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Home DecoratingLiving RoomsDesign Dilemma
louise_coady

Looking for advice - living room

L C
4 years ago

Hi - I'm looking for advice for my living room. I feel like something is not quite right, but I'm not sure what! Is the sofa the wrong colour to go with the art? I can't change the sofa, so should I be looking for different wall art, cushions,etc? Is the rug wrong? Second photo shows looking the other direction, which I am generally happy with. Third photo shows alternative wall art. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Featured Answer
  • PRO
    Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
    4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago

    you can put the tv on the sideboard that next to the door now and have the wall next to the door free for art and shelves for plants and books.

    you can put sheer curtains on the windows to hide the wall beneath the windows, add a decorative panes or plants in mid-century style raised planters, like theses ones (i've just noticed the bunny lol):





    • Comments (28)

    • Ellie
      4 years ago

      The main thing that strikes me is that everything looks all pushed up against the wall. I would bring it all out a foot. maybe a lamp in the corner at end of sofa rather than by door. A Coffee table? I think first pull it all out then take another pic to see if it makes a difference

    • E D
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      I agree with Ellie. I too was struck straight away by all furniture being pushed against the walls.

      All your items will look better when you pull them away from the wall and let them ‘breathe’.

      Apart from your two pictures and the guitar. leaning against it. They look good as they are.

      Try moving the table you placed under the windows, to where the leather pouffe is now (or there about). It’s a nice looking one and might well work as a coffee table.

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    • Lena
      4 years ago

      I would have considered a different rug. Something like

      https://www.laredoute.co.uk/ppdp/prod-350101096.aspx?dim1=1&dim2=1&mkwid=sxENIdiZm_dm|pcrid|305264023672|pkw||pmt||slid||pgrid|62296983738|ptaid|aud-309169170195:pla-670325820187&omniturecode=Google-Shopping-PPC*Shopping_Home_&_Furniture_Returning > Rugs_Med~HOME & FURNITURE > Rugs&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItvfVtYDl5AIVGvlRCh2fYwLgEAQYASABEgI7R_D_BwE

    • peggysue67
      4 years ago

      I like the room and the art. I would change the cushions to better match the artwork. It looks like teal and dark orange? Add 2-3 plants to soften and bring in some greenery and if you can face painting I would give the walls some colour even if only something pale to give the walls some personality and make it a little cosier.

    • 1shanson
      4 years ago

      The room items all blend but you could experiment with this option: Move the coffee table onto the rug. Move the lamp table to where the coffee table is now and place the pouffe alongside together with the guitar. Now move the sofa towards the door.

    • PRO
      Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
      4 years ago

      It’s a lovely room and stylish furniture. You need to bring everything together. The best way is to zone the space. How wide is the room? Would you consider to move the couch with the back to the kitchen facing the wall and putting the tv on the wall opposite. The your coffee table will become a coffee table again. Put the large art on the wall to the left and smaller art to create a gallery wall near the tv. You can paint or wallpaper that wall also to accentuate the focal point. Add some tall plants. The light is very nice, but I think a bit small for the place though.

    • PRO
      Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
      4 years ago

      I don’t know how big the room and the sofa are. But I was thinking something like this:

    • L C
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Wow - thanks everyone for the suggestions and Marina especially for the mock up! That is so helpful.

      The room is roughly 13'2 x 12'4 (4m x 3.8m) and the sofa is about 92" (235cm) long. I'll try it in this configuration and see if it works.

      Unfortunately the coffee table is slightly too big for the sofa with the chaise and the wall it is in front of is made of ugly blocked out window frames, so we need something there to cover it for now. It may be worth investing in a new coffee table. We are also unfortunately limited with plants as we have house rabbits who would make short work of them, so they need to be placed up high!

      I will have a play with the furniture arrangement and think about the wall colours and soft furnishings. Thanks again everyone!

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Funnily enough I was talking to my wife about your room and I came up with the exact same idea as marina with relation to moving the sofa around and floating unt and tv the wall opposite and a few nice plants


      you could remove the sideboard from the wall adjoining the kitchen for some space and have one massive piece of art on it as a feature and a nice galley wall on the wall where the sofa was

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago

      Wish I was a wizz with that room planning softwar! That looks how I would have had the. Room from the off tbh, great to see it in a pic :-)

    • PRO
      Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
      4 years ago

      Beano, try Homestyler free online program. It is very user friendly and real products models. It is somewhat limited, but you can add your own pattern and models if you want. They also have a mobile app, but it works differently, also useful. The first mock up is done on the app, using the original image. The second picture is done on the program with known dimensions.

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago

      Thank you marina :-) I’ll have a look at that, really great representation of the room in the last one, I esp liked your rendering for the small bedroom for Sam a while back, that was an impressive take on the brief tbh! You have skills :-)

    • Gabby Wong
      4 years ago

      I'm with you Beano! I'm always amazed by Marina's ideas and mock ups!

    • PRO
      Spaced Out Limited
      4 years ago

      The sofa and the rug look great! As the living room has wooden floor and furniture, we think it would be best not to include more orange/brown tones into the space.


      For a minimalist and contemporary look, we would remove the art wall and add a modern coffee table from made.com in front of the sofa and put a plant on the right of the sofa.


      You could also choose a beige lamp shade to replace the colourful one to enhance the neutral tone all around the space.


      You can add some colour into the space with some cushions from Habitat or Maisons Du Monde. We think dark green and navy blue would be a good mix to go with the grey sofa and beige rug.


      Hope this is helpful xx

      Laure, Interior Designer @ Spaced Out


    • L C
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Thanks everyone for the extra ideas. I had a play with the furniture last night and moved it around a bit as per Marina's suggestion.

      It feels a bit strange to me at the moment as the room feels smaller, but I think maybe just need to get used to it. Only other downside is that it was quite nice facing/looking out of the window whilst sat on one sofa whereas now you are facing a wall. Again, may just need some getting used to, though! We will trial for a few days.

      I've left the tv in the corner as we tried it in the centre but it became too much of a focus for the room. I also havent moved the dresser unit yet but that is just because it is heavy!

      Laure - I will have a think about the colours and going for neutral. Thanks!

    • PRO
      Spaced Out Limited
      4 years ago

      I agree with you, the new sofa position makes the room smaller. I think it was absolutely fine where it was initially. When you will go for neutral tone and remove the art you will see how the room looks bigger. A new large plant and colourful cushions will bring playfulness into the space.

      This kind of plant would look gorgeous in your living room!

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Tbh it’s a total win for me, already it looks so much mor cohesive, i personally don’t think it looks that much smaller at all, the original layout gave me a waiting room feel tbh, even the sideboard behind the sofa looks in place!

      as said, tv on the wall opposite, loose the old corner tv unit and possible a nice feature chair in its place or opposite a nice tall plant or two, art work and love marinas idea of possibly some sort of mesh curtain.

      totally works for me though :-)

      ps I like the dresser behind the sofa now I see it, great mid century feel, I would possibly take the shelving down above it and replace with a large art piece, a small plant on top of it wouldn’t go amiss either, you can’t really have to many in my eyes tbh!

    • L C
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      We will keep experimenting! We do have a nice mid century armchair that fitted in the original layout (currently being ureupholstered so not in the photo) so when we get that back I can see whether it would still fit or if it pulls together the original layout better. I think the long coffee table is too big for the room, so I will have a search for something similar but a bit shorter.

      The curtains we have are half see through, so close to Marina's suggestion (hard to see from photos).

      Plants are a problem with the bunnies. We used to have lots more in this room but there were too many "accidents"! With the sofa in the new position they can jump onto the dresser so we have to keep that plant free in current layout. Could look into some good quality artificial plants to compliment the real ones on the shelf.

