Well if the only reason you're changing the sofa is because your daughters laugh at you: Don't!! Just laugh right back and tell them "my internet friends love it!!" Lol

Honestly, reupholster the pink chairs (with no skirt, if they've got nice legs) with a grey tweed, the wingbacks in a two tone grey and pattern, and with the new floor and paint job you're set for updates!

PS you could use beige instead of grey in the same concept, if you prefer.

Not quite it, but wouldn't a proper lady have worn, or sat on this? :)

75" wide in linen for $230. Also works like a klik-klak.

Probably more like grey buildings in your art. 85" for $630. Opens to bed.

Love that everdebz.

All these cheaper ones result from search.... Seems color of plates. 77" in linen for 270.

Ashley Furniture Homestore in Pebble. 80w for 431.

I can delete - having my fun - isn't that a sweater in this color [on your chair]? go wild if you want!?

@lindsey Wow, those wingback chairs are awesome! I want them ... a lot! lol

@emsmeme I love your sofa, don't replace it with an everyone has that grey sofa -- be bolder with "a if it must be grey" but patterned, tweedy or texturally unique!

'the walls will be painted a light gray' ..... but you don't want a gray sofa? No tone of gray at all? You want a gray wall, beige sofa and those rose chairs, with all of the blue/white accents?

Will the wall color be something like this one?

If doing the gray walls, I like the gray tweed sofa idea. would look very nice w/the pink tones.

I love this guy

this darker gray looks great w/every color in that painting.

but heck,,,if we're doing pink...

these are light gray walls. I suppose these would also go w/the rose chairs,,

although, reupholstering them wouldn't hurt. they may look great for their age, but they look like grandmas chairs from 1985.

I think the sofa's charming...it goes in your house

Please consider that most likely anything you buy today won't last as long as what you have now...Quality workmanship is so hard to find in new pieces.

Would you consider new upholstery for all three pieces?

Beautiful examples Beth H.

Thank you for all of these ideas!

Irene Morresy, you get me. I love the color of the sectional in the second picture of the second set. I call that color "toast," and I've considered it and wondered if it would work with my chairs, and those brick throw pillows look great. The second and third pictures in that group are "my style".

Oskuee, the Lawson sofa at the bottom is what I like. With a skirt. There isn't a contemporary bone in my body.

Lindsey, my wing chair is exactly like the pair you posted, Queen Anne legs and all. And yes, if the sofa goes, the drapes go. You will see why when I post a picture of the fireplace wall tomorrow.

Joe, I do want a textured fabric on the new sofa. Many naps have been taken on this one and the flowers on the seat cushions are beginning to fade in places!

Beth H., the paint will be a very light gray, or perhaps a very light greige, something that will look nice with the light gray brick fireplace. The dark grays are beautiful, but my goal is to lighten up this dark house, and the color palette does need to "flow" from room to room. I'm trying to get away from beige and tan walls, or anything that resembles old antique white. We need something different. I do have a Sherwin-Williams paint deck as well as some individual chips, and spend hours studying them, looking at pictures on Houzz, and learning about light reflective values. This past Spring, the hall bathroom was gutted to the studs. White cast iron tub, toilet, and sink, gray, black and white speckled granite, white subway tiles 42" up from the floor, white wood trim, octagon and gray dot floor tiles, a custom built vanity painted SW Tin Lizzie, and SW Argos on the walls above the subway tile. The darker gray works here because of the white tile and fixtures.

Pennydesign, you are right on. My house is "Victorian Farmhouse" style, white railed front porch across the front and all. It's a cute house, custom built by the original owners in late 1984, and we moved in Jan. 1, 1989. There is only one other of a similar style in our neighborhood. It's sad that newer furniture is not as well-made as what we bought in the 1980s, which is why I would like to hang on to what I have as much as possible. We have always bought good quality furniture, made to be lived on and last a long time. I would definitely consider reupholstering. The wing chair and ottoman will be recovered, for sure, and the sofa is a maybe although I'd decided to just buy a new one. My husband does not see any point in reupholstering perfect chairs, even if they do look like grandma's chairs! I need to make them work because I have to live with him.

