In some of the pictures the walls look beige and in others they look gray. What is the real color?

I think the room needs warmth and some color in it. It's cold looking. The bones are good, though. I like the sofa and the carpet is neat looking.

I agree, some color. My eyes immediately went to the red vase outside of the room and the color of the books. Try bringing some color onto your nice pieces.

The walls are just white. I need paint. I don't know what color I will be painting in the room yet. The upstairs has to be the same color because it is open to above.

Could I add something between the curtain panels?

Maybe I could accent this room with a plum color or violet.

Some people just love black & white. The room looks very striking. You could certainly continue in that direction if you like, or add other colors. With a simple color palette like that, textures with varied sheens, and different shades will add interest. Be sure to have variety in the scale of your items too, as we often collect a lot of little things.

Looks great!

Do you like houseplants? If it were my house I would try hanging a couple of fairly large spider plants between the windows or adding a nice Boston fern on an attractive plantstand. I tend to think plants can add instant warmth.

Or I might place a window seat on that side of the room. I would add a cushion and cover it with a nice fabric in warm colors that would complement your panels.

Also maybe you could use a wood-tone, white or cream coffee table with some colorful objects on it. Maybe even a coffe table with a shelf, so you can add baskets. Speaking of baskets, a couple of baskets in a natural, warm color could sit on the floor and serve as end tables and another bplace to add colorful objects.

I love your idea of using a plum or violet. Use a grayed-out tone. With the black leather couch a purple that is too bright, could make it end up looking like a brothel.

I love the drapes and love the carpet. Its a very nice room but does need some warmth.

It's hard to tell, but but the TV wall looks like it might be awkward. The shelves on both sides of the TV look way too small for the huge wall, and the poster looks crammed in the corner. All of the things (shelves, TV, poster) look like they were just plunked down wherever and don't really relate to each other. Maybe you could move the poster over the TV and put a smaller piece near the stairs.

I would love to see some red, or some wine color, in this room. Add some red cushions.

The furniture seems sooooo close to the walls. Huddled against the walls, like it's afraid... Think about bringing the couch further out into the room.

An area rug in the center of the room, under your ottoman, would help create a focus, an area of life, in the center of the room, which right now seems to be a cold expanse.

Joanne, I love the look you have going now. I'm with squirrel on black and white. It's striking. I might think about bringing the sofa in the room a bit and adding a sofa table behind it with maybe a black lamp with a plum colored shade. Toss a plum colored throw over the ottoman. Head to Hallmark for some pretty plum textured wrapping paper to cover the books with. A solid white would look good too, but not add the pop plum would. You can always use a label maker to write the names of the books on their fronts. I have a table runner over our large TV to add a bit of color to it. You could do the same in plum.
You should be able to find lots of plum since it's a traditional fall color. Just head to the seasonal area of any store to find everything you want!
Have fun!
~Becky

I was just thinking color, above, but aside from that, I'm noticing that the placement of art doesn't seem to fit right. I also like the ebony wood of the steps/rail and might look to bringing in some more of that wood coloring, maybe in a coffee table. I think it would pick up on the cream/tannish color background of the drapes. Maybe a large glasstop that the ottoman could be scooted under? Love the idea of something related and subtle like a smokey plum. Wall across from the tv will need something substantial, I think. It could be something open or with a light background, rather than heavy, but I don't think a number of moderate sized items is working visually. Bringing in some plant life is a great idea, too.

I agree with Squirrel about the art but disagree about having a glass-top table. I think something in wood with a padded top for a coffee table, perhaps in a red (that element of surprise) would be perfect for this room. It needs some "pop" and you need large items and if you could find something in a subdued red top on wood, upholstered and tufted in not a fire engine red, but something softer, that hints of red but goes toward a pottery color. Beautiful as it is, I think the room looks sterile and needs that "wham" to make it work.

I also think the Eiffel Tower poster would look better elsewhere. The view of it from the top of the stairs makes me a bit dizzy. It also brings your eye over to a corner of the room, which is not that interesting. Have you tried putting it over the tv?

Are your white pillows chenille? The texture and color seems a bit disjointed from the sofa. Can you get some pillows that have a print similar to your drapes?

I also agree with bringing the furniture away from the edges of the room. Can you pull the sofa out and away from the walls then put the large bookshelf angled out from the corner behind the sofa?

Groups of three large black and white prints with black frames might look nice between the windows.

Your room looks good but it will look great with a little tweaking and some color.

Squirrel,

What do you mean by it can be something open?? I could eventually add and end table with some of my wood color in it. The wood is a hard color to match. It actually has some grey, green and brown in it. I guess I can pick a wood that has one of those similar colors? I have added some plants on my bookshelf.

