I apologize for all the posts.... the site was telling me it couldn't upload at this time but I guess it was still posting it!

Lots of people end up here after buying their husbands favorite leather in a set (or inheriting their bachelor leather) and spreading out in a new space to find it alone doesn't produce the look they want. Let me ask you some questions to help you help us get you where you want to go.

Can you start a new ideabook for a living room and search living rooms with some colors that you might enjoy. Here are some accent color combos that are great with your heavy leather dark browns that come to mind right off - are there any that particularly appeal to you? Wall color would be the last choice after we work through your overall vision . . . apple green / citrus green . . . red , , , turquoise / blue greens

Libradesigneye... New to this app but I started the idea book. Can you see it?

Here's some others I like....

Puremichigan60 THANKS FOR THIS!

Okay.... So I'm going to move some furniture downstairs to the basement since that's not finished. Which pieces should I keep- and where should I place them?
You are saying a smaller sitting space, correct? Should I add a light colored fabric oversized chair? I love those.... And find them inviting with some white / light throw pillows? Also I could add more pillows to the leather furniture?

I really needed help on curtains. So what exactly do I buy? This will be a first time buying curtains and putting them up for me.

As for the tables remived.... What do people set their drinks on if I get fabric?

I'm seeing rooms of neutrals show up in your new ideabook .. . this is doable but trickier with all chocolate leather. Can you move the black leather chair to another space? Your space needs: lamps (overhead lighting alone doesn't provide sufficient lighting at lower levels), art, accessories and pillows, drapery .

To match your ideabooks would mean changing out some of the leather . .maybe keep the pair of chocolate leather armchairs and remove the rest . . add a large velvet crypton sectional like one of your ideabooks in a mid tone greige .. but this may not be the right focus to start . .

so maybe post a realistic budget for the transformation that you hope to achieve so we can maximize what you achieve with your $

Also, puremichigan I need advise on wall decor and color. We touched up the nail pops today and spots are very visible! So it looks like we are going to have to paint everything again anyway. There are two very large walls - one has a cable outlet (why they did it in this spot is very aggravating) so I'd like to try and cover it.

I see you are a pro... Where do you work out of?

Libradesigneye good ideas!!!!! I am in heaven with this help I'm getting. It's been a year and a half and I need to feel at home.

Yes you are right on all of those items. I will start tomorrow (or today, lol) with moving the furniture. I had a feeling that was needed but hubby liked extra seating. We'll get that with a piece or two of "accent" furniture that I choose in a cream fabric. I'll start there.

THANK YOU!!!

Would something like these work for Windows?

Do some more shopping. Try curtains.com I would go for soft white, not bright white. Definitely floor length. You want them to fall neatly. And simple, not necessarily with the swag - that's personal choice, though. A bold, black curtain rod is also decor. Glad you're getting good help. :)

Some inspiration, lovely space to work with

Last picture Blenheim posted is gorgeous! Love those autumn colors. Pottery barn has nice drape panels just like those.

As in the post above (with pics), add color and texture with accessories. I also thing I would remove, or paint the tables in that room...

I would get the furniture arrangement right before purchasing anything. Bring your furniture in off the walls. The room looks large enough to have walkways on all four sides. How big is the room? Try setting up the sofa and love seat at right angles, like a sectional with an end table in corner. Place two chairs opposite that corner. Nix the third chair. You can put an area rug on top of the carpet which would really help. Just make sure you go big.

Potterybarn has lots of ideas on how to jazz up brown leather furniture. You need to find ideas with leather furniture unless you are purchasing new. What colors do you like?

Some more inspiration, you can always lighten some of your furniture with Annie Sloan paint, just a thought.

First: Wow. Pretty house. Lots of wall space. You could paint with Benjamin Moore's 'Sea Salt'. I've seen it in many rooms, and it is gorgeous, gentle on the eyes and will lighten dark brown. Keep carpet, keep all of your tables. Keep one leather couch. Then, sell the rest or use them in another space.

If you like the autumn colored room, (above Blenheim posted with 4 likes) mimic it. You don't have to use the identical same couch. But use the color scheme. Those walls look like a Revere Pewter, maybe.

You already have a leather sofa. You would need maybe two comfy chairs, a sofa table, and two lamps, a tall hutch, a pouf or two. Drapes can be easy to find at PB as those pictured. As suggested you could paint the dark coffee table you have, or better yet find a piece of marble (maybe a scrap piece) have it cut and beveled and you will have a coffee table to love.

With all of your design help I haven't slept.... :-) My husband is wondering if I'm "nesting" and expecting! Hehehe!!!

Brown leather furniture went up for sale the night I received this advise. The pictures show my bare room with no furniture left except my brown leather love seat which I may keep!

