Future Fireplace?

A few weeks ago, I decided a change was in order for the arrangement of our living room.  The room really doesn't have a ton of options for different furniture placements given the many traffic flows through the space, but the wall where the secretary currently resides was really troubling me!

This wall is one of the first views from the entry hall.  It previously housed the kids toy table with a shelf above.  I don't mind that the kids have and keep toys in the living room...that's just a sign of our current reality ;) ...but I don't love that chaos is the first impression when you walk in the front door!  Anyway, I've been on a quest to find a solution to this problem once and for all!

I really never photographed it in its prior state, at least without mess and toys...haha, except for this one shot from the blue and white post.  You can kind of see how the secretary looked on the paneled wall previously.

Here is the wall today...

Not too exciting.....And very bare.  I miss the secretary being a focal point on that wall, but I really like its new location better overall.  What's a girl to do??

Well...actually there has been a plan all along!  When we first put up the paneled wall, in the back of my mind I had plans for a future fireplace on this wall.  I love fireplaces...who doesn't??...and it would be a great focal point for the room!  A fireplace wasn't really a priority back then because we had *A LOT* of other large projects that needed our attention/$$ first and it's still not at the top of the list, but I could see it happening in the somewhat near future...???  I did a little mock-up to get an idea of how the proportions might work out...

Painters tape....so many uses!! :)  It's a rough layout, but it definitely helps me see what adjustments need to be made so my proportions are correct!

I'm not sure when/if this is going to happen...so for now this space remains dedicated to the kids play table where they still have easy access to their toy closet hidden behind that little door (topic for another day).  And I like that the table is kind of hidden behind the chairs in the current layout instead of in plain view from our front door like before.  It kind of bothers me that the wallspace is so empty, but I'm not sure I want to put much effort into changing that if a fireplace is in the near future.  Fingers crossed!!

xo,