Blanche,

Yes, I love plants so I definetely will be adding those. Like the idea of a seat bench to add pizzaz.

kgsd,

I agree, it does look awkward, especially the shelf unit to the right of the t.v. If I can get a leaning shelf, then I will add some taller items. I can also add a tall item on the bookshelf.

The poster would look nicer over the t.v. My husband is going to shoot me.. lol.. It is made out of canvas and can wrinkle easily when touched. He is from Paris so that is why I thought the Eifel Tower would be appropriate.

Dilly,

Your right about not going too purple. Thanks

Mclarke,

I laughed when you said that the furniture looks scared. It is kind of true eh!! I always have a habit of placing my furniture beside the walls because I think if I bring it foward the rooms might look smaller and I will be wasting space. I am learning.

Becky,

Love, love, love your ideas. I would love to see your t.v. with a runner on it. I was actually thinking of a lamp to add some warm and I should make the shade pop.

Patricia,

Yes, that would look very very nice. Thanks for your compliment.

Dee,

Yes, I can get some pillows with the same print. I have some leftover material. I love my chenille pillows however I can add a few more in a different texture. That is a very good point about the Eifel Tower. You do tend to look at that first.

Joanne - thanks so much ladies.

By open, I meant no back, so it's light (or the wall color). I was just thinking brown/black-brown wood tones like in the photo. It picks up on your black/white color scheme but would add some natural warmth while being neutral and also pick up on the background color in the drapes.

What if you keep the black & white theme going, but use a warm, golden color on the walls to warm it up. Maybe something like BM Wilmington Tan.

Laurie

I think you are off to a nice start with the black and white color scheme and more minimalist decor. I agree with justgottabe after pulling the sectional forward and perhaps putting a console/sofa table behind it. I like squirrel's suggestion of a glass topped coffee table. I think adding a few tables in a glass/metal combo would work well with your decor. Personally, I like to see some punches of color--either the plum or even a few splashes of rug. That is just me, but if you want to keep to the black/white color scheme I think you can make it work. I love the Effel Tower photograph but would like to see it placed elsewhere. I think finding a console/ent. center for your TV/components would be good--as long as you choose one that will fit your future TV needs since that is not in the budget to replace at this time.

Something like this though I think you could get a work something in from IKEA as well--depending on budget as they have some nice, simplistic black pieces with component/media storage.

Here is a link that might be useful: AV Stand

Hi,

I moved the sofa up and think it looks kind of funny no??

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

These two tables no longer have a home. Would any of these two work? The dark brown one is a lot lower and the other looks victorian sooo??

Laurie,

A tan color would be nice on the walls.

Valins, I agree with the punches of color. I would not like too much black and white.

I love the console that you picked. thanks..

Joanne

Thanks Joanne. I can't really decorate our home completely yet, so I love coming up with ideas for others that are lucky enough to be doing so. I'm sorry I don't have a good picture of the runner on our TV. I was trying to find a better way to place our furniture when I took this picture. It's not a winner. I never did take a picture of how it is now. You can see why I said our home isn't ready for decorating yet. No baseboards, no fireplace surround. Just a long piece of wood held up by garden brackets. I told my hubby when we paint the room, now that we've decided on a color we both like (what you see is a basecoat for a leather technique I started five years ago) I'm going to paint me a surround. Ha! Maybe I should do the baseboard too. Anyway, here you go. Such as it is.
{{!gwi}}

I like Val's idea of a tower on each side of your TV. I've thought about building something to make ours look more like a piece of furniture than the black hole it looks like as it is. Too many other things to finish before we spend money on a flat screen for over the fireplace. We're getting there though.
~Becky

Everyone has some great suggestions, but we need to address the drapes on the windows. I am not sure if you need to have two panels on each window, but there is something not working on the middle window. Hopefully someone can offer the right solution. Can you take another picture of the window wall.

I just realized that you sofa is in five parts. What about putting one armless parts on each side of the corner piece for more of a "V" shape. That would give you a walkway behind your sofa. Not sure what to do back there unless you have a small desk or even your "Vic" like table against the wall in the corner. I'm still thinking here. I'll be back if I can come up with more ideas to roll around in your head.
~Becky Oh, does the lower table have a finished back on it? If so, what about using it as a coffee table. It looks like it might be low enough.

Here's one link to some b&w rooms, which shows ways to keep them light/fresh and add some punch in different ways if that's something you'd like:

Here is a link that might be useful: B&W rooms

Here's another good link:

Here is a link that might be useful: B&W Inspiration

Becky,

Your living room looks lovely. It is frustrating when we can't get everything done eh!! Inch by inch. I feel like I will have my house complete in about 10 years. hahah

That low brown table that I was showing could be put under the eifel tower picture. It is low and I could put very nice decorative objects on it. What does everybody think?? The back is not finished.

