Decorating Help
Published by ashley on Monday, February 05, 2007 at 10:40 AMSo I am in need of some serious decorating help! Paul and I moved into our new townhouse almost three months ago. We like it, but to be honest, the living room feels so... empty and sterile. This is where you come in! I need some decorating ideas. First, here are pictures of the living room now.
(I was going to tidy up before taking the picture, but then I decided the before/after effect would be more dramatic with the clutter!)
The desire:- I'd like a mix of contemporary (simple, straight lines, contrasting colors) and traditional (inviting, cozy)
- I want to avoid having a lot of clutter-y knick-knacks
- I have a few prints of some fine art and photography to hang on the walls: Van Gogh's Starry Night, Ansel Adam's Redwoods, Founder's Grove. I also have smaller images of Nighthawks, Two Sisters (On the Terrace), Two Dancers on Stage (1874), and Dance at Bougival. I can hang these in a different room if it doesn't fit, but I just wanted to give you an idea of what I have.
- I really like this room look, or perhaps a look that would match this painting (a Mediterranean look).
- I mainly need to brighten up the room a bit.
- I'm not allowed to buy any new furniture (although I can mix and match with furniture we already own).
- Since we most likely will be moving in a year or two, I don't want to buy things so specific that I can't reuse it in a new house.
- I am already planning on painting the bottom half of the wall (from the chair rail down), but I don't want to paint the whole wall
- I am planning to buy or make curtains, but I need to decide what color and style (as you see, the windows are quite narrow... about 2 ft.)
- I am willing to buy a sofa/loveseat slipcovers if I can find them for a good price and the color I want. I really hate the sofa but I'm stuck with it for now, so covering it up would be good. :-)
- I'd love to have some greenery but I'm HORRIBLE with live plants... so fake plants perhaps?
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Anyway, Hubby and I just bought a new couch, and so we don't need our slipcover anymore. If you want it I can ship it to you. (If you don't remember what it looks like, I can post pictures later on my blog.) Let me know if you're interested!
Good luck!
I used a bunch of sites to create new schemes for our home, since I didn't stick with all the orignal ones and I liked what some of the rooms morphed into.
I found my favorite site at http://wellstyled.com.
You can really choose anything as you have all neutral colors right now!
BTW, yes, I did get a package in the mail. I planned on getting a detailed thank-you out to you, but I got the package a few days ago! I was very excited. Thank you!
Your furniture layout right now seems really well-thought out and practical. It would be nice to have something taller to put your tv and speakers on, but that's not a big deal. I would move the cat pedestal thingy to the corner with their food, if that wouldn't mess with their minds. (I don't really know much about cat psychology...) That would open up the window and fill up the other empty corner. It would also give you a great spot for some easy or fake greenery. One plant that's really hard to kill, but that looks nice and green, is aloe vera. Also nice for burns. :)
There's a few ideas. I'm not good with curtains, so I'm not going to suggest anything in that regard. Have fun decorating!
I see what you mean about the cat condo, Anna. I had it by the window so the cats could look out, but I wonder if it would be better to free up the window and perhaps put a plant there. Hmm... I'll have to think about it.
So, how to make the sofa work with dark red walls? Can you get slipcovers for pillow backs like this sofa?
If you do choose to go with dark furniture, another economical idea that gives big results is to buy cheap oak frames from arts stores, garage sales, etc. and use the lacquer on them, too. It could look great to frame one of your posters over your couch in a dark frame. Just my two cents:)
-Charlotte
-Charlotte again
Also, another almost "unkillable" plant that grows quickly is a philodendrum. Water once every other week or so ... or whenever you remember. This one's a fighter!
-Charlotte
2 cents from a stranger who nevertheless loves her own house. :)
One thing my mom said was that you should find one piece (picture, rug, fabric, whatever) that you LOVE that ties all of your colors together, then match all of your colors to that one thing. (It doesn't have to be an exact match.) So, since you have those pictures that you like, I'm guessing that you can pick a color scheme from one (or two) of those, and that one picture will, as my mom says, "pull everything together."
I hope that helps some. Like I said, I'm clueless, so I can only tell you what she tells me. (I guess she knows what she's talking about since people used to pay her money to tell them how to decorate their homes.)
--Kara
I was wondering about a terracota colour on the walls with a big warm looking rug on the floor. (I'll see if I can spot anything nice in Morocco!) That would add warmth while keeping to contrasting colours and making it nice and cosy. I don't like clutter either, but it is hard not to make it look sterile.
