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talbothadley

Redo fireplace or decorate around it?

11 years ago
Just bought this home and I cannot figure out what to do with the fireplace colors. The rug has blue tones. Should I accessorize with blue hues and incorporate the fireplace colors or redo the fireplace to more muted tones (would rather not due to cost but will consider if you think it absolutely necessary). Otherwise any input on curtain colors, ottomans or other pieces of furniture would be appreciated. I want this room to look very nice. I prefer traditional styles and yes, the couch covers have to stay. I have 3 young kids. Thank you for your input Houzz friends!

Comments (9)

  • 11 years ago
    I think the colors of the fireplace go fine with the rug and the rest of the room. I would enlarge the mantel though to be as wide as the stone and either hang something or put 2 bigger pieces on it that are different in color. The candle sticks kind of disappear right now. I assume that's a walkway between the black chairs and the fireplace but if not I would pull the rug closer to the fireplace so it looks more part of the setting.
  • 11 years ago
    Unfortunately that is a walkway between the chocolate leather chairs and the fireplace. Can I still move the rug closer and walk around it to go to bedrooms? Love the input on what to put on the mantle, too.
    Also, I ordered chocolate linen drapes for the windows (restoration hardware has most of them on a great sale right now) and now I'm wondering if I need lighter ones??? If any?
  • 11 years ago
    Forgot to add more pics
  • 11 years ago
    I would make more than one seating area. Your room seems very large so more than enough room to do that. 2 chairs closer to the fire place and seating more towards the tv..
    Vanessa thanked Karin Dc
  • 11 years ago
    That sounds interesting. Two chairs facing the fireplace or facing the rest of room? Thank you both for your input. I'll post pics here soon of the new arrangement.
  • 11 years ago
    It's always hard to arrange a room that has two focal points - the tv and the fireplace. To get a good view of the tv you block your visual lines to the fireplace, and vice versa. One idea would be to take away one of the chairs. If you use your couches to make two sides of a square as they currently are, then try putting a single chair at the opposite angle - i.e., across from where the couch corners meet. It gives you visual flow to both the fireplace and the tv. The two chairs together create a third side to your square, cutting off the fireplace.

    Another idea is to try pulling the leather chairs away from the rug and putting them on either side of the fireplace - they'll stick out a little farther than the hearth but you should still be able to navigate easily to the doorway. Angle them a little toward each other - about 45 degrees or less. See if that helps pull the fireplace into the seating area while still giving you a walkway. BTW the dark drapes might make that whole wall very dramatic, or it could make them very heavy - definitely put up photos to show what happens!

    Another thing that might help is to move the couches so that just their front legs touch the rug. It definitely spreads out the seating area but you have plenty of room. If you want to keep walkways around the seating area instead of through it, adjust the rug position toward the tv instead of centered in the room. Depending on how the chairs look over by the fireplace, you may want the rug's length to point toward the fireplace instead of the TV.

    All of that may make the seating too spread out for the way you want to live. You may indeed need to make two seating areas, one for TV watching and the other for enjoying the fireplace. To do that, you could move the TV farther away from the fireplace, with one couch facing the tv and the other with the back toward the fireplace instead of the entry way. In back of the couch put the two chairs facing the fireplace. Effectively you'd be separating the room in half with one of the couches and the two chairs with their backs to each other. Can't tell from the photos if you have enough room for that.

    It's so much fun to decorate when someone else has to move the furniture!!
    Vanessa thanked sdthomas13901
  • 11 years ago
    Thank you for taking the time to offer advice. I'm posting the most recent picture incorporating some of the above advice. I do think there is enough space for two seating areas. Which way should the rug go? It's 10x14 ft. Should rug run through both seating areas? The pic should be a panoramic shot showing extra space
  • 11 years ago
    Better!

    I would put your sofa table about a foot from the flooring transition in the entry hall. Put the sofa against that. Put your rug in front of that (you have it running the right way now). Center your TV at the end of the rug, not the middle of the wall. You can balance it with a tall plant or a bookcase or something.

    Is there enough room to move the sofa toward the TV and put one of your chairs in the corner between the sofa and the loveseat, angled to look at the other chair on the opposite corner? If you move the sofa to the end of the rug by the TV, and the love seat to the end by the fireplace, you should have room.

    That would give you all your seating, opened up to the fireplace. If you can find some red kilim pillows for the couch, and maybe a couple of long floor pillows or low benches (also kilim) to put under the windows, that would pull the rug up into the couch and over to the windows, which would help pull the fireplace into the seating area despite the walkway.
    Vanessa thanked sdthomas13901