Help me turn a Formal living room into an elegant, comfy lounge
lafleming
5 years ago
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lafleming
5 years agohavingfun
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoRelated Discussions
Help with formal living room and dining room!!
Comments (63)Lucymusky - you KNOW - Atlanta is a HOT bed of deocrating stores, wholesale, everything! IF you are just down there in Columbus - you might want to come up for a day with a girlfriend and look around? There is a HUGE Pottery Barn at Lenox Mall. There is a decorating/design center - ADAC - but you need a decorator to get in - if it is not at ADAC - it does not exist!. We have an entire host of Fabric Design Centers - at wholesale to the public - behind Georgia Tech on Huff Road in Atlanta and the entire road -Howell Mill (right off of !-75) Road - is nothing but salvage, decorators, lamps, lighting, RESALE draperies, carpets, EVERYTHING you can imagine in the world. Along with a 5 star Restaurant in the center of it all. I personally am HUGE lamp person, with finials, pulls, the oh so right "lamp shade"! IF you could ever get away - I highly recommend taking this 1 hour something trip from Columbus to Atlanta! It will certainly get your jucies flowing! :-)...See MoreHelp us! Need advice for "formal" living room after recent reno
Comments (10)I think you can direct traffic - Turn the rug the other way and place it close to the hearth. Divide the room in half more - put the great looking blue wing to left of fireplace angled toward window. Put new loveseat facing fireplace, with writing desk / narrow table behind like a sofa table. Put two matching lamps on each end. Center this on fireplace wall not fireplace / leave walkway along window in front. Buy craigslist china sideboard and glass hutch and paint it chalk paint french linen or gray, then put it where the office-y looking hutch is, and put books above and bins with files below. Use this like a high end office credenza. Get an upholstered dining chair for the writing desk - west elm has some good ones that are comfortable to sit in a long time. Change out fan for drum fixture. Eventually, add a long narrow bench centered under the front window, that can be moved around to make conversation areas when you have friends over / provide extra seating when you have a party. Put sturdy straw baskets underneath with the special front room toys - I had wood track and trains there when mine were small, because of the space. No coffee table for play area while mom and dad are hanging out reading. You can add a small accent table to archway side of great blue chair for drinks. Consider painting out fireplace a beautiful taupe and carrying this around the room in a paler off white, to pop against moldings. Go see YoungHouseLove's blog for their painted brick solutions in old house and new....See MoreHelp me turn our formal living room into a comfortable oasis!
Comments (18)I love your rug, but I guess you're ready to get rid of it! Are the two matched bookcase/TV pieces movable? They seem so bulky and a bit Craftsman, so I'd clear the room of those and all the decor and small items to get a fresh look at it. What about a credenza and TV centered on the off-center back wall, and a small sectional centered with the current TV location, floating out from the window and wall? You could leave room for a sofa table behind it. Add some decor, lighting and art to that vignette. Then float a pair of swivel chairs where your current sofa is and flank the doors to the sunroom with a pair of smaller bookcases, or, if you prefer, demi-lune or console tables with art or mirrors above them....See MoreShould we turn formal living room into office?
Comments (16)We also have a traditional Colonial (2 story w/compartmental rooms). Unfortunately we outgrew our space, and decided to renovate vs move. My elderly mother lives with us, so we turned our formal living room into a TV room for her. We kept the room the same, but dedicated the room for her things only. We (the rest of the family) use the den/family room for our gatherings. We also took down the wall between our formal dining room and den/family room to make a larger (L-shaped) den/family room, with the old dining room being an office with a game table. Our "eat-in" kitchen is big enough for all of us to eat there, and we don't have many/any dinner parties, so it worked. We added 2 outdoor storage buildings in the backyard, and turned our garage into a pool-table/TV room, and turned the attic space above the old garage into a game room for the boys. I believe you should make your house useful and functional...and ENJOY it :) We still have a long way to go (lots of upgrades still to do), but at least we are making good use out of the space we have. I say go for it! :)...See MoreRubyRoses
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