Looks like there is some sort of light fixture for the foyer. It might be really easy to swap that out for a more visually interesting (and bigger) light fixture, like a chandelier.

I agree that trying to fit artwork above the windows might look a little too forced.

looks like there's a nice ray of sun coming through the window. i would put a long console table behind the sofa and place some low, but fuller plants along the railing.

alternately, you could move the couch to the opposite wall, and put an open shelving unit along the railing - again plants would probably do well in this spot & look nice and lush!

First off, this appears to be a south or west facing room:
Yellows and fleshy peaches are the very worst colors for this type of space - and against the beige carpets and brown sofa, you've got bumblebee decor. What you need are cool/non-earthy colors: pale blues, teals, etc.

As far as your stairwell, you have a nearly imperceptable ceiling-mounted light fixture: Get rid of it and replace with an interesting oversized hanging "lantern" fixture - Dont' worry if it's called an "Outdoor" fixture, it will work just fine here. Hung at the mid-level/center of the upper windows in your stairwell, it will be an eyecatcher from the outdoors as well as an elegant feature within your home.

I would place vertical fabric panels in your foyer-- they're cheap and easy ;-)

Check this one out or there are a ton of different fabric options:
http://www.bobbyberkhome.com/category/196/2/hanging-fabric-panels.html?&Order=11

Your swag curtains are fighting with your arc lamp. Who will win?

First things first, I'd swap out the light fixture in the foyer area so that it creates a unifying line between the top of the windows and gets rid of that existing fixture. This should bring the eye down some, too.

If you want something dramatic, you could do a big tree, spreading mural, centering the trunk in that corner, and spreading the branches all over the place. With a few well-placed hooks and shelves, you could also add some landing-strip functionality with items "hidden" on the tree.

If you don't want it over-the-top but like the tree, you could go with a tree decal or stencil to get a silhouette but avoid the clutter. Or go live, and place tall plants (maybe an ornamental lemon?) behind the sofa to break the foyer's corner line, help to unify the space, and hide the banister.

"Your swag curtains are fighting with your arc lamp."

That brings up another interesting point:

There are already recessed lights in the ceiling above the sofa: There's no need for that Arc Lamp there.

How about moving the sofa, so it floats in front of those pretty windows, and is framed by the curtains? I'd leave enough room behind it for you to be able to walk up to the windows.

Frank Lloyd Wright, among others, noted that people like to sit with their backs in corners - so having your sofa backing up to something more wall-like might make folks more unconsciously comfortable when sitting on it.

If the TV is critical to where you place the sofa, why not flip them? Yes, I know that means electricity, cable wiring, etc. - but I think it would work better that way.

I don't know how it would look wrapping around the wall above the windows, but you can buy these on eBay for very little money, in different designs, because they are SO long that no one can figure out what to do with them. http://cgi.ebay.com/UZBEK-HAND-EMBROIDERY-LONG-SAMARKAND-SUZANI-ZARDEVOR-/280532827017?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item41510f3b89

I would hang some sheer drapes from the ceiling to hang in front of the railing. That way you would appear to have more of a wall to divide the room but still get some natural light. I agree with the chandelier and the console table against the railing as well. I might also turn the couch to face the windows and put the tv in the corner where that red thing is?

bessantdesigns.com

I would definitely not put art above the doors - it will look very strange. Instead, as mentioned by others, I would get a nice, big modern chandelier for the foyer and move the arc lamp. For visual punch, I'd consider painting the two walls of the foyer in a dramatic color to frame out the space - though it's hard to tell from these photos if that would work well or not.

I agree that swapping the small ceiling fixture for a long chandelier would be great. I also like the idea of moving the couch to the opposite wall - maybe the TV goes in the corner by the window? You could have a pair of chairs on that side of the room that would leave space to let light through.

I think you should wait until you have the rest of the room figured out before you worry about it too much. With everything else going on in there, it may not even be much of an issue in the end.

A big, modern statement chandelier is the way to go! That would look amazing. You could also liven up the room with a grouping of art on the wall facing the foyer. It is a huge unused space for some pizzaz!

Some simple curtain panels to frame the windo would look stellar. Try picking up the color you choose for them in some throw pillows to tie it all in nicely.

I don't know how much more visual interest you want - that corner of the room was the first thing to catch my eye in the photos - and in a good way! I lived in a house that had a very similar living room (split-level with the living room balcony overlooking the kitchen below, windows along the backside of the room) although I didn't have the same great lighting and large floorspace that you do.

I think you should try to re-arrange your living room to make that side of the room (and the beautiful bay window) your focal point. Move the big, bulky couch in front of the kitchen return to face the little corner between the railing and the bay window. That's where I'd put your TV (or to the right of the bay window) - keep everyone facing in that direction.

