the other chairs and most of the little tables, as everyone else has suggested, are extraneous and giving your living space a furniture-store vibe.) The nice thing about the two zones here is that either can be expanded into the other as your day changes. When you’re working, you can read in the comfy chair, by the window. When you have guests over, you can clear the top of your desk and set a tray of drinks on it (with snack foods on the coffee table) to encourage your guests to move around the room throughout the evening.

I'd have to agree with the rest. Too much furniture, and the style of the furniture is not conducive to opening up the space. I would look for light pieces (either in color or texture). The legs of tables and chairs should be sleek and thin and I would remove some of the pictures from the wall.

Also, not every chair needs a side table. Some can do just fine without them.

And that giant tree needs to go!

I agree with saskatchewan.

The peekaboo coffee table may be a good choice for you since it is clear and will provide more space without the clutter.

I also wanted to say that I think you have a fairly pulled-together colour scheme here with the dark wood and white/cream. But I would certainly get rid of the dining chairs with the purple/lavender seats and the similar-coloured table. You and I have a different aesthetic, but I think what you wanted out of those purple-toned pieces was a touch of lux/rich finish and what you’re actually getting is cheap/clash-y. Much better and much easier would be to go red/gold/orange/moss green with accessories. If you stick to the muted and the burnished (brasses, old dark and carved woods, velvet, silk, and brocade fabrics), you’ll have a more lux and textured look and pretty much everything in those colours, even if they’re a little off, will work together because they will look old and inherited. A lot of those finishes can still be found second-hand for cheap. (If I were you, I would especially look for large brass pots to use as plant containers and silk scarves to frame).

1. Think fewer, larger pieces. Get rid of extra dining chairs & unnecessary little side tables. They're sucking up space, aren't comfortable, discourage flow. Likewise edit your plants, art and tchotchkes. There's a visual clutter to the room that's a little disconcerting.

2. Place the smaller vertical chest of drawers between windows.

3. Place bookcases along the wall where the large chest currently resides, with large chest and armchair replacing their space to the left of the windows. Resist the urge to push the armchair into the corner, pulling it into the room a bit and angling.

4. Place desk in front of the bookcases, positioned so it faces into the room toward the windows. Consider replacing with one that's a bit larger, warmer, more functional. Also consider a desk chair that swivels.

5. Sofa goes with back toward the side of room formerly occupied by the desk. Resist the urge to shove it against the wall, leaving several inches clear.

6. Things to consider:
-Acquire a long narrow sofa table for behind the sofa.
-Add a large-ish rug to the room...no smaller than 8' x 8' up to 10' x 12' at most.
-Use the current coffee table as a side table, replacing with a somewhat larger oblong coffee table.

7. Consider thinning out your books, thereby freeing up shelf space for displaying various objects from your collection. Resist the urge to load up the tops of your chests with more than one or two display items.

8. In review, total room inventory:
1 sofa
1 armchair ottoman (with potential space for 1 additional armchair)
1 desk chair
2 chests
3 bookcases
1 coffee table
1 side table
1 sofa table
1 large rug
Lighting: 1 floor lamp, 1 desk lamp, 1 or 2 table lamps (one goes on top of larger dresser, another on sofa table).

1. Get rid of some of it. (My vote is for the dining room chairs)

2. Go with idontdobeige's assessment of your "zones". The reading chair seems like it's floating off in limbo, yet the desk seems crammed into the sitting area. Switcheroo.

3. The bookshelves need de-cluttering. Do some organizing by color, and place the books that are too tall and must lay on their side along the bottom shelves. They look random and haphazard in the middle shelves.

There are many options for rearranging once you've edited a few pieces, but I think I would like to see your couch placed out in front of your bookshelves. Partly because I think books behind a couch just look nice, and also because it would make the windows seem more accessible to the rest of the area.

You've got some great stuff there, though! Post the after photos :)

Get rid of brown chairs and side table. Add neutral, non-busy rug, and go from there.