Ya'll are giving me great advice! I stood in the room today and thought about it long and hard. Here's what I'm thinking: a deep red color for the walls; red curtains with a black rod for the windows. Dark brown slipcovers for the couch and loveseat. (What color is yours, Beth? Isn't it brown?) Since both the couch and the loveseat have pillowbacks, I'll have to come up with something for that. Seep red and/or tan throw pillows for the couch and loveseat. Move the cat condo to the other side of the room; get some nice full plants for the front of the windows. Right now, I'm thinking of rearranging the room; while it works now, I really don't like how the TV is. I think I'll hang my black & white Ansel Adams in a prominent place and perhaps some other black and white photography.
Okay this is getting long. I'll be sure to post updates about this redesign project. :-)
(Oh and Lesley, I like green too! We did our bedroom in greens and pastel blue.)
Mom
I LOVE the idea of red - I was considering using that color in the addition, maybe the bedroom. I'm thinking of doing a colorwash, and in your case that would work nicely with the picture. I would probably paint the bottom one color, and the top another; Or paint the whole thing but leave the rail in the middle white.
You could always get a couple throw pillows, instead of a whole slipcover - pillows make a huge difference in the look of a couch.
Okay - looking at the top picture in the post, it might be neat to put the couch on the left wall (where the tv is), and the loveseat directly across from it, creating a conversation area, with the coffee table in the middle (if you put all the clutter on TOP of the table away, or on the bottom, that would be SWELL!). I can't tell how much room you have where the hallways it, but you could create a barrier to the living room by putting the loveseat directly across from where it is now, as well. A nice red vase and some coffee table books, maybe some coasters, on top would look sweet.
Curtains would make a HUGE difference to those windows. Since they're skinny, I would probably buy two panels and two curtain pulls - one for each window. OR, instead of the curtain pulls, gather each of them in the middle with ribbon, a tassel or - like me - a clear shower curtain hook that I already had. It would be pretty if you had something lacy or sheer underneath, with a color on top (dark red, or a complimentary color - red and sage, red and purple, I dunno.).
It looks like you have... one side table? It looks like the back wall is pretty long, so it could go next to the couch.
Hm... see if you can move the cat tower to another room. Fold up the trays... yadda yadda yadda... I'm trying to figure out what other usable furniture you have.
What is that piece on the lower righthand corner? A low bookshelf or some piece of furniture (something you can put all the entertainment stuff in?) between the windows, with artwork above that (and the couch) and a couple plants in colorful pots and some candles, would be nice.
Nichole had gotten some cute, I think cheap little bookshelf boxes for one of the walls in her old apt - you could get three and stagger them on one of the walls, to get some stuff off the tv electronics. If they're hung near the windows, you could put a plant on top and a picture inside, something like that. You could stain them, or paint them, whatever.
Hope this helps. Good luck!
1- color (which you are going to do - I have a couple suggestions to achieve the look you are pursuing, i.e. contemporary/cozy)
2 - light
3 - getting rid of all the small pieces that are cluttering your living room, and keep less (and bigger) key-pieces
4 - dressing up the walls with some of your art work
5 - dressing up the room with the right curtains, to cozy it up!
I know you are not buying furniture, but here is a suggestion for you to think: if you really need storage or a key piece, you may be able to buy an unfinished piece of furniture (I know one store in Alpharetta that only sells unfinished furniture, and is not expensive) and paint it yourself (I can give you the guidance, if you wish)
There is a lot of room, so it would be easy to create a barrier with the couch or loveseat. I love your suggestion about the red vase on the coffee table because guess what? I OWN a beautiful red vase that is just the color I want to paint my walls! I never thought of putting that on the coffee table.
I also like your idea of gathering the curtains in the the middle of the window. I agree that something lacy or sheer would be beautiful but my experience is that those don't last long after coming in contact with little kitty claws, and a few rips make the whole thing look a little ragged. :-) Perhaps at a window that is not the prime viewing spot for squirrels!
The piece on the lower righthand corner is a media rack/bookcase which is filled with CDs and DVDs.
There really isn't anything in the TV area except for the TV, DVD player, stereo, 2 speakers, and the bunny ears. I don't like to keep clutter there (i.e. DVDs, etc). There are a ton of wires in the back which make it look messy. :-( I am trying to think of a good way to clean that whole area up.
I like the idea of the bookshelf boxes for the walls. It would give me a place to display knick-knacks without making it look cluttered.
Thanks for all your ideas. :-)