family room

A family room is something that needs function as well as design.

When working with a family room I like to ask clients what they want to keep within the room or semi close.

In this case books were number 1.

This bookcase pictured is a set. The other is on the opposite side of the couch. W filled the shelves with books and the cupboards below with board games. 

Besides that she wanted it open and clean.

The before of this room the couch and shelves were moved closer to the television so there was walking space behind them all. It was not working and making the room look 10x smaller than the actual size. 

fireplace

When it comes to decorating/styling/organizing, one of the best things in my opinion is to simplify.
Sometimes you make more of a statement when you have less.

A fireplace is typically a focal point if it's in a living or family room. This fireplace use to have a couple more frames and greenery on it. With the client that I had these pictures were very important to her and so we limited to 1 frame per child and tried to get rid of the extra fluff.

This could be one option.
Another way that this would work would be to remove all of the frames and just have the plants.
It would still look great if the entire shelf was cleared off and the focal point was just the painting.

Hopefully you can brain storm and see those options.
Which design would be your favorite for the fireplace?