Oskuee, you made me laugh out loud about my botanical prints in the breakfast room! I am very OCD, and a decorator once pointed out that in my previous home, everything was symmetrical and square. Right angles everywhere. You may have even noticed that tendency in my family room. This was my attempt to NOT hang them two-by-two, or four prints in a square on each side of that center trim piece (yes, there were more, which I gave away). The arrangement is one I saw on a website with ideas for hanging gallery frames. I spent hours and hours with paper templates, blue tape, and a ruler, making sure that the spacing between each frame and on each side is exact. My husband will have no part of picture hanging when I bring out my ruler, other than to hammer in the nails! So, please forgive my effort to do something different, as well as my beautifully tailored, lined valance. I don't like to see the top rail of my wood blinds.

I love your breakfast room but the sofa screams "back in the day". I'd take the sofa and chair cushions straight to Lazy-Boy for their help on buying a new sofa or a fabric to reupholster the sofa...Good Luck.

Emsmeme everything I've seen in your house so far tells me you have a good eye and a confident sense of your design preferences. Your bathroom is beautiful and your art makes me jealous :)

Might you consider a buffalo check? Or a pinstripe/ticking? It will take you away from the chintz (even the things you love and that go well, can get boring to you after a while) while still staying on track with your updated farmhouse look...I do understand that not everyone likes stripes as much as I do, though.

If you're keeping the pink chairs pink, navy looks beautiful with pink. This one's listed as charcoal, but it's just to give you an idea.

I agree with lindsey, here....you know what you're doing.

pennydesign, I love stripes and buffalo checks! Our master bedroom will have a bed skirt, pillow shams, and draperies in a soft sage and natural buffalo check. SW Aloof Gray is a very light gray paint color with a green undertone that looks nice with the buffalo check fabric. I do like the striped sofa, but really, really want a solid color so I can use stripes and checks and other patterns in throw pillows.

This is a close-up of the fabric on those chairs (my girls call them pink; I prefer "rose"):

If I was ever able to reupholster them, I would choose something like this in a similar color as the new solid sofa fabric and recover my wing chair and ottoman in a stripe or check. I know my style, but colors are hard.

I would save my money and make the purchases when I could afford to redo the room. No sense in coordinating a sofa with chairs that are dated.

Also, if funds are tight I would only purchase when I was being offered a great deal like from an outlet & I would consider using Craigslist or a non-profit resale store. There are plenty of gently used items for sale depending on your location.

Lindsey, I had more fun designing that little bathroom! The bird pictures are little prints I got for $13 and $7 from society6.com, and Hobby Lobby charged a fortune to mat and frame them, even at their normal 50% off. I was shocked! Have a look at that web site; you will see some really neat things and some really wild things, and it's fun.

BeverlyFLADeziner, funds are not tight and I do not need to buy resale furniture. I might need a new husband, but this one is really pretty cute and I AM fond of him. He likes the chairs. Maybe he will change his mind once the new wood floors and paint are finished and a new sofa is in place. Replacing or reupholstering the chairs are the only thing he has balked at.

Ok, lindsey, I've taken pictures of the fireplace wall. I moved a lot of boxes to find it! Please disregard the Fisher-Price Garage and the Tinkertoys. I mainly wanted you to be able to see the brick fireplace.

The Christmas wreath will go to the trash and be replaced with a round, wood framed mirror from Houzz. The mantle will be cleared and redecorated. Much of what is there has just been stashed there while I clear things out. There are brown wood blinds on the windows. The rocker on the right was an antique that belonged to my dad. The children call it "Grandfather's Chair." I have not yet replaced the tan cushion Mother had on it, but will do so. The staircase is just to the right of the rocker. The brass box on the hearth is an antique coal box that belonged to my parents. It is used as a toy box now. After all of the woodwork has been painted white, we will decide whether to leave the fireplace surround as is, or paint it white, too.

My Pennsylvania House wing chair. The floor lamp is new and I know it's in the wrong place in relation to the chair, which has been shoved out of place. There are boxes hidden behind the chair at the moment. The drapes will be replaced. The breakfast room is to the left.

