Is it possible to knock that little wall down between the two room (the one to the left of fireplace)?

Can you add the dimensions of the room please? It looks a bit tight to pass between the sofa/coffee table/chair for example. Would help with furniture selection.

HI -- The room does look closed off from the rest of the place . Can you show a floor plan .... thanks

Top corner right is the living. And on the left is the kitchen. And below kitchen is the formal dining.

Also did not want to knock the wall down as an open kitchen would mean, the cooking smells would pass into the rest of the areas

Open to ideas. I thought a coffe table, a sofa, and 2 chars if they could fit in would be great. I checked some coffee tables too, but it's pretty confusing for the space. Living is 19 ft/ 11, and dining is 11 ft/ 10

Any suggestions for a sofa?

HI -- Thanks for the floor plan and yes I can see there is no place to go changing any walls . This is what I would do because you said you want a very clean lined , minimalistic style . Find a extra long modern sofa on exposed legs for the long wall . And then one modern exposed swivel base chair . Two or three small pedestal accent tables . Have L.E.D. ceiling pot lights put in along the long wall ,set on dimmer . Or get track lights with very small L.E.D. heads and also on dimmer . One arch type floor lamp for that first corner . Small adjustable modern floor lamp for beside the chair . One very large modern painting for left side of fireplace . I would re-move the fireplace mantel surround and cover the whole fireplace front with light colored pearlized ( glass ?) mosaic tiles. Change the widow covering with full semi sheer textured ( or light linen ?) drapes with ripple fold top. Full wall height and side to side and no tie back . Same frame set (3 or 5) pictures/prints or paintings for over sofa ( bottom of frame 6 inches above sofa back ) . Sofa and walls and drapes in a light same color like an off- white or a light grey . Chair in an accent color you like or same as sofa but with another texture . This room would look awesome with a wallpaper that is just texture ,like a white/light grey color grass cloth or linen . You could still use that shelf unit where it is ,- you could even have it more black and minimal décor on it . For a coffee table , you could have a modern style old gold or metal base with glass top or just a big oval pouf w/ tray on top .

Hi, thank you very much for your thoughts. I like the idea of modern long sofa and the way you suggested the lamps and the mosaic for mantelpiece and the drapes matching with sofa and walls. I am looking to keep it an off white/cream/ivory. I don't think i'l' use a shel unit, as I prefer it to be as minimal as possible given the length of the space. Good idea on wallpaper, but I think I would keep the walls as they are. Good idea on the coffee table with a metal base and glass top, but still wondering if I should go for a modern wooden one to add that little wooden feel in the room. The mantelpiece wood color is definitely not for me, so that will hopefully go down son. Oval pouf might reduce the feeling os space. But thanks for your thoughts. Any recommendations on furniture sites where I can find more modern sofa, furniture, etc?

divadum, thanks for posting the dimensions and floor plan. The photos of furniture you posted still seem quite traditional. Are you looking for more of a clean transitional feel, or do you really want that modern, minimal look? In terms of places to look for modern, streamlined furniture, look at Roche Bobois, West Elm, CB2 and Crate and Barrel. I'm sure there are more out there that others can suggest. If you want more of a transitional look, I would look at Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn for inspiration. With a long, narrow living room one of the issues that you're going to come up against is having an empty space at the end of the room where the cabinet currently is. Think about finding a great mirror, a console table, and a pair of table lamps, to give that part of the room purpose and to reflect the light coming in from the doors at the end of the room. I agree with lefty47 that you should remove the mantle entirely and tile that full fireplace wall, but I think you could do something quite cool with limestone, slate or a wood-look tile. That could give you the warmth you're looking for without going down the route of a traditional wood coffee table. Finally, I've just found a great app at Urban Barn for planning out your room layout (thank you Pinterest): http://urbanbarn.icovia.com/icovia.aspx Try out a few options to see how things come together. Good luck!

I think I would like something traditional yet minimal with well cut lines, not chunky definitely and Pottery Barn only seems to have chunky stuff like the pics I attached. Love the idea about the mirror and console table with lamps. I was planning to have a mirror there anyway because it will catch the natural light from the opposite end that leads to a patio and lawns. And I love the idea of taking limestone mantel as well as a pearlish mosaic, have to see which works best. Thanks a ton for Urban Barn, let me check that out! Cheers! :)

The furniture shown in the photos you posted is way too bulky for the space. Look for scaled-down furniture, to maintain a spacious feel.

