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Living Room Progress...

15 years ago

First I want to thank everyone who weighed in on my living room! I was having such a hard time with it!! There were lots of ideas, so many of them conflicting and I had to a step back for a while. Now it's not completely done, but I can live with it.

This is where I'm at so far. I still haven't gotten any new furniture--just borrowed things from around the house. What I am happy about is that I finally have it worked out as far as the furniture arrangement and dealing with the pain in the neck angled wall. Most people seemed to like the sofa in front of the windows but it really didn't feel comfortable to me when sitting there. Plus it made it difficult with furniture placement in front of the angled wall.

Still want to get a plain ivory sofa but I'm not hating this one as bad now so I'll take my time finding what I want (at a good price). I want to get a more tradional style chair (that is next to sofa), new tables, and I plan on slipcovering the chair on the angled wall. The only brand new things in the room are the plant and the mirror. I may replace the mirror above the couch one day with some artwork, but for now it's doing the job.

Bronwynsmom suggested I get a large leaner type mirror for the angled wall but then it was suggested that the reflection might not be so great. Well I did try that idea, which I loved, but it reflected practically nothing and that was where your eye went when you walked in the front door. Still need to paint!

So what do you think of the changes and any suggestions?

Before:

Another Before:

Now:

Angled wall:

Comments (18)

  • 15 years ago

    I really like it!

    The only thing I think about is can you put a floor lamp next to the chair with the green table/stool?(On the other side of where the stool is now). It just feels like there should be something over there. Maybe the stool on that side? Or maybe a low console/bookcase under the wrought iron medallion? I'm not one for covering every inch of wallspace, by any means, so I don't really know how any of that would look. It's just a thought.

    You really did a great job, especially by shopping in your own home. Isn't that the greatest feeling?

  • 15 years ago

    I like everything you have done except for one, the mirror, actually the reflection in the mirror. Makes the room too busy seeing the dining room reflected in the mirror. I would rather see art work or a mosaic type of mirror where you would get the sparkle but the reflection is blurred.

  • 15 years ago

    I actually love the mirror over the couch and think the proportion makes a huge difference in the feel of the room!

    I didn't read your original thread, so maybe you already tried this, but does the console table (with clock on it in before pic) fit on the wall under where the wall medalion is now (maybe with the medalion was raised a few inches & centered over it)? That wall looks a little bare to me, though it may just be the camera angle.

    I know, it can be so confusing to get all sorts of conflicting opinions, but in the end what matters is that you love your space :-)

  • 15 years ago

    Thanks for the compliments, suggestions and opinions! I've learned a lot from the people on this board.

    Someone said the scale of the room was off so I tried to find something large for that wall and the mirror was a steal. If I ever find something large enough to replace it (or a grouping), I may but I think the scale problem was helped. I have mixed feelings about the mirror.

    I tried a small hall table that I have under that iron piece but it seems to compete with the end table and didn't seem to work. A bookcase would be very useful though. The buffet was moved back into the dining room and it's pretty useful there, so maybe a bookcase. With that wall bare though, I think it makes it feel more spacious. That is a very small room and the angle is hard to work with.

    Thanks for your thoughts. I will continue to tweek but I'm feeling good about the progress.

  • 15 years ago

    I love the mirror over the sofa. The china cabinet it reflects is very pretty! I can't believe you found all that beautiful furniture in your house- wonderful transformation!

  • 15 years ago

    You should feel good- great progress! It seems very cozy now!

  • 15 years ago

    flip the sofa end tables so that the simpler one is near that bare wall. Then try the console table on that bare wall. Also move the green ceramic piece to other side of chair. It sticks out too far into the entry way where it is now. See if that works. Good work!!

  • 15 years ago

    I would probably move the armless chair over a bit to get the garden stool on the rug and out of the doorway.

    My personal take on the throw is that it adds color but I would fold it and place it on the arm. I think the drapy thing looks a bit contrived--and disheveled. That's a purely personal opinion.

    If a bookshelf doesn't work there maybe switching the pair of prints over the chair would add mass to the wall and the iron piece could go over the chair.

  • 15 years ago

    That looks so much better!!

    The only thing I don't love is the scrolly thing. It seems kind of lost all by itself, but I'm sure it'll be fabulous when there's a bookshelf/table/something under it.