Squirrel,

Thank you for the pics. I looked quickly and the rooms are just gorgeous. I will look at them more in detail.

Another idea was that shelf unit on the right side of the t.v. could be put behind the sofa. I could then take down the bridge picture and lean it on the shelf so it will be sitting just above the sofa. I will not be using that unit anyway.
Joanne

After seeing the picture's on squirrel's 2nd link, I'm even more convinced that you need some color on the walls. The 2nd and 3rd pictures show the golden color I had in mind, but the soft green in the 1st picture is really pretty also. It makes me want to do a black and white room.

Laurie

I moved things around a bit.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

It's really hard to see the whole room. Does the sofa work, or can it be reconfigured, in any other location in the room? It would be nice to have the stairwell area open rather than covered up by the sofa and an odd opening above.

Looking back at that first pic, with the stairwell and upper hall areas, that's a really nice architectural feature to be covering up! I think it would add a whole lot to your space to have that side exposed.

I like the sofa there, but you need to put something behind it. How about a tall plant in the corner that would also look pretty from the opposite side of the railing? Or a floor lamp. As you don't have any tables/lamps I assume you must have recessed lighting; but with those tall ceilings it would be nice to have more ambient lighting as well. Also, I think you should remove one of the white cushions on the sectional and have one on either end and one in the center. Could you use the dark brown table as an ent. console? It's an attractive piece. I really don't see the Victorian piece in this room. What is your TV on now --or is that part of the TV itself? I can't really tell. Does it house speakers or something? Would your tall bookcase fit between the space between the windows? Right now that wall is unbalanced with the tall bookcase on one side and the shorter component tower to the other. How about putting the Eiffel Tower print on the wall that is going up the stairs and opposite the windows. Would that work? And then the TV on a much wider console--preferably the dark brown one you have now if you can make it work. I'd suggest not purchasing any expensive ent. furniture until you upgrade the TV.

What do you think of this set up? I think it is starting to feel warmer. I had that little table in my room. I can put it there for now until I find something else. The television is too heavy for the brown console that I have. There is no stand, it is made to sit on the floor/carpet.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Squirrel,

I wouldn't know how else to place the furniture. It is sooo big. The railings are beautiful.

I so appreciate all of your help. Really!! It means a lot.

Joanne

I put a bigger plant on the bookshelf and it looks nicer.

Joanne

Can we see the staircase wall too?

Oh, I like the changes with the plant behind the sectional and the end table, though I'd try for a round one when you go shopping. I see squirrel's point about showing off the staircase, but this does seem to be the best vantage point for TV viewing. How far away is the sectional from the TV? It looks like you could move it forward even more--so there is about 5' from the back of the sectional to the railing and then you can fit some decor behind it as well as move the chair further away from the entry point of the stairs. Another thought I had was to put the ottoman in the spot between the two windows and get a different coffee table. You could do some Pottery Barn style floating shelves in black with some black and white photos placed on top. I like the idea of painting the walls, though others than I are better able to suggest colors.

I meant to add, if the TV needs to stay on the floor to just flank it with two identical, larger/deeper bookcases (or media towers). IKEA has some great ones, like this one:

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA bookcase

On my way out however I will post pics earlier this a.m. Have a wonderful day.

Joanne

Valins, I will respond to your post a bit later. Thanks for your input.

On my way out again, run run run.

As per your request Squirrel,

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I am already liking the room so much better..

Valins,

Yes the ottoman would look good between both windows. I will continue looking for coffee table etc..

Joanne

I notice you have what appears to be a long black console with nothing above it unless my eyes are deceiving me. I think you should get a beautiful piece of Ikat fabric and stretch it on canvas with bars and hang it over that so that it just adds depth and humongous to that wall, something like this

I'd really love to see that sofa out of the corner, visible coming up the stairs into the room and exposing the beautiful architecture of the room. Did you try it on the opposite wall? Is the room large enough to float furniture? Any possibility for viewing the tv if inset under the stairs, cabinet doors when not in use, sofa in front of the windows or floating?

Love the addition of the plant and the pictures between the windows : )

Patricia, that is a beautiful fabric.

Squirrel,

What does float furniture mean? I love the t.v. under the stairs idea. Who knows what the future might bring. I have found a table and side tables from kijiji.

http://oshawa.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-furniture-3-pack-coffee-table-set-W0QQAdIdZ71885927

Joanne

Floating means away from the walls, often with more than one seating area.