Look at all those guitars! Maybe make one of those spaces a dedicated Music Room?

One less couch, I love the denim slip cover and do a solid color for seat cushions on the wicker chairs. Change the ceiling fan to black or paint it. Def. the walls painted would be a super improvement.

Agree that removing the throw pillows, window treatments and accessories will do wonders. A fresh coat of paint and slip covers and you're fine. Natural linen slipcovers (zip-off, washable) are a classic look; just be sure the pattern doesn't show through.

The fabric on all the sofas is very 80's and dated. And the fat rolled arms will still give away their age when slipcovered (it they make slipcovers sized for those arms.) Consider selling all the sofas and dated accessories on Craig's List (someone will want them) and applying the $$ to a new sofa and chair for the family room you do use. Convert the living room to an art studio or some other useful purpose. It looks to have great light from all the windows, once the dated treatments are gone. If you need privacy in the studio, try top down/bottom up cellular shades to control light, privacy and view. When you install or reinstall art, remember the 5-5-75 rule. Centered 5' above the floor, or hung 5" above furniture and no more than 75% of the furniture piece's width.

I gotta disagree on the slipcovers. If they're done right-- i.e., not just some generic one size fits all that ends up looking like you just threw a giant sheet over your furniture and tucked it in-- they are not cheap. Money would be better spent on buying new sofas, even if they are inexpensive-- unless these particular ones are some kind of Baker gems I just don't know about.

Do you like the cottage style? I do, but like you, I have had to change things up a bit.

Off the top of my head - if this was mine - I would repaint the walls cream, slipcover the sofas, keep the wicker, reframe the picture and change out the wreath for some pretty antique china plates (very inexpensive at an antique store - they don't have to match, just similar colors.) I would change the window treatments to either roman shades, tie-up shade or faux roman shades over a blind or longer floral, tie backs or lace.

Roman shade - real or as a valance hiding a blind:
Pretty light floral:

The window toppers are dated and need to be removed. The style and colours of the couches in both rooms are also dated. If you have the budget look for new updated couch in a neutral colour and if not then have them slipcovered until you are in a position to purchase new ones.

OK, first thing I would do is paint the room, take down the swags, add some crown and paint the swirls out of the ceiling. Then if you want to keep the sofa, invest in slip covers. Yes it is dated to about 1978-1985 vintage, but if you like it, then don't worry about it. I certainly would not put myself into financial hardship over it as it is still clean and in good shape. If you are trying to sell the place, talk to your realtor about getting a staging company to come in and work their magic.

Yes, formal living rooms are passe'. I rearranged my house so my "formal living room" is now my living/family room. The old family room is now the informal dining room and the tiny dining room is now my study and I now use all my rooms. An unused room in a house is the most expensive real estate you purchase.

Good ideas, so true.

IKEA ektorp sofas are nice, affordable slipcovered options

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/10661/

Do you need both sofas in the living room? Less expensive to neutralize one whether you replace or just purchase one and then recover wicker cushions. Start with no window treatments-most cost effective. Posting a couple of other picture from the room will help. jhmarie posted some great examples. Looks like swinging around largest sofa with a wicker chair on each side would help a bunch (and removing other). What does dining room look like? New seat covers are easy.

Paint the family room walls and ceiling the same light color to open it up. I picked a soft silver grey as an example and yes the ceiling is the same color, that is how the light will make the ceiling look lighter even thought it is the same color.

If the sofas are in great condition, you can instantly update them by removing the small throw pillows and add solid 18-20" pillows.

Since you are on a budget, I replace the window swags with simple floor length drapes. I like grommet curtains because they have a very tailored look. They're also easy to open and close.

The sofas look like they're in really good shape. See what kind of legs you have under the sofa skirts. The skirts are usually just stapled on and removing them to show the legs can give a sofa an updated look very inexpensively.

Plus, get all new throw pillows or recover all the pillows on sofa will freshen the whole look of the sofas. The ones that match the sofa are also dating the look.

I would also paint the room a fresh color, replace the lamp in the corner and get rid of the tablecloth.

These are all easy, inexpensive updates that will make a surprising change to how the room looks.

Here is a view of the entire space. Neither room is used very much. I would really like another informal family/

TV room and an art studio. There is a study/guest room on the same floor.

Formal living rooms are passé if you don't use them. I use my formal living room everyday - for reading, houzzing, relaxing. So for me, a living room is definitely NOT passé!

Well, I use the dining room for painting, but then it always looks messy, like I'm using the dining room for an art space. Lol

I would eliminate the wicker chairs and move the sofa in their place and the loveseat in place of the sofa.

Some of these are repeats, but I'm adding comments that cover the dining room as well:

--Swags off in both rooms. Think about woven wood shades for your living room if it's going to be more like a family room.

