Hi, your family room is nice. Do you wish to keep your furniture? If so, paint the walls the lightest color possible, off white for instance. I do not know how the rest of the space, a very pale blue woul look nice as well, very pale green or pale vanilla. Pale pastels are what I mean. Toss new pillows to match the rug and new painting of the walls, keeping them light, since you already have dark brown leather. As far as the fireplace, is nice, do not worry about it. Good luck :-)

Here are a few ideas! Paint every thing cream and the fireplace a deep rich brown. Keep your leather sofa, add cream recliners for comfort, paint your cocktail table cream, add a brown with white rug. Pot lights around the perimeter of the room would be a nice touch. Have pinch pleat cream matte finish curtains hung ceiling to floor to soften the room.

Or choose a brown paint chip that matches the sofa then take it up to a lighter value, maybe half way, and paint the walls a medium brown color; lighter than the brown sofa by a lot but still value of brown only lightened.

Find an art print with cream white blue in it for art, cream lamps with burlap shades, add two very pale blue recliners, a navy and white geometric rug and cream and blue linen strip curtains from floor to ceiling.

This room is a repeat of the room right above, but with a fun Fiddle Fig Tree added and dark iron lamps and curtain rods with the linen curtains.

This room is fun too and again has a dark brown velvet sofa. The color is Farrow & Ball Light Blue I believe. Room sofa is dark brown and chair is done in medium brown and beige pattern lounge chair. Accent pillows and lamp are done in purple/burgundy.

Cocktail table is done in darker version of wall, a few pillows are done in the wall blue as is the throw on the lounge chair. Some wood tone for softness and brass/gold accent in mirror and frame for accents. Simple white curtains to match white mats in pictures and white console table. Gold accents are added for brightness. Done by Alexa Hampton!

Lots of options with your dark brown sofa.

Right away, I felt that you should lighten the walls. Also, edit out some of the accessories. Add floor and table lamps for interest.

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Thanks all for your great ideas. I was trying to avoid painting but I do agree with all that it would make a nice change. I always struggle with "blues" as I hate baby blue and want to avoid that. I always lean toward darker colors and think in this case I have to get away from that.

You certainly do not have to use blue - there are so many colors and as your furniture looks dark you have lots of choices. One thing is to take poster board and paint several colors that you think you would like. Then you can look at the colors in different lights and locations. Hope this helps.

gilded ballroom bm

candleglow

mount saint anne

tawny bisque

cork

Susan sent a wonderful way to see what colors would work. Awesome!

Is the fireplace bothering you because it's a-symmetrical? In a casual family room, it's perfect. So is the brick. I would make the fireplace your focal point. Clear away the distracting vases, though.

I can see light/white drapes flanking the Windows and patio doors, that might give you the lift you need.

Burnt orange would make a nice accent color in there. I would start with a painting over the fireplace, maybe some pillows to match. It doesn't take much to give the illusion of colour, only 3 or 5 pieces.

I agree with myramojazz about painting the walls off-white. Perhaps you could move the sunburst mirror down just a bit and add some pure white crown molding around the wall/ceiling juncture of the room. I also agree that some small doses of light blue as an accent coIor will look great. I believe the fireplace is fine as it is, and the red brick will stand out with off-white and light blue in the room. Perhaps you could add an area rug with a light blue background and silver-grey leaves in a vine or swirl effect to bring pattern and more color and softness to the room.

Ignore the mismatched wall colors. Hopefully this gives you a general idea…let me know if you have any questions.

-center the sofa under the mirror

-put the rug that's behind the sofa in front of the door

Susan you are amazing with your program that does floor plans and places colors; how do you do that? I love all the colors you placed around the fireplace too!

I love the photo with the curtains on the door and the window!!! It looks like the walls are darker and I love it. What color would you say that is???

I take screenshots, which tend to darken the original pics, and then copy/paste existing wall space to cover things up. In other words I didn't intentionally change your wall color. I would leave it as is and move things around before deciding whether or not to paint. What do you think of replacing the mirror above the sofa with the mirror above the fireplace and moving the mirror currently above the sofa to the right of the fireplace?

I do like that idea of moving the mirrors. The mirror above the fireplace might be too small for to wall above the couch. I will try it though! Thank you for the ideas!!!!

Keep it simple and just get a bolder, light colored rug. Something with a strong, simple graphic design. Maybe a tiled black and white cowhide or shag. Maybe paint the fireplace brick white, but I kind of like it the way it is. Go for the rug first.

Getting new rugs, moving pictures and mirrors adding drapes...all this is an exercise in futility, IMO, until you lighten the walls your room will continue to be dark and dreary. Your décor is ok with some minor adjustments. Painting would be a week-end project for you and your husband. And a pretty cheap way to transform the room.

maureenmorris1 - Did you try moving the mirrors/pics? If so, please post pictures. The starburst mirror may seem small between the patio door and window but you must account for curtains. Also, it's good to have breathing room.

Hi I have not had time to do it yet, but I definitely am going to. I will definitely post pictures for you! Thanks so much