Part of the imbalance is that you have one giant piece of furniture and nothing else in that space. With this new arrangement, you'll have room for a bar-height table and stools behind the couch (between the couch and the kitchen return) and room for more seating along the balcony wall and the far corner (along the wall/right side of the bay window). When picking your chairs for the balcony side, pick something lower-slung with lots of visible space (longer legs, openings in the seating area, etc) to keep the line-of-sight unobstructed. Given that your ceiling is so low, keeping the furniture low-slung will keep things in proportion. Something like these would be a good offset to the bulk of the couch.

http://www.treadwaygallery.com/ONLINECATALOGS/MARCH2005/modimages/0959.jpg
http://hubpages.com/hub/Sling-Chairs (red ones)

I think a long, modern chandelier would be great in that entryway - if possible, it would be even better to get something with a little color/contrast.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/scavenger/scavenger-capiz-shell-chandelier-for-175-008022
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6RuB-MyU_O4/SSULUMf_X7I/AAAAAAAADbw/FmvdvChvMMo/s1600-h/abc home carpet glass chandelier cococozy.jpg
http://www.potterybarn.com/products/sheer-lantern/?pkey=cchandeliers (grouping of two or three)

I agree with others that the lamp isn't the best fit for that space. While you have a very open and spacious area, your ceiling in the living room is actually quite low (and the lamp makes that very noticable - its making a "cozy" feel when you want spaciousness).

For a coffee table, try to get something with curves to it - you've got a lot of sharp angles in that space, but a curved/oval table would be a nice tie-in with the arched window. I'd get two or three lush/full green plants for the bookshelf area in colorful pots with a very natural feel (rattan, bamboo, pottery). Nothing too tall and nothing that would completely fill the space.

I'd ditch the swag curtains and replace them with bright white (or pale linen) semi-transparent roman blinds. They won't compete with the window shape and will keep the room light (and won't "color" the room like the current swags). If its not too late to pick new paint colors, you'll want to go very light and avoid anything too warm in that entry area, since it appears you have warm afternoon light already. We used the palest, cool green to offset the natural light in our space, but you could do a super-light blue or gray for the same effect. Right now, you have an overload of warm earth tones and no contrast.

"Your swag curtains are fighting with your arc lamp."

Go Team Arco!

Gosh that room is just all over itself isnt it? Window alcoves, cut throughs to the dining room, stairways and pillars on your way in, wall to wall carpeting and then the odd railing/half wall- what a challenge. I like that the post is titled, how to add visual interest, as if you need more things going on in that space!

I really like lofted spaces with some kind of balcony style half wall. I'd be inclined towards replacing that wall/fence with an actual half wall- and somehow eliminating the odd pillar in that corner, but that's off in the future. For now, I'd probably go stark white in that living room/foyer, and hang bright artwork and add an area rug or install laminate floors over time because I don't think there's a color in this world but white which can subdue all the odd alcoves and whatnot, and deal with the carpet.

the sofa definitely shouldn't have it's back to the entrances and the railing (I take a mob approach to primary seating- where no one can sneak up on you). I'd put it in the corner, but given it's a sectional, it might need to go in the corner with the window behind it- or by the opposite direction of that sectional. I have one too and I love it but it's a total brat when you move and need to reorient, isn't it? That light might go nicely over in the corner by that dining room hole.

I agree with whomever suggested plants in the railing area- maybe use a long low credenza or bookcase with the plants atop it and one tall one at the far right. Nothing valuable on the end of the credenza near the railing.

I sure hope you send in an after shot, because I'm fascinated to see how that space would be worked around successfully. Good luck!

just a few thoughts...that silly light two stories up seems worthless...I would swivel the arc light around so that it was hanging out into the open space. Sconces down IN the entry is probably a wiser choice...I think a big chandelier would be TOO much..
Me personally...I would have to switch the focus of the room around so that my furniture was facing the entrance of the room...ultimately it would be great to continue the wall all the way across and nix the open railing and have a low book case/display/entertainment center build all the way across in that nook...

1. Paint. (Green, gray, pale aqua... something cool that you can live with happily.)
2. Move the sofa to the opposite wall. Add a big chair in the corner near the bay window facing diagonally into the room. Put the TV where the little console table is now.
3. Place a potted ficus tree or other large easy-care plant in front of the railing toward the chair.
4. Put a grouping of maybe 3 tall glass vases in the same color but different shapes and sizes, or in different colors but simlar shapes and sizes on top of the pony wall. (They often have things like this at Home Goods for under $20.) Use the same colors for a couple of sofa pillows.
5. Think about a built-in bench seat in the bay window. Change out the swag curtains for simple drapes.
6. End tables for the chair and sofa. Maybe a coffee table in front of the sofa, or maybe ottoman/s with trays to double as seating.
7. Area rug.
8. Art on walls.
9. Extra seating if you feel the room can support it.
10. Contemporary chandelier in foyer -- something that goes with the decor, especially of the foyer, and that has some visual presence. Since you will see it from this room, it needs to blend there, too. Something sculptural or interesting would be good, even if not expensive. (Three of those white IKEA lamps that resemble chrysanthemums, hung a slightly different heights, for example, would be sculptural but inexpensive.)

