Losing sleep over decorating decision

13 years ago

DH and I are furnishing an open concept home. The TV viewing area is at one end. Dining area in middle. Sunroom (separated by half wall) on other end. Each area is about 16' square with about a 4' "traffic" lane from one end of the house to the other. Sofa in tv area will be dark green leather with two light camel-colored fabric chairs. Tables are glass and black iron. Hardwood (light red oak) floors throughout. Lots of windows throughout. Dining room table is glass, chairs are black slatted wood with fabric seats. Rugs in these two areas are coordinating orientals with light cream background, quite a bit of varied shades of green, some black, gold, terra-cotta, brown, and a very tiny bit of dark red here and there. All the colors in the rug are muted. So far I like everything. I would post pix but nothing but the area rugs has arrived yet. Then DH and I went shopping together for the sunroom and wound up ordering two floral chairs and a red (!) fabric sofa. He has a pretty good eye for color and so do I but this is pretty wild for my taste. The red tends toward the orange side of the color wheel but could not be described as coral. He loves the idea and I'm kind of burned out thinking about the entire house so I agreed just to get it done. Now I'm afraid the red is going to stand out like a sore thumb, although this room, because of the half walls, is just a tad separated from the other two areas, and we want the feel of the room to be sun-roomish. I'm thinking that I need to bring some of the red over to the green sofa area in the form of accessories, but I am in the "less is better" group when it comes to accessories. There is already green in the floral chairs, so the green flows throughout, but this sofa is the brightest and only red item in the entire house. I envision a sisal-type area rug in the sunroom (maybe with a border that incorporates several colors already in the other areas) with wicker tables. I don't want the whole house to be muted colors but I keep thinking we made a very expensive mistake and will have no flow. Am I on the right track as far as putting something red on the green sofa side? There is a coordinating striped fabric with some green and gold in it that I could order and make pillows but this fabric is much brighter than the rug). I am truly losing sleep and need opinions/help.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

Olychick
13 years ago
If you like the couch, I would stop worrying. While these rooms don't show the rest of the home, some of them are very neutral except for the red couch and it looks wonderful. If you feel like you need to add a bit red around the house in some of the rest of the rooms, you can do that with art, a pillow or even books. Take a look at these rooms and see if it helps your fears:

Here is a link that might be useful: [Houzz red couches[(https://www.houzz.com/products/red-sofas-prbr1-br~t_524~a_88-1)
anele_gw
13 years ago
I agree with Oly. Sounds like the red will work very well with everything you have.

You can add very small touches of red here and there-- nothing major.

BUT, if you will feel forever "trapped" by the sofa, can you back out now?
Related Professionals
Spartanburg Interior Designers & Decorators · Lansing Interior Designers & Decorators · Hudson Interior Designers & Decorators · New Orleans Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Hilton Head Island Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Detroit Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Orange County Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Reno Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Juneau Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Kahului Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Indianapolis Furniture & Accessories · Charlottesville Furniture & Accessories · Fergus Falls Furniture & Accessories · Las Vegas Furniture & Accessories · Ontario Furniture & Accessories
rosie
13 years ago
Functionfirst, you should be having fun, not laying awake. Half your problem comes from feeling you've lost control and are now helpless. What remains (after having some furniture you don't actually want) comes from losing perspective in the middle of a big project.

I suggest you just decide to slipcover it, or even just get rid of it, if you don't like it. Tell your husband and mean it. Un-trapped, capable instead of helpless, inspired instead of frustrated, control over the results reestablished, you can get back to enjoying the process. I also, BTW, wouldn't be surprised if you ended up liking it more than you thought you would. But it's okay if you don't. It's handleable.

This post was edited by rosie on Tue, Jul 9, 13 at 19:57
chispa
13 years ago
Don't lose sleep over this! Hard to tell without photos, but it sounds like it will all work together. I think you are just scared of the big red sofa! Once you order that first piece of furniture in something other than a safe neutral, it gets easier after that. We've worked up to bright orange lounge chairs for our guest house!
violetwest
13 years ago
a few thoughts from a very personal, non-designer viewpoint:

husband "loves the idea" = win for you.

having everything "matchy-matchy" looks stilted and impersonal to me. Unexpected pieces add a lot of interest and life into your home

and last - no one should be losing sleep over decorating decisions, truly
tracie.erin
13 years ago
Color can be scary. I chose an olive green for my MBR and it scared the heck out of me - the DH went and asked for the next darker color on the strip, making it even worse! Now it's my favorite paint color in the house though simply because it IS so not neutral. I'd say if you love the sofa on your own, you can and will make it work in your house, and you'll love it there too.
k9arlene
13 years ago
I think of a sunroom as being bright and light and airy. I guess that's not the look you're going for though. I agree about adding touches of red throughout the rest of the main level. A bowl of apples on the dining room table could be a start.
wkate640
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks all. You're making me feel much better. It's too late to back out, but if it's really awful, it can be slipcovered or even used in a sitting room upstairs. Seeing all the red sofas on Houzz helped, too. There are many red leather sofas out there, but I guess I haven't seen many in fabric this bright. I definitely don't want matchy-matchy, but like Chispa says, I think I'm just afraid of the big red sofa. It's 115". And I do feel like I've lost control but will find the area rug, tables, ottoman and other accessories when I'm on my own to pull it together. We wanted light, summery-looking furniture in this room but I wasn't thinking that bright, and it's very unusual for DH to think of anything except brown and black. I picked the pieces themselves based on sheer comfort. But thanks to you all, I slept better last night.