      Any ideas on how to keep the TV from being too obtrusive? I'm not a fan of having all the furniture pointing towards the TV as the focal point as we only use it occasionally and would rather have a room that is more set up for entertaining- although it is difficult with a small flat!

    • Emmanuelle
      4 years ago

      Love the last mock up! Your sideboard is lovely and deserve a little vignette there, with a big piece of art above, maybe one of your retro lights, plants, retro findings...
      Sorry to throw the cat amongst the pigeons... but if are not sure about your sofa in the middle of the room, what about to move it on the back wall ? With tv under the window , coffee table in front of sofa... maybe you could paint the back wall a nice khaki green...

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      I’d still have the tv opposite your sofa, you could make the wall a feature wall and paint it a dark colour as you have plenty of light and it will mask the tv somewhat, there are all sorts of ingenious things like art frames that you can hide your tv behind too nowadays.

      when I want to give the illusion of more space I use a floating unit, think it would look well under the tv and give some depth, just think it would all look more coordinated with the tv mounted opposite the sofa and leave the needed space for your feature chair.

      this is my unit I made, I made it specifically from teak to give that mid century feel I like and floated it low to give a bit more depth as you can see wall and floor edge clearly.

      My Home So Far · More Info


      Actually forgot to mention, a lower hanging, statement pendant light might be another thought as the existing one looks a bit lost up there :-)

    • Emmanuelle
      4 years ago

      Stunning unit Beano!

    • Anthony (Beano)
      4 years ago

      Thank you Emmanuelle, took a bit of time to put that together as there is a lot of detail in the carcass, me being me, didn’t see what I wanted so gave myself the headache of making it myself! Lol

    • PRO
      Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      Great, you have tried and now know that this layout is not for you. however, i still think the room needs a bit of pulling together. move the couch more in the middle of the wall where it was originally and push it slightly away from the wall. place a taller side table with a taller table lamp to the left of the couch. and a smaller lamp put on the dresser next to the door. bring that chair you mentioned out and place it opposite the sofa. put the smaller side table next to it. can you hang the tv on the wall? you still can hang off centre more to the window, put the bigger coffee table underneath and the art to the right. which ever art you choose you can balance it with cooler or more neutral cushions and accessories. i like them both the bright colour one and the more neutral one. you can put a simple shelf above the telly and add books, plants (sorry), ornaments. you have really nice prints. hang them all on the wall behind the couch and create a gallery wall.



    • L C
      Original Author
      4 years ago

      Ok so we now have the armchair back. I've put the furniture back in the original position but pulled everything out from the wall a bit more. Do you think replacing the colourful cushions with some in the same fabric as the chair would work? Or is that too matchy matchy?. Maybe some different ones that are black and white with the other artwork.

      Marina - thanks for your latest layout - I'm browsing on ebay to see if I can find any suitable side tables. I haven't ruled out the other layout yet (although the chair doesnt fit so would need a new home), but am still experimenting. Going to look into having the TV wall mounted as well. Thanks again for everyone's help!

    • PRO
      Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
      4 years ago
      last modified: 4 years ago

      That is a lovely chair. It looks like the space can be defined better. You can add some height to add a dimension to the room. You can do that by bringing a floor lamp and adding shelves or art above the tv. Light grey and blue cushions on the sofa and a warm colour on the chair will marry those two pieces together. The footstool/ottoman is better to be pushed closer to the chair and it would also zone the area. You can add a round coffee table or keep it as it is. Add more cooler shade (charcoal, light grey, blue, dusty pink) accessories to calm the warm colours of the floor and wooden furniture and art down a notch.


      here are some ideas for cushions:



    • Ellie
      4 years ago

      I prefer the sofa the other way, the way you tried it although you said it made it feel smaller I think it looks so much better

    • HU-190676552
      4 years ago

      Hey,

      Here is a couple of ideas on how you can change the style of your room by adding just few inexpensive touches.

      You can get more inspiration here https://everybodywantsthat.co.za

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