SFGate

crchappell I love the look of white or light flooring. If you remove the dark carpet and replace with something lighter this would help reflect what light you do have up around the room. Here are some examples:

Dytecture Even with a relatively low ceiling, you could possibly add some texture and improve on lighting in the room to make it more cozy.

Custom Home Planning Center crown up lights is the best for this kind of space: http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Image+up+light+crown+molding&qpvt=Image+up+light+crown+molding&FORM=IGRE#

These photo are over 6 months old and recent advances in LED light emitting chip technology do not give justice to amount of light you can now get from these type of lights

nevadan I would use a lot of ceiling can lighting. I might also use some track light spots over the pretty firplace. Keep window hangings to a bare minimum. The idea of a light striped rug is great.

decoenthusiaste Wonderful oppty to install the new LED cans! Consider washing the FP with light, especially the sloped side. If you're not going to burn wood, there is an opportunity to use the wood recess for a piece of sculpture or a water feature that is lighted too.