Hi Margo!

I have wanted to respond to you for days but alas.....mother of four small boys.......it's tough! I am so excited that you brought up art......

Here is a painting that I just love. It isn't great art but it makes me happy because it looks like a beautiful French garden. I love the colors which include ivory, deep pinks and spring greens, the shutters on the window are almost teal. As you can see I have been experimenting with putting together a pretty fireplace.......

I would love to go on this inspiration but I am the only girl in my house...sigh. Is it possible to incorporate what I described with the practical aspects of a family room that will be filled with lots of testosterone?

This is a big reason why I find this task so daunting........

Thank you so much!

Oops! Here is my mantle!

Another shot....

One more.....

OK- great, you have an art piece that makes you happy!. You have ivory, teal and green to work with. I would add no more pink then to keep it less feminine. Are you not happy with the current wall color?

I would add some teal (shutter color in the art) in the throw pillows.

I think you need to show more pics of your space to get more suggestions for ideas.

Your mantel looks very pretty;)

Okay! Well..our house is new and the walls have never actually been painted.... This is just the primer I guess and now....after lots of little hands, it has become dirty and full of marks. We put off painting until the kids stopped using the walls for grafitti. I love the idea of teal throw pillows!

What else are you looking to do besides paint. Are you buying new furniture? What is the space used for? Watching TV? Entertaining? More photos of entire room, please.

This room would be our family room/livingroom. It sweeps right into the kitchen ...open concept. We need everything! Furniture...lamps...decor.....you name it! I would love love love to hear of your ideas! Here are some photos.....please excuse the little boy messes everywhere

And more:)

Just a few notes:

Washable paint will be much better for getting rid of kid-graffiti.

The rug under your table is too small, it should be big enough so the chairs stay on when the chairs are pulled out.

Now, for the living room, which is what you asked about, is it a formal living room or one you use every day with the kids? Do your kids have a play room/area outside of the living room? What sort of mood do you want?

Bigger rug.....got it! The other room would be a main icing space for the family. The kids can play in another room as well as in the basement. I would like the room to feel warm, inviting, cozy...plenty of light....even fun/interesting lighting. Of course we are on a family budget. We would create this room little by little....paying for things as we go.....

It is currently the most used room in the house. I want it to be a place where friends and family can hang out. At the moment I feel embarrassed to have people over. We have had babies...babies and more babies and have not had he time or energy to make it nice. Now it's time to start even tho cleaning after all of these boys is like shoveling snow while it is still snowing.......!

Oops! Dunno how the word "icing" got in there!

You have a nice room and I am going to assume that the big stuff is staying as you are budgeting! This picture is similar to what I THINK you furniture layout cold be? Plus a recliner, haha.

I would move the TV to the long wall that it is facing now and lower it to sitting on the console; remove the black box ?what is that a speaker? for now.

Put sofa facing the TV, put the pretty print chair to the right of the fireplace. Find a small accent table and a floor lamp you love, it could be brass or wood to match the tv console.

Put the recliner where it is now but angled toward the TV.

Put the large upholstered chair nearest the kitchen on an angle by the sofa and facing the TV. If the upholstered chair is a love seat, I cannot tell from the picture, then put in on a right angle to the TV facing the fireplace and its left arm facing the fireplace is touching the sofa arm and make a 90 degree angle along the front of sofa and loveseat/chair. Put your teal pillows on the sofa and chair/loveseat. Pretty.

Place a large end table in square area formed by loveseat/chair sofa combination

Buy a large modern lamp and put on end table for light in this corner. Top of lamp shade should be 58-64 inches from floor when sitting on end table. You need this height for balance and weight as your furnture is all so big.

If nothing else right now, can you move the furniture and take a picture to see how it looks?

I think it will fit but without a floor plan computer program I am just hazarding about what I would do if I were standing in your room and trying to make things make sense.

I would add Fabric Roman shades in a bold pattern that BLENDS with your picture that is on the mantle, for the windows facing the TV wall; bold, colorful, emphatic.

Dining room ---get rid of any rug; you have 4 boys. (I had 8 children; been there done that lol) Add solid long panels on a wooden rod that goes beyond slider 12 inches on either side of windows for fullness. Choose a color for the panels (you will probably need 4 floor to ceiling; if you have an IKEA store they are the bomb for curtains) that looks good with Roman Shade and the picture but isn't teal. A color that appears in the Roman Shade fabric on the two windows on your long wall; you will want black out liners so you can watch TV.

Hang a fun modern chandelier over the table, add a leaf to make table as large as possible and put bright colored cushions in all the colors in the Roman Shades on the window for a fun colorful touch.

If your floor plan is good and you know your color scheme as defined by curtians then you can add the new furniture in colors that will look good with what you have one item at a time.

I would add a cocktail table to the room too.

This is just an opinoin and i hope it can help you with your own ideas; it is a start that can evolve.

When you buy new, do sofa one color, coordinate pair of chairs, get you a beautiful chair that matches the picture and is comfy for you, and the ottoman. All can be purchased one at a time, except the pair of matching chairs.

Good luck! I hope this works for you furniture now.

When you know your colors you can select a paint color.

Thank you! I forgot to mention however, that my husband INSISTS on having the TV where it is......bleah....( I am a flexible K teacher and he is a stubborn engineer who watches TV sports like they are going out of style). If I can let him have this point and work around it to get what I like ...that would be awesome!

Sure I understand and it could work either way. Just flip the plan. Easy peasy. Although it amazes me that he wants to watch TV against windows? But I am a pre school teacher married to a Chem Engineer and I totally understand......my way or the highway, etc. Got it!

The black box needs to go some where not under the TV; it looks like the TV is going to crash with the slightest vibration!

But can you lower the TV? That is the first thing I would buy personally. A low dark console to set the TV on with completely closed storage for less clutter, and an electronic eye to pic up signals from TV.

Lol! I am married to a chem engineer as well! Too funny.....
Any suggestions for where I might find such a console for a fair price?

Thanks!

I am loving all of these ideas.....