I ordered large wall mirror for front door area over table. I'll add a lamp to that table and some other accents.

I ordered marshmallow colored large couch and a chair and a half with lots of pillows. I'm going to buy a cocktail ottoman (I know what these are now! Lol) and see how the brown leather love seat looks with these pieces.

I'm putting the pictures of my two kids and a beach photo on the smaller wall and I'm buying a very large painting for the big wall. I'm keeping the television above the fireplace bc this was a huge project and I can't change it now after all that work.

I'll update again with he new furniture pieces!!

Furniture pieces shown here but in the marshmallow color. Very light and BEAUTIFUL. Cindy Crawford collection. Im very scared to be going this light with two kids but..... The rules will be set!!!

Furniture cane today! Placement? Need cocktail ottoman still.... And area rug. Area rug colors? Getting more pillows for leather love seat.

Slow down. No more rash impetuous decisions, OK? No cocktail ottoman. You've already got one ottoman for the chair, so do a coffee table instead AFTER we get the furniture arranged. For now, take a couple of the sofa pillows and throw them on the loveseat.

Is the sofa centered on the fireplace?

How much space is there between the sofa and the wall behind it?

I've gone looking for tables. The problem is that your new furniture is classic, transitional, and chic and your leather loveseat is sort of early man cave. Melding the two will be a trick. I haven't even begun to look at color.

This coffee table is knockout--bone inlay in a faceted shape--and the side table is slightly industrial. Both are from West Elm:

Not sure if I'd do an area rug here. I would lose the throw on the loveseat--we'll find something less edgy and masculine--and that wall is a problem because, true to form, some HVAC guy stuck your thermostat right in the middle of it.

With a little color and some tables that might bridge the gap between new and old furniture:

See what it would take to get that thermostat moved. If it could just move to the edge of the wall, you could hang art.

Oh my Lordy! Thank you GROVER!!!! I'm loving your photoshop pics!!!!! Love the curtains!!!!! Okay I'm going to sit here and think all night now hehehe!!! I can still get rid of the love seat if you think that would be best. It just didn't sell yet and I'm not rushing it. The thermostat - ugggg I agree! I was actually going to do my children's (3) pictures on that wall. The other wall is my problem. I found an oversized art piece at the home store for a pretty good price. Anything else you can think of for that huge wall???

A nice dark floral oil painting on that big wall with some wall lights to compliment it.

Let's talk about walls for a minute, and family photos. Most people don't like to see them in the public areas of the house. I don't mind them, but I have some pretty harsh rules. First, absolutely none of those hideous collage frames with the little snapshots. They don't belong anywhere, but especially not in a room this size with your large furniture. Second, the best photos are those that are compelling: kids wearing funny hats, baby's first ice cream, dressing up with the too-large high heels, kissing the dog. They should look like art. To that end, make sure you crop and enhance them (or have someone do it for you) and I would make them either black and white or sepia-toned.

I would use them on the thermostat wall IF you can either work around the thermostat and keep them balanced or have the thermostat moved. Otherwise, blow them up as large as I show below and put them of the huge wall behind the chair.

I've replaced your loveseat in one of the photos below with the charcoal Blake chair from Crate and Barrel. Something like this chair would be a good fit for the room. I kept the tables simple, matching iron pedestals for the chairs, a dark modern square coffee table. (Ignore the fact that it's askew. I can't straighten furniture.)

Now, one or the other of those walls is still going to need something big; I doubt that a single canvas will suffice. You could do a gallery wall, but that might be too much with the three canvases of the kids. I'll work on it. Here's what I have so far:

Remodelaholic has free images at high resolution you can use to make engineer prints up to 36 x 48" for under $10. I chose a set of black and white patent blueprints and, since frames are expensive, I glued them to foam board and hung them on the huge wall.

Whatever you do there needs to be BIG.

I painted this room sherwin Williams Dorian gray on the fireplace wall, and I went two shades lighter for the rest of the living room foyer area. There's not a huge difference in color, but it still looks amazing.

I bought a large mirror for the foyer above the table.
I bought this large canvas today and will be hanging it on the large empty wall centered with the bridge and the corner.
I'll update the room picture tomorrow for you to see.

I'm still working on this room!! Stuck on the thermostat wall. Never even realized that thermostat is right in the middle ... now I'm ticked at the builder. Working on a canvas gallery wall.... possibly 3-4 family pics. Also still need accent chairs for the furniture arrangement. The large canvas I got looks good, but I think I will get the wall lights as mentioned above to help fill the wall. It looks sort of off as it is now.

Caryn, it's been 6 months. Post pictures of where you are today.