- Take advantge of the hight and get 2 or 3 high bookcases instead of the lower ones with the pictures above.
- get rid of some of the chairs. Do you need that many chairs and if yes, how often? Maybe you can get 2-3 folding chairs that can be put away when not needed.
- If you would like to sepearate the office more from the rest put it in the corner where the single chair is now and move that to the front.
- Instead of the second chest of drawers (the one next to the desk) why not get a smaller filling cabinet and maybe even a slightly bigger desk. You can hang some shelves over the desk for extra storage.
- Edit your belongings: right now there is a lot of small things, including pictures, to look at and this makes the room seem cluttered and messier then it is. How about having just one wall with an assortment of picutres (the one where the desk is now) and if you'd like some color you could paint that wall.

Some of these were mentioned above, but I'll throw my vote behind...

--Removing the extraneous dining room chairs. These chairs are for dining, not hanging out.

--Use the current Moroccan (?) coffee table as an end table, if it will fit, where the lavender table resides now.

--Find a long coffee table (maybe oval, to avoid sharp corners in a small space) for in front of the couch.

--Find four floor pillows that will stack up neatly under the new coffee table when not in use. You appear to like pattern and color, so this is a way to enjoy it in the room. The cushions are good for lounging around on and make the coffee table an impromptu dining or game table.

--Move the work area toward the wall where the wall map, chest of drawers and reading nook are currently. That seems like the natural separation of the areas. Put the ficus in new work area: Visitors tend to be wary moving around big plants and that will keep your guests from wandering over there.

--Move the white chair and ottoman to where the white desk is currently: The exposed back of the chair will further define the separate areas. The ottoman becomes an additional seat.

--I'd like to see the tall chest of drawers go into the hallway (is that a hallway? With the two Victorian parlor chairs?). It seems like a natural "landing pad" and storage space for scarves and gloves and whatnot. I'd put the lower, longer chest of drawers in the spot vacated by the taller chest of drawers.

--I'd also donate some of the books and relocate some of the knickknacks to reside among the books. That would de-clutter some surfaces and break up visually the wall of books. But I don't think you need to edit that much of your stuff: It's so YOU.

Have fun!

I think other people have made really great comments about zones, especially switching the big chair and the office area. Getting the bookshelves and the desk in the other area will really give the living area room to breath. After that, here's what I'd do with the living room:

- Move couch to wall where bookshelves were. Put the large plant between it and the window, on the floor or a much shorter table.
- Move small dresser to between windows, perhaps with the plant from the coffee table on top.
- Center the large dresser on the center of the wall where the small dresser is now (or close to center, depends on how the other furniture fits). Put up a couple shelves above it to display all of our small stuff that's currently on the dresser and other surfaces.
- Nestle a dining chair or two in the corner near the window across from the couch.
- Move the large chair on the other side of the large dresser, angled towards the couch and slightly floating in the room (again, depends how things fit in).
- Fit in side tables as you can (probably one in the corner with the dining chairs, one on the other side of the couch). Get rid of the purple one. Get a lower, larger coffee table.

Other ideas:
- If the books look cluttered and messy to you, consider installing a curtain rod at the top of the shelves and hanging two or three curtain panels to hide the books. Or consider organizing based on color and/or size.
- Limit the number of fabrics and patterns you have. Remove the black patterned fabric from the couch. Recover the seats of the dining chairs and the big chair's footstool in two different (but coordinating) fabrics and then use leftovers from both fabrics to recover the pillows. It's a cheap project and all of those things are very easy to do (there are how to's for recovering and pillows all over the internet).
- I agree with others that a rug would be great if you can afford it for the living room area.

I'd get rid of the little coffee table and brown chairs and replace them with an ottoman or two.