--Washable white slipcovers with pillows in contemporary patterns in colors that link to the very modern piece of art you have in the dining room.

--No wicker chairs at all--you've got two sofas. Or spray paint one white or black and put a bright red seat cushion on it.

--New rug in red pattern that coordinates with the painting. Can we get a photo of that dining room painting?

--Black tray table like the one shown.

--New modern table lamps in white as someone Photoshopped.

--Take off wreaths, baskets on china hutch and visual clutter. You'll get a more modern look by letting your art stand out without little shelves, little pillows, small pictures, etc.

--Remove the round table in the dining room corner with the tablecloth and put the hutch there if it can be moved. You have an awful lot of furniture on the window side.

--Paint hutch black (or white) with red or green back to echo the painting. You can use it as a bar or shelves for dishes.

--New pendant for the dining room.

--Remove rug from under dining table. You don't need one.

--Paint the settee in dining room a Chinese red or green, or just get a seat cushion in those colors. That will tie it to the painting as well.

--Get back to us on the dining room with that piece of art. What makes a house coherent is when adjoining rooms harmonize. Except for the slipcovers and a new living room rug, there's a lot of updating that can be done by removing dated little items and echoing a big, bold piece of art.

Amazing ideas! Thank you!

Picture of the Denny Dent painting.

The room is - ahem - "traditional". The sofas are a problem for sure, but new ones are big investment no doubt. If you are replacing them anyway, then update away. If you aren't, its time for a budget refresh with a modernized cottage feel.

Get rid of: skirted table in the corner, lamp, pillows, anything rose/peach/teal/baby blue etc, window swags, wreath, picture, coffee table, rug, small square table between wicker chairs.

Swap the couch with its back to us and the wicker chairs. No table between the wicker chairs.

Get clean lined large grommet curtains from IKEA and a nice plain rod from same. Plain ivory or grey curtains. One set per window. While you are there, get a simple rectangle or square coffee table in white, black or espresso (LACK is the best bargain going, esp if this isn't necessarily a forever update). A same or similar end table to put between the couches. You need a rug. It needs to be low pile, very simple (or plain) and large enough to go under the couches. Possibly a couple together might be required. Seagrass might be an option, but its not cheap.

I don't know what the off-price housewares store where you are is. Where I am its Homesense. This is your next stop. You need a simple, clean lined lamp for the side table. Put nothing else on it. Also grab a modern abstract stretched canvas print to replace the picture (and hang it at least half again as low). If you can't avoid the desire to put something on the coffee table, go for one large scale piece. A large low bowl, maybe a big lantern, something like that. Two plain cushions per sofa. Will grey work? I can't really tell the colours. Good sized cushions, preferably down filled. On the wicker chairs keep the seat cushion, lose the back cushion and replace the pillows with a lumbar cushion.

Stick to IKEA and your version of Homesense and you're looking at a few hundred for a quickie refresh.

Everything

I like the big art on the DR wall, but everything else in both spaces if pretty well ready to pass on. The rugs are too small, the window treatments too formal and dated; you know the other details. My first impression was that the room with the fireplace was your family room and the LR/DR room was the spot for the art studio, but maybe I have that backwards. At any rate, I stand by my plan to sell what you can to obtain the new seating. Your floors are beautiful so you can do without rugs until budget allows. I checked your ideabooks but didn't see anything that looked much like the direction being talked about. Do you have a favorite there you'd like to copy to some extent? What pieces of casegoods must you keep?

Even though the walls are white the room seems dark. I would go with a color on the wall and paint those natural wood casings on the Windows white. It would really pop. Agree that white washable slips covers on the couch would work great. And remove one of the couches.

Start first with the function of each room. It's great to hear you talking about how you really want to use the rooms. If you need an art room, and don't use your living room, then you have your answer right there.

Decide how you want to use it, and that will tell you what must be in the room. TV room will need enough seating. Each room will need task and general lighting. Don't add more decorative furniture like skirted tables. Think twice about storage furniture - do you need that stuff? If you only put the necessary items in your rooms, you will save money and your rooms will look much better, and function properly.

I'd remove all the window coverings right now. My mother recently did this and wow, the rooms look wonderful. You have lovely natural wood windows that don't show well because of the dated toppers and swags. I wouldn't paint them.

A quick PS. I thought from the first peek at the painting that it was green and red. Now it looks as if it's turquoise with just some red. If so, then choose your rug and pillows from those colors with black coffee table, white modern lamps, and some the suggestion previous. Careful with Ikea. A lot of that stuff can look cheap. Check Craigslist, thrift shops, estate sales for quality pieces with very modern lines.