1. Paint the room. The peachy color is totally wrong with the light coming in from the foyer.
2. Change the foyer light to something more substantial.
3. Have the rail removed and custom bookshelves built to the same height, that extend along that whole expanse.
4. Keep the sofa in the same spot, but move it more into the center of the room.
5. Replace the curtains.

Uh, lots of comments, each with their own plan. My idea (of course borrowing on others...)

Move the tv to where the "L" of the couch currently is. You don't want the glare on the tv, so moving it to that corner will help. Of course, putting the couch where the tv is will put the sun in your eyes, but that's intolerable enough for you to get up and lower some blinds or curtains... at some point. You could run the cable under the carpet pretty easily.

Yes, repaint.

Yes, replace the light in the stairwell. It's nearly recessed... No interest in that corner, as you observed. I've not tough a lot about it, but maybe hand a mobile? Make one? A cool (but maybe expensive) thought is convert that current fixture into another can, then have it focused on a neat mobile. It would also create some neat shadows.

Whatever the color is that you have splotched onto the wall closest to the thermostat is your color. It is also on the right side of the column behind the sofa in image 3. Remove the overhead fixture from the dining area. Use your arc lamp to light your dining table. Get rid of the swags. (goes without saying). You don't have a lot of options for furniture placement. Center the sofa on the entire space overlooking the foyer. Use a sofa table behind with lighting on each end. Maybe...if you can find an amazing textile, drape it over the railing portion...as much for the foyer as for the living room. Very shaggy area rug in the sofa/living area. Add coffee table, tv furn, chairs in bay as budget allows. Keep on the lookout for a foyer fixture...but don't make that a priority.

I would definitely put the sofa against the opposite wall where you currently have the TV - better feng shui. There's even room on the side for the chaise, so it'd work. I know that creates a 'what about the TV?' problem, but if the only 2 choices are TV in front of the railing or sofa in front of it, I'd put a long tv console in front of the railing, ideally one with room for plants on top and books on shelves underneath, so that the TV doesn't look like it's randomly floating in that space.

Alternatively - you could put the TV on the wall where you currently have it, and scoot the sofa away from the railing altogether, putting a sofa table behind the sofa, with plenty of space between the sofa and railing.

Then create a little seating area in front of the TV, maybe adding a side chair, area rug, and coffee table.

I would start by changing the color of the walls. The window alcove is very traditional (it reminds me of New England somehow). Another poster mentioned it and I agree - yellow and peach tones sunlight = bad.

Personally I'd get rid of that railing all together, but it's the least of your problems. You have contemporary furniture (the sectional sofa arc lamp) in a more country-style house (the windows, the railings) and a non-traditional layout.

I'd put a door on that kitchen if there isn't one to control the way the rooms flow. You already have a dominating wood varnish color, but I would go slightly darker with the varnish by one or two tones. I'd also rip that carpet up. Diana Vreeland said she couldn't imagine anything worse than a beige life. She obviously never saw a beige carpet.

I think replacing the railing with a solid wall, maybe even a wall that goes up the ceiling with a cut out might work. You could fill the cut out with a beautiful piece of stained glass from a flea market and then a chandelier or big light fixture in the foyer would illuminate it while the sunlight coming into the room would illuminate it if you were in the foyer.

If you don't want to do major remodeling, move the couch in front of the window and place a table slightly higher or the same height as the back of your couch behind it. Cover the table with interesting objects, pictures, etc. and put the arc lamp behind the couch, positioned over the longer piece of your sectional sofa as if it's a reading lamp (but change the shade first).

I think the most important thing because of the way your house is designed is to work with all the rooms starting from the foyer upwards and for vantage points where one room can be seen from the other to unify key elements whether it's color, a particular theme of objects, or making sure that your furniture is placed in a way that attracts the eye into the next room in the flow.

I would probably differentiate the wall colors for the second floor vs. the first floor lofted space, so there's a stronger visual distinction of "out there" over the railing. I'd also put a larger bookshelf in front of that half wall space next to the railing -- I'd fill that space with it. And I agree with other commenters who suggested floor plants along the railing.

I would definitely replace the railing with a solid wall. Your furniture tastes show you like modern, but that railing is all country. As is your drapery swag, or at least it is a bit formal for your other things, as everyone has pointed out! If you can afford it, fill it in with drywall and live happily in your new home.

Your space reminded me of one I saw on an HGTV episode. Here is a link to the episode on Hulu:

http://tinyurl.com/2edpva3

I don't think it's the style you're going for, but it will help you to think outside of the box about how to deal with your unique design challenges. Good luck!

Switch out the light fixture for a larger pendant light...it will erase the urge to put up artwork where it'll barely be seen - this will make a huge improvement.

Paint paint paint - the yellow really isn't helping anything out. I'd go with a neutral color since you are going to be seeing it from pretty much everywhere the way your house is laid out.

I would rather see a half wall than a railing, but I have no idea what your budget it...if you can afford to do it, go for it - it'll look much better. When you could afford it, you could build in bookshelves for storage space.

I actually kind of like where the sofa is already - a console table behind it would be nice. I'd do some kind of bench seating in the bay window area. A nice glass coffee table would look nice.

I don't know if you plan to use the dining "room" part of the living space - if not, you could do a nice seating area in that corner with the huge lamp you own. I'd add end tables and smaller scale lamps by the sofa.

I agree with all those above who said that part of your problem is the railing wall. A cheap fix that involves no remodeling is to simply drape a quilt over it. It's hard to tell how long the railing is from your pix, but it looks like a queen or king draped length-wise should cover it. You can either go with a solid color that blends in with the paint color of the walls, or go for something with a bright pattern to turn an eyesore into a focal point. Put a console table in front, or even move your tv unit there.

Where did you get that perfect bookcase?! Vintage, I assume...

What if on top of that section to the left of the railing you put an an open shelving unit on top of it. In my mind I'm picturing the expedit bookcase from ikea, but something along those lines.

Hi Katie,
You have a nice space over there. I wish I had that amount of space in my apartment. Well, my suggestion is not so different of the others. I love yellow and gray together. You already have lots of yellow there, so I would paint the long wall gray. I would use a more modern curtain with some gray on them. Maybe some stripes or some graphic patterns.
The sofa against to the long wall, a couple of charming chairs and end tables and a pretty and tall plant. The TV could be over any piece of furniture that you may already have, with some shelves above it, in the corner. On the other side of the room you could have a small office or anything else you prefer. Please have a look:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByD6KqOlQRgxYmFhOGYzYWEtMmU3NS00MTAxLTkyYzctOTkzY2I3ODQ4ZTA3&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

Hi this is Katie. I didn't realize this was posted - there are so many great suggestions! I love the idea of doing a console with plants and getting a huge chandelier, and I also like the idea of flipping the sofa to face the foyer as alice_sp illustrated. I need to read through these a few more times to process them all.

haha, the curtians are definitely losing that fight.

alybrown - it is vintage, I inheritied it from my great aunt. I've seen similar ones at furniture auctions.

This is probably a dead thread at this point but I figure it can't hurt to throw in my two cents.

1) I agree with previous posters that the light fixtures need to be replaced with more sizable pieces that add visual interest.

2) I would use a two toned approach to painting. Use a lighter color in the foyer and pick the same color one or two shades darker for your living room. Choose any kind of color that suits your style but choose the two paints off of the same swatch card. Use the foyer color in your bay window for a little extra pop. Go for that "just noticeable difference" in colors and all that great light and those modern shapes in your rooms will start working for you.

3) I may not be crazy about the specific kind of railing you have in the home but I certainly wouldn't extend the wall. The railing is there so that you get all the light from the doors and the windows in your foyer. Try hanging framed textured glass, an old door or window, or some other sort of see-through large-scale art centered over the banister with barely visible ligature. Get a professional to hang the item to make sure it is secure. You'll still get the light and the visual impact will be useful in both the foyer and the living room.

3) On the wall platform next to the railing I would place very large/tall vases or sculptural items of varying sizes. On the floor in that corner I would suggest a large plant.

4) In the corner on the other side of the couch I would hang some artwork. Try two small pictures on one side and a large piece on the other angle of the corner.

I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of illustrating my points. You may view the image here...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52057876@N05/4796775719/

lol, that's some bad numbering

Katie,
I would have to agree with the majority on the oversized light fixture. I did read you were already planning on buying new furniture, painting, etc...

Ontop of those options, how about a mini-remodel? If possible, take out the carpeting, lay some new flooring, and REMOVE that halfwall and railing. instead, put a new stainless steel railing along that wall, and it will open it up the stairwell, less awkward walls, and it will flow better. it will also create a modern loft design feel.

I think halfwalls are a pointless feature from the 1980s. :)
goodluck!