I really like the vibe of your room, and the eclectic look. It reminds me a bit of a conservatory. I don't think you need to do much to pull this together... just re-arrange and remove a few items. I'd ignore the suggestions to make things match, and to organize your books by color. The room has a lot of personality and I like that. My two cents:

Create 2 separate zones in the room:

Zone 1: Living area (in front of the pair of windows)
Zone 2: Workspace (where your bureau is now; the wall opposite your sofa)

For the living area:

---Move the bureau to the wall where the bookcases are now located. Your current vignette on the bureau (and art over it) is really lovely and well composed... kind of altar-like. Move it with the bureau. This will be the focal point of your new living area.

---Flank the bureau with the 2 dining chairs (against the wall is fine; they are there to pull out if you need additional seating).

---Move the sofa to the wall with your radiator, facing the bureau. Don't put it against the wall; pull it out a foot or two.

---Move your lounge chair & ottoman to the living area in front of the windows. I'd probably put it in front of the window closest to the bureau and angle it toward the sofa, but you can try different angles until it feels right.

---I like your existing coffee table; keep it. The scale is nice and you can move it off center from the sofa so it does not interfere with the ottoman.

Now for the workspace zone:

---Move the bookcases to the wall where your bureau was formerly located.

---If you have the budget, replace your current desk with a Parsons table like those @ West Elm (or something similar -- even a console table). These are not expensive, and also seem to be plentiful on craigslist. You want simple lines, open, and airy. No obvious drawers or shelves (the West Elm table has hidden drawers, which is perfect). FYI:

http://www.westelm.com/products/f099/?pkey=coffice-desks-chairs

---Now, situate the Desk/Table directly in front of your bookshelves, at a right angle (perpendicular to the bookshelves). One end of the table touches the bookshelves and together they form a "T" configuration. The bookshelves are the top of the T, and the table is the base (hope this makes sense). But don't put the desk in the center of the bookcase -- put it off center so there is more room to the side where you'll put your desk chair. I like the idea of pairing the simple desk with your ornate chair. I'd also put a lamp on the desk.

---Next, do a bit of editing and re-organizing of your bookshelves. This will enable you to put your printer and other desk supplies on the bookshelves. The key is to keep it neat and nice looking. Use baskets if you have small things, so you don't have clutter.

2 final touches:
---Further define your living area with its own area rug. You can add a second rug in the work area, or keep the floor bare depending on your taste and budget.

---Most of your items are small scale. You need something large scale in the room. I suggest a large work of art on the wall behind your sofa. Very large.

The rest is just accessorizing according to your own taste. Some thoughts:

---I'd get rid of the 3rd dining chair (now next to your rad), and most of the small side tables.

---I like your houseplants a lot. Keep them. But you need to find a more cohesive way to display them. How about something like this, maybe at the end of your sofa?

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/living-room/bringing-plants-inside-for-the-winter-099762

or

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/boston/inspiration-plants-in-the-dining-room-102488

(Personally, I think one LARGE plant is better than lots of small plants, but sometimes that it not the way we live... right?)

---The curtain rods are a bit dorm-like. Since you have shades, do you need them? If not, get rid of them. If so, I'd replace them with something more appropriate.

Good luck, and please post an "after" photo!

This is a lovely room, you have a great start. I was going to give suggestions, but they were pretty much identical to slowdown's.

I would particularly emphasize getting a rug for the living/reading area and having the desk on the wall opposite the window. The large dresser should then go on the wall where the desk now is and the chair should go next to it. I'd put the tall, thinner dresser either next to the new position of the desk or find another room for it. If you want to keep the wooden chairs in the room, I'd line them up on the wall with the desk to be pulled out when you have guests. I personally like the couch where it is and think it would be weird to put any furniture in between the windows. I'd move the coffee table where the purple table now is and get rid of that. If you want to maximize seating, I'd get a large rectangular ottoman that can double as a coffee table.

I'm sure you will find the perfect arrangement, you've got a lovely home and some beautiful things. Post pics when you're done, and good luck!