This is the fabric on the wing chair and ottoman. All of the colors are in the sofa fabric. We bought the floral sofa first, and then took one of the pillows to Pennsylvania House to choose the chairs and upholstery fabric.

The chairs are DEAD. Reupholster the seat and back cushions in a contrasting print or texture, but leave the bodies as they are.

I'm assuming I should delete my posts, as they are wrong era....?

@ emsmeme, I can understand that I am OCD too. my friends always try to get me to do something different and it’s my mothers fault I don’t like anything frilly or floral. We had hand made doilies all over the house. I moved from Europe to Australia and she still kept making table cloths and doilies for me , all hand crochet. Now I have a large box in the garage full of this stuff. So forgive me for being to critical sometimes people don’t realise it could be done differently. It’s good to be individual otherwise all houses would look identical.

Don't delete everdebz, the sofas you posted are lovely and they would look good here!

When the new floors go in,the entire space will look more fresh. Including those chairs. Umm,can you hear the voice of experience :-) For myself,I would make sure to find a sofa with a single seat cushion (bench seat) and an exposed leg. Something like Pottery Barn's Carlisle or Serena & Lily's Barton. Likely that La_Z-Boy has something similar. Seems to me the rugs and new drapes (& to a lesser extent the cushions) will set the new mood more than the sofa. Do you have a rug in mind? Have you considered seagrass or a jute blend? Or......

https://www.onekingslane.com/p/901603-alfred-rug-natural.do?sortby=ourPicksAscend&page=2&refType=&from=fn&catnav=101330

Now, about the fireplace surround: I'd keep it wood. It ties in nicely with Grandfather's Chair (which is probably the cutest thing I've read today) and the wood will help to warm up what will be a much cooler-tone space.

Incidentally, why wait until the floors are in to paint? That seems bass-akwards to me; if you do it before floors, no worry about spills and drips on the brand new hardwood.

Last one in this flurry lol.

Maybe you should go shop around for some sofas. You've been shown a lot of examples of how many different styles and colours can work; finding one you love to sit on should be fairly easy and then we can give you ideas for coordinating fabrics for the wingback/ottoman, drapes, and Grandfather's Chair :-)

The draperies look heavy and overly formal. If you don’t want to take them down completely, at least re,over the valance. Why don’t you want to paint the fireplace surround? I think it would be terrific in white. The style of your current couch is great, very comfortable. I hate couches which have arms so straight or high that they discourage naps and cuddling.

Everdebz, there's no need to delete your pictures. I've never seen anything like some of them! They aren't quite the thing for snuggling up with a 5-year-old and a book, though.

Lindsey, thank you. I don't think the two chairs are that big a deal. I did a search for photos of club chairs here on Houzz and found that skirted club chairs are alive and well, but exposed feet are much more popular right now. Eh. This is a family room in a home, not a Ballard's catalog or a magazine. At least they aren't big, ugly, overstuffed Naugahyde monstrosities! I AM going to take one of the arm covers with me to shop, starting with the La-z-Boy shop here in The Woodlands. They still carry a Lawson sofa, and have many fabrics to choose from. I have read comments that La-z-Boy quality has gone down, and if I find that to be the case, I'll move on. I probably gave too much information in my original post; I really just wanted someone to say, "Yeah, taupe would look good," or "A cream color would work." You have been most helpful by convincing me to rethink gray, and you may be the prize winner! I agree that leaving the fireplace surround as is would provide warmth for the room, since some grays are cool. My kitchen and breakfast rooms are definitely cool grays, and I intentionally chose stained cabinetry and kept my wood blinds for their warmth. I thought it was bass-akwards to wait until after the floors were laid to paint, too! But the flooring company and my painter said wood flooring first, then paint. The color of the wood will affect how the paint color appears on the walls. Also, my painter doesn't want to sand all the baseboards and prime and paint them, only to have them possibly marred when the wood planks are installed. He will tape brown paper down to protect the floors while he paints. He did my kitchen that way, even covering all of the new cabinets.