    I had to look at the pics twice, because even your wall sconces look different, but I see they just have larger plates on them. I think that mirror (or at least the scale of it) made all the difference! Great job!!

  • 15 years ago

    Ok great, loving the feedback and the suggestions. One thing I could do is move the metal thing above the chair and then I had thought of getting a group of four botanical prints. That might take up more of the space visually. I'm not in love with the two tall prints but hmmm, maybe they would work. I would love to be able to have a bookcase if it would look ok on that wall. I can try to switch the tables and see how one would fit. Also thanks for the tip about the throw.

  • 15 years ago

    You have made some great changes! Nice 'shopping' in your house!

    I am not crazy about the iron piece - it just doesn't seem to fit in the room with the rest of the decor, which feels more traditionally elegant.

    What I might try is the chair with the arms over on the wall where the iron piece is now. Use the green stool table beside it, on the right side of the chair (near the angle wall). The armless chair would be better, I think where there is less open space, where the armchair was. Hard to tell for sure about the size of the two tall framed pieces, but I would try them on this wall behind the chair. I think they might be a nice balance for the windows

    Switch the two end tables, so the larger one with the wider lamp is near the armless chair in its new location. That will put the smaller table and lamp on the left of the couch, so that the plant doesn't feel so jammed in the corner (pull that out a few inches from the corner as well)

    I would move the sconces and plates off the mirror wall. I don't think they work in proportion to the mirror, and kind of fight with the lamps on the end tables. I would instead move them over to the angle wall, hang them offset of one another. A bookcase below would be wonderful, with perhaps that clock from the original room pix on top of it, and another pretty plant.

  • 15 years ago

    My lesson from this before and after centers on the sofa wall. The wider mirror (wider than the painting was) makes a big difference to the comfort I feel looking at your photos. But the very first thing my little brown orbs zeroed in on and said "Ah!" about was those plates. The change from round to rounded rectangle and the border of the plates next to the mirror frame -- well, I like it. It feels good! The light centers of the plates are almost like little windows, or little mirrors if you will, and since the mirror surface reflects the darkness of the china, while the mirror frame is mirror-like and highly reflective, well, I just like the play of reflection and light and dark. Your wall is fun.

  • 15 years ago

    Thanks jamies, I think it made a big difference too. I looked at a lot of pictures of rooms I like that had a sofa on a large wall. A lot of rooms had a big fireplace or windows that took up the wall space but the ones without those features had something really big, either large artwork, mirror or large group of art.

    Les, I switched the chairs like you said but the issue for me is that the side of the chair hits almost right where the wall angles and that seems to really accentuate the lack of symmetry of that wall. I think the way it is now is the best that I can do with those walls, unless I keep the same configuration and there is a different style chair I can get. Maybe put the armless chair where the armed one is now and get a different one for the angled wall? I'm not sure what style chair I would get.
    The end tables have been switched and I pulled out the plant a little bit. I'll ponder more on the scrolly thing and the wall above the chair.

    Mainly I want to get some paint up, but I'm waiting for spring so I can have the windows open.

  • 15 years ago

    palimpsest, Ok, I reread this thread and took your suggestion to move the chair over a bit and the green stool onto the rug. I think that's better, and visually you don't see so much of the blank wall on the side.

    I may get a little bookcase and if it does't work there, I can use it in my office.

    Thanks again everyone who commented.

  • 15 years ago

    I love the big mirror with the new plates. Maybe it's been mentioned....just skimmed thru but could you move the slipper chair where it is angling towards the love seat from the angle in the wall. IOW...just scooted down a bit. I agree that the scrolly piece is not really working.

    You have made great progress! And it's wonderful you got everything from your own house!! I so want that leather chair that you had in there....looks so comfy!

    Smiles:)

  • 15 years ago

    Oh thanks scooby, that leather chair is back in it's previous home in the family room.

    I'm trying to figure out what "IOW" means. I thought I knew most of those internet acronyms, LOL.

    It seems like the concensus is to nix the scrolly thing.

  • 15 years ago

    In Other Words. Nevermind!

  • 15 years ago

    Haha!! I know....these acronyms.....sorry! Take some more pics so we can see!

    Smiles:)