Need help for living room decorating (hardwood floors, fireplace, panel, paint)

[icposse2k]

Hi All-

I need some advice from people on how to decorate our new living room. We just moved into the house a couple of weeks ago. There is a picture attached.

The room itself is fairly large (15x20) and has a fireplace along one of the long walls that is the focal point of the room. The other long wall has a doorway leading into a family room area. The entrance to the room is behind where the photo was taken, just off the entryway to the house. We don't want to change the wood on the hardwood floors or the fireplace.

So far, we have a sofa/loveseat combo and a rug. We are planning on painting the walls, getting new window treatments, getting a coffee table/end tables, and two accent chairs, as well as some other decorations (lamps, plants, etc.).

The questions I have are:

1. Is the rug too modern for the room? Does that wavy pattern clash too much with the geometric angles of the floor, furniture, and fireplace? I think once we get the other chairs and coffee table on the rug it will be much less dominant than it is now.
2. What kind of coffee table/end tables should we go for: geometric (square, rectangular) like the other furniture, or rounded or oval with curves like the rug? Should we try to match the reddish wood of the fireplace which would be difficult, or get a dark brown/black like the accents on the sofa and loveseat?
3. Should we consider painting the trim around the fireplace a different color than the white it is now?

Any other thoughts on the room would be welcome. We are pretty happy with what we have so far, but I think the next couple of decisions (wall color, window treatments, tables and chairs) are going to make or break this room.

thanks,
John

[golfgal]

You are trying to fit modern furniture into an older house and personally I don't think it ever really looks "right" that way. I do think that the rug is out of place given the features of the room. I think an oriental style rug would give you a better feel in the room AND add more color.

Personally I would want to strip the paint off the fireplace but getting that done and matching the existing wood would be next to impossible.

I think a round or square table would look best, but it would depend on your final furniture arrangements and selections.

[Decorchallenged]

Is this a Craftsman stye house? Is the fireplace covered with raised panel wood?

I can't really tell from the pictures but the features of the room seem to be period specific. If so, that should have some influence on how you do the room. While I love that rug, the style seems too contemporary for the room.

I think the furniture could work even though it is a modern style, if you work the rest of the room right.

But if you have an older house and you like contemporary furnishings, I'm wondering what you are doing in your other rooms? It IS possible to blend things together from different eras, but I think it takes some skill.