I was thinking of chairs otherwise it would be difficult to manage with seating if it's just a sofa. Maybe a small table in between the chairs and a mirror above?

Hi Nancy, Yes, your'e right. I have to take that into consideration for sure.

I like the furniture set up that you posted above, but would adjust the floor plan app to show your fireplace, doorways, etc. Will give you a more realistic picture. Also, I would shift everything down toward the fireplace area, keeping the basic layout. Otherwise the fireplace will see a bit odd.

Have you checked Macys for sofas? I've seen a few posts where there have been nice sofas from Macys.

HI -- If you just do a general search for " long modern sofas " and go to images -- lots of sofas come up. And a lot of the pictures will also give you ideas for coffee tables too. But I will send a list soon. But was just looking at your place some more and have another idea for the fireplace . The left wall and the fireplace could read as one wall by having long continuous rows of satin glossy large format tiles or solid surface material of sorts across both . Maybe ones that look like a fine white marble . Bands about 11 inches with a 1 inch accent of shiny metal in between each white strip. Making the wall and fireplace as all one lineal look. This would be a lot more minimal looking . For that end wall ,being your not keeping the shelf there , I could see that full wall done in a bronze or black or antiqued mirror . That would add depth to the room and is very dramatic . Or just have a huge modern painting there almost the full size of the wall .

The window drapes could also be just semi transparent sheer fabric I thought. First home so I would guess that should explain the excitement.

Hi, I like the dining set you posted. It is light and airy and can work with a variety of styles. Just be careful with your accessories so that it doesn't lean too country. I would suggest a banded sisal rug under the table and either art photography or semi-industrial style metal art on the wall. (I know "metal art" sounds weird but I don't know how else to describe it. Pottery Barn has good examples of general, but interesting pieces in their decor section and if you catch a sale you can get some good prices.) I like the idea of linen sheers for the windows. It also occurs to me that you have a natural niche in that window section. Have you thought of doing a complementary wallpaper in that section? Something that could bring some interest to the space but doesn't contrast too much (it could be jarring).

By the way, can you please post photos of the kitchen so that we can see how the styles flow? And I totally understand the excitement of a first house - I purchased and renovated my first house this past year and have had a ton of fun decorating it. It is still a work in progress - it's expensive and a bit exhausting to do everything at once, but I still love doing it.

Hi there, thank for the comments...that's great you bought a house and enjoyed doing it up...I tend to look for advice on this particular one because I don't know whether to go dark or light on the furniture...Here's another table choice I looked out at today: http://www.worldmarket.com/product/garner-ext-table.do?&from=fn

Just that I am getting too caught up in the permutations and combinations...Love the sisal rug idea will check it out...I also quite liked moroccan rugs, what do you think of them? Also, I do a lot of art myself, so was thinking will put up art that I already have or can do for the space at dining... I have to check out PB art though...I loved everything on restoration site...

This is how the kitchen looks... (I'm not a big fan of wall paper, like the walls as they are, purely because I don't have a flair for it)...

And I think i'll make it a big black and white ink sketch...but still pondering...

Oooh, that's a nice table as well. Both would work. It looks like you're going for a relaxed, but streamlined look - so not really traditional per se, just not too far in any of the different style camps. In terms of the light vs. dark debate, I would lean light and bring in some dark accents largely because the rooms are a good size but not huge. My fave combination is ivory, straw/jute/tan, walnut, and black accents. I saw a fantastic house done that way in House & Home (wish I could remember the issue!) and it stuck with me. You can play with the ratio of each colour to vary things but still have flow throughout, and it would work with pretty much any accent colour if you need a shot of colour in a pillow or vase or artwork. Take a look at West Elm and Crate and Barrel as well for furniture - I have a few pieces and they've held up through a few moves and were pretty affordable.

btw, I think doing your own artwork is perfect, and an ink sketch would be great. I take it the photos you've attached are with the previous owner's furniture?

oh and I love Moroccan rugs - it's just a question of balance again. Lots of wood and Moroccan rugs will have a different feel from lots of white and Moroccan rugs.

The chobi zeigler will also look nice in the living room

That's right, the photos are of the previous owners furniture... Apart from that, totally agree with your comments and I am on the same page as you with regard to color scheme...But decided to go with the second table for the durability it possibly offers and will try and work with the inputs I now have... Makes sense about the Moroccan, they have bold prints too, so will definitely gel better with darker wood types... I quite like the walnut finish and had seen a cortlandt table earlier, but it's not easy to find it in the style I can imagine bringing home...