Before doing anything you need to swap around all the furniture in your house and see if you actually will use these rooms for the new purposes you are daydreaming about. It is free to rearrange furniture and there is no sense investing any money at all in a space that you are not using.

Yes to many of the suggestions above about losing the swags. I like bare windows. The wood looks nice with your wood floors. The room has too much in it. Take off the skirts on the sofas, don't put any throw pillows, and put the wicker elsewhere for now and see what the room looks like.

Update - I received so many great ideas, thank you! The living room is cleared out (mostly) and becoming a music room! Thank you, Loribeth Clark for the tips on the sofa update (I hope it works.). We needed a new sofa in the family room so I swapped with the living room sofas. We will whitewash the family room fireplace. I need ideas for the music room. I will probably slip cover the loveseat (in picture), add club chairs (?) and lots of guitars. But I'm at a loss for colors. Again, your expert advice is greatly appreciated!

Your floors are gorgeous. Maybe you should go though magazines and/or websites and, without thinking why, quickly tear out (or bookmark) pages of rooms that you like. Then look back at everything you've saved to see what they have in common. This could give you some direction on what appeals to you and help you with decisions. Your room already looks much better without the swags, for sure. But, you should figure out your own style/taste, and you will be happier with the results!

Have you considered painting your window frames black, and then the walls a lighter color? In our last house (which looks very similar to yours, from what I can tell), we wanted to frame the outdoor views and bring a more modern vibe in. This is a really bad picture, but maybe you can see what I mean:

Looks nice.

Cover the couches and change the paint. Two cheapest fixes ever!

very dated

What is dated?

Maybe you could google large living/dining room combos and see what styles and colors appeal

o you. That room has so much potential! Here are some that popped up.

I find it confusing when you use the terms "living room" "family room" and "music room". Which one is the music room that you are asking for ideas for? If you have already changed out some things in that room, it would be good to see some new pictures of the whole room that you are asking about. Otherwise we are scrolling up trying to figure out which room.

My suggestions is that you start a new thread, with new pictures of all the walls of the room.

The couch looks so much better without the skirt and with new pillows! I'm glad my suggestion worked!!

I would hang the guitars. Here are some chairs from West Elm that match your sofas:

I love the chairs! Will hang some guitars when the room starts to come together. Thank you!

To me, it's very unattractive and needs to be completely changed. But it hardly matters how I feel about it...what matters is how it looks and functions for you.

Would you and your family use this room if it were set up differently? Do you have any functions you need more space for? Why is this room unused....is it:

* Dark?

* Uncomfortable?

* Cold?

* Too far from big screen TV?

Shape of the sofas is fine....it's the fabric that is dated and also very difficult and constraining to decorate around, due to:

* Colors: looks like peach, seafoam etc. These colors were hot in 1982 and now the pendulum has swung away to despise these colors (but it's OK for anyone of us to love them, color is a matter of personal taste)

* Busy design, combining rather loud floral pattern with damask stripe

Use of the swag valances is extremely dated too. You could get away with it in a more timeless fabric, such as a solid or maybe a conventional chintz or toile.

It's unfortunate to be splashing the word "dated" on decor that was obviously carefully chosen, and well executed at not a cheap price tag back in the day. But it was a risky choice even then.....this look was the height of trendiness in the early 1980s....and whatever burns brightest in the heavens will fall farthest to earth.

@qam999 is correct. First start with function. How do you hope to use this room in the future? For the size of the room, the room is too crowded with seating. Do you need it all? What will people be doing when they are sitting there? I see a TV - how many watch at one time?

I would move both of the family room chairs beside the fireplace (tan leather, and brown fabric) to your music room, and get rid of both love seats (that are now in the music room and family room). Slipcover or replace the sofa in the family room. That would remove all the dated peach/turquoise fabric from both rooms.

Then paint the family room and the adjacent kitchen in a color that looks good with the new kitchen counters you mentioned in your other thread. Paint the teal portions of your kitchen table set in a different color that looks good with the new kitchen color scheme. Then you will have removed all the dated teal color.

Your wicker chairs seem to have disappeared in your furniture rearrangement. I liked them and they could go in your family room for extra seating if needed.

I finally finished the project. I posted it in Before and After, Total makeover with Houzers' help.

How do I find the after photo? I'm excited to see it!

The rug is much too small, and the upholstery is much too busy. Rethink window treatment: ceiling height drapes would counterbalance the bulk of the sofas.

Art is much too high.

Look in "Before and After" section. My title is, "Total makeover with Houzzers help. Living/ dining rooms to art space.

Here's the link to the new thread. https://www.houzz.com/discussions/total-makeover-with-houzzers-help-living-dining-rooms-to-art-space-dsvw-vd~4609528

Thank you, partim. Helps to be tech savvy. Lol