Oskuee, you wouldn't believe some of the things I inherited from my parents. My mother was a china painter. Care to guess how many boxes of hand painted plates, pitchers, and jam pots are stored in the attic? My sister has an equal number of boxes.

Jean Doherty, the drapes are not staying. I'll have a drapery shop help select new, less formal fabric when the time comes, and I just want stacked panels on decorative rods with no valance. We'll decide on the fireplace after the rest is painted, because we could go either way, white or stained wood. Every room downstairs is going to look very different once the woodwork is painted white.

I'm so excited to see the before and afters of your living room. You've got a great plan :)

Have to post - opened for other thread, and there are smaller sizes.

Poppy seems like chairs [108"w x 120"h (54" X 120" each). Pair for $39.

SAYS GRey.

Everdebz, now you're reading my mind! That's the direction I want to go. Most of the pattern in the room in the drapes, throw pillows, and rug. Thank you!

Curious, how many window curtains in the room? on one wall?

The only windows in the room are the two flanking the fireplace. The light is from the south, slightly southeast.

Here's some ideas. Maybe a ticking fabric for the wingback chair that has the beige-y/taupe-y in it that you're looking for for the sofa..

You can add toile for the draperies in that room, and/or a pink toile for pillows on the sofa/wingback chair..

OR the other way around...

OR a plaid on the chair...

I wouldn't be afraid to mix it up in there...it would give you a rather fabulous English country look...

Love your style. Going to look for some sofas!

Pennydesign, thanks so much for those ideas. The blue and taupe-y stripe is exactly what I'm thinking of for my wing chair. I've seen one on Houzz that even has a "rose" stripe with the blue and beige. I like the overall color of the chair on the right, too. If I could recover the rose chairs, that's what's I'd choose in a different subtle pattern and a similar colored sofa with some texture. The plaid is great, and more casual, too. Those blues are the same color as the fabric on my dining room chairs, and one of the arm chairs is next to my piano in the family room. I'd love toile drapes, but I'm afraid they'd compete with the valance on the breakfast room window. That fabric is called "Artisan Paisley." All three windows are visible from all of the seating in the family room AND the breakfast table because of the wide opening between the rooms. I'm not at all afraid to mix things up, and I do like the English country look. The exterior of this house may be "farmhouse," but the inside is not!

Thought the picture below could be a nice combination with your occasional chairs and using a light cream on the walls (with dark hardwood floors) and raspberry accents would be really complimentary. Add some nice pillows on your chairs and couch. I also love the Lazy Boy couch below..classic/English country yet modern - a woven linen like fabric would be so pretty. I would hold off updating the mantle until you complete the room. I would try your chairs opposite each other and if you can, add a new coffee and side table and a new lamp.

Take a peek at Mario Buatta's rooms. I think you'll like them.

That was fun, pennydesign! For some reason, the Dowager Countess of Grantham came to mind as I looked through Mario Buatta's rooms on Pinterest! I'm afraid I'm more Isobel Crawley. I loved seeing his collection of blue and white porcelain in his Manhattan Apartment.

Very pretty, Maureen. This is the sofa I'm looking at. Playing with colors, not necessarily these two. I like the tight back.

Just a thought that was triggered by your comment up thread...

You mentioned a striped chair with taupe, blue, and rose. Coordinating all the fabrics with the same three colours will result in a more formal, stiff feeling room that I think is what most people mean when they say "grandma." So if you are looking to move away from that, choose upholstery fabrics and drapes that don't necessarily contain all the same colours but look good together nonetheless.

In other words, for the wingbacks don't necessarily look for fabrics that contain all of blue, rose, and taupe. You can tie the colours together with pillows throws, and a patterned rug. You might even consider keeping the chintz throw pillows!

Good advice, Lindsey. Please come play interior designer with me!

:-D

Wish I could!

I had forgotten that I have a living room Ideabook on Houzz, and went to look. I think the pictures I've saved are telling me something!

Oh I didn't look either!

Isn't that funny?!

Thought of your art with soft colors...could be a nice blend: