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Just finished a big home renovation/addition project this past Fall. My wife and I are definitely not interior designers and are very challenged when it comes to coming up with room arrangements and furniture that makes sense. We hired professionals to help us with paint colors and details, but there are still areas of the house that need more help. We are going to be inviting neighbors over in about 8 weeks and really would like to get the main living room figured out. Right now, the room looks basically the same, except there is a different couch and rug. We are not partial to any of the furniture, so open to any recommendations at this point. We do have an open floor plan with the kitchen and there is a sun room on the other side of the living room windows. All the paint is new and we don't want to change it, flooring is new 3" red-oak, natural with no stain. We would like to keep a TV in the room, but we have a wireless cable receiver, so we can place the TV anywhere. We have a large bonus upstairs that we usually use to watch TV though.
It's so hard to arrange furniture when there is a TV and fireplace vocal point. The wall where your TV is located is the only place for it to go; however, the TV and stand look lost there for two reasons: 1) it's so small against that huge wall; and 2) it's super modern and out of place for your traditional style. I recommend buying a substantial piece of furniture to put your TV on. Your house is traditional style and your furniture is traditional too. Find a really great traditional credenza that has some shelving for electronics and is a nice substantial size to take up a good part of that wall. I think that will help bring some substance to the room. Or, if you can afford it, buy one of those great flat screen TV wall units with closing doors or a hutch with closing doors. That way the TV can be hidden away, allowing your fireplace to be the vocal point when you're not watching TV.
Since you're going to be having guests, you will want more seating. You need to decide if you want to keep that leather loveseat or not. Once you decide, we can recommend the pieces of seating furniture and where to place the pieces.
I am very bad with furniture placement unless I can actually move things around but I think a pallet grey, yellow and cream would look great in your room. You could incorporate Ikat and chevron patterns to keep it fresh and modern. I try to pick very neutral color/style in big ticket items and use the pattern and color in accessories like pillows. I love the look of roman shades on your style of window. They need not be functional if privacy or light is not an issue.
Thanks for the replies. This room was the worst before we did the renovation project... there used to be a half-wall between the living room and kitchen, it was awful. No good way to arrange furniture.
Agree about the fireplace, the general rule of thumb is to have a single focal point, but that gets confusing when you read that windows can also be focal points.
We used to have an oak entertainment center in the room that my wife's Dad built, but it was ridiculously heavy and we gave it back to him a couple years ago. With such a big wall and nothing around it, a credenza may be the best solution. Thanks for the suggestion on that.
Also, the gray and cream colors sound interesting. We definitely would like to do roman shades to help separate the sun room more, but of course, we want to be careful of robbing natural light. The living room used to be extremely bright before the sun room was added on.
Thought about painting the fireplace bricks white, but since we put the color on the walls, it really makes the fireplace "pop"... yes, I learned that word from one of the designers! :-)
I think white or grey would be great for the entertainment center.
Something like this if you can afford it. It not, get a large credenza.
I'd arrange the seating furniture in an L-shape with the backs facing the kitchen/hallway and the window. You can do a sofa and two chairs or a sofa and a love seat.
I agree that a color palate for area rug, throw pillows and window coverings will help make the room feel finished.
I think white or grey would be great for the entertainment center.
Something like this if you can afford it. It not, get a large credenza.
I'd arrange the seating furniture in an L-shape with the backs facing the kitchen/hallway and the window. You can do a sofa and two chairs or a sofa and a love seat.
I agree that a color palate for area rug, throw pillows and window coverings will help make the room feel finished.
Thanks, like the design of that piece.
I guess having the wall colors already done will help as a starting point for rug color
Couch/chair arrangement has been confusing, but I like the idea of a couch and 2 chairs... to keep the area accessible from different angles. We have a couch in there now that's a real light beige color, maybe just keep it and add 2 chairs.
Create a living room that suits your lifestyle and tastes perfectly with fresh decorating ideas. Whether you have a formal living room.
Wish it was that easy!
Our house is traditional style and we only have a formal dining room area, the rest is for general use.
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