Design inspiration

Here are some designs of ours to help with your dilemma. Note the window treatments, coffee tables, artwork, chandeliers, lamps, pillows, and various other decor.

What do you want to use this space for? If for conversation, you need more seating. Small scale and leggy chairs would work. If for reading, you need better lighting, maybe side tables that can hold good lights. Art would be nice. Perhaps botanical prints to echo your dining chairs? Right now, this area looks stiff and unused. Flowers or plants could help make it more welcoming. Do you need curtains for privacy or light control? If not, I might skip the drapes or do Roman shades.

Nandina Home, thank you for the inspiration. Your rooms are very elegant yet still cozy which I love.

Sam Gorson, this room is used for extra seating and conversation space when we have bigger groups of people over because our main living room/tv space really only seat 5-6 people max comfortably. I defiantly need more seating, just not sure what and where. The curtains are somewhat for light control because we get a lot of direct sunlight into this room throughout the day, but I think even more so they are needed to help with the echo in this room. It has a high vaulted ceiling. I love Roman shades, but I was leaning toward curtains because 1) I got advice that they would widen that window behind the sofa which I agree would look good and 2) I seem to be able to find more options in curtains than shades without custom ordering something. I also considered doing a mix of Roman shades and curtains in the same fabric because I had seen that done in some designs on houzz, but that would be expensive and I don’t know if it would pay off in the overall design.

You could probably get four small chairs in here, two on each end of the coffee table. Two like this...

...would be smashing. Then maybe two plain ones on the other side.

Does the dresser have legs or is it solid to the floor? I think it looks stuffed into that corner. If it is up on legs I would try it where the big art is. Add a deflector to the vent to push the air out into the room. The art may be too wide to work with it but could go on another wall in the dining room while the plate collection could still hang with the dresser. I would float the sofa away from the wide window side of the rug and get a matching one to place opposite (both with the rug under the front 1/3. Add 2 more chairs and if all the seating can't be placed 18" or less from the coffee table, then you'll know where you need side tables.

Properly hung curtains will visually widen everything and will also enlarge the space when matched to wall color.

decoenthusiaste, I have considered doing just that with the dresser. I may move it and see how I like it. However, I measured last night and it will just barely fit between those two windows, so it may still feel too cramped there. If I did move it there, I would not be able to center the sofa on the wider windows like you suggested.

I guess my problem with what you have started is that "couch" is not a couch, it's a love seat. A true couch would have a third section of cushions to be longer. And if had that, I would say to keep it on the wall it is now. But beside that, I guess I'm struggling because I don't like really anything you have started here. It looks like you have your dining table right next to what appears to be a breakfast nook table. Is that right, is that your kitchen inside that door? I don't like two sets of tables and chairs right next to each other. So anyway there are bigger issues here, but to give some advice on only that one room, I would say ..... I would probably put the "love seat" on the window to the right (if you were facing the love seat) so that the view from it would be looking out what appears to be a sliding door to your back yard. And then I would get 2 upholstered accent chairs (with a subtle pattern pulling from the gray in the couch) to put with their backs to the opposite window facing the love seat. And then put the coffee table in the middle going the other way. The reason I would say to change the direction the configuration is going is because that room doesn't look wide enough to put two chairs in front of the love seat as it is now. Then I would get a long console type piece of furniture for the wall where the love seat is now and hang art work on either side of the window. I would put two end tables on either end of the love seat (again to make that appear longer), and a small table in between the two accent chairs.

You have options for this room. See below

I think you're starting with very beautiful elements! I'd start by figuring out the optimal layout for seating. cpaul1's suggested layout makes sense to me. Then I'd deconstruct my inspiration pictures. What makes it cozy for me? What can be adopted/adapted for my space? Which elements in those pics resonate the most with me? Do I like the symmetry? How are the dark and light elements apportioned? I'd study each picture and figure out the why of my attraction. But look. There's your seating. Your end tables. Your lamps. Your inspiration pics have all those elements. Measure your space carefully before buying anything. There will probably be some trial and error but if you've got a budget and some patience, you can certainly "finish" this room. (If you're getting neutral curtains, I'd be tempted to add a trim. But I'm a pattern and colour lover.) Enjoy the process and I hope you'll update with pictures as you progress. :)

I’m not sure you have room for 4 chairs here “full time”. I would get two accent chairs but in a fabric/material that would let you pull the chairs from the dining table into this adjoining space if more seating is needed and have it all coordinate. You definitely need lighting on either side of the sofa.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions so far. I think my next step is to get the layout nailed down.

I still want to try moving the dresser between the two windows. (Can you have the curtains hanging behind it if I go with curtains on these windows?)

I will also probably try the sofa in front of the bigger windows, but (maybe you can’t tell from the photos) there won’t be space on the back/far side for a side table on that side. There’s only about a foot or so of space between the windows and the wall, and the sofa is wider than the windows.

I think I’m leaning towards leaving the sofa where it is, though, and getting a chair for each side.

Also, for clarification:
the sofa is between a loveseat and sofa size at 74 inches. This was the biggest I could fit at my previous house so it’s just what I had available for this room right now. I will probably replace it in the future, but won’t be any time soon.

The table you see through the doors in the background was only there temporarily. It was previously in this room as the dining table and I replaced it with what you see now. Straight through those doors is the main living room.

Groveraxle could you give me the info on these chairs? I love the print on the back! Thanks.

This room really wants a couple of spectacular chairs. Here are a couple from Wild Chairy:

Chairs are here: https://www.horchow.com/Haute-House-Peacock-Chair/cprod137890044/p.prod?eVar4=You%20May%20Also%20Like

They are super expensive, as are the Wild Chairy chairs. However, if you could pick up a couple of used chairs with good bones and find some fabulous fabric, you might be able to duplicate something like these with a good upholsterer.

Love Wild Chairy stuff, but hard to recommend when they are so pricey!!! Hack!!!

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Extra seating for a more conversational tone in the room would be great. Also, adding some color throughout to really tie the space together would look great.

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I got some fabric swatches for curtains. Wanted to get some feedback. I don’t love any of them. I think all but #1 are too dark. #1 is ok but I’m afraid it’s too cream/tan. Thoughts ?

Sorry, I'm confused. I see 4 groupings with 2 or 3 different fabrics on different surfaces. The top left is your couch fabric? The top right your wall? What are the bottom two?

Each grouping is the same fabric swatch in different areas of the room. One is against the sofa, one is against the rug, and the other two are against the wall.

Still confused, sorry. Might not have had enough coffee this morning. :) How many fabric swatches are we looking at? Because there's a huge difference in colour between the fabric against the couch and the shot against the wall. They can't be the same fabric? In any case...

"I don’t love any of them."

You need something you love. Something that resonates as being "right", not "maybe this will work...". Find other fabrics. If you're not planning on painting your walls, I'd focus on getting something that harmonizes with that colour. Have you looked at off-white linens?

These are 4 swatches labeled1-4. The fabrics just look really different in different parts of the room because the lighting varies so much throughout. Each picture (collage of 4) is the same swatch.

I would go with #1. It most closely matches the wall color. You won't be using the fabric on your couch, so I wouldn't worry about that, It also goes better with your rug. It's obvious you are going for a very neutral look in the room. Although some texture would add to the interest. In the drapery, texture would be in the form of a woven stripe, fabric finish (think satin, linen, or anything that is not tight woven).

I got this swatch for the headboard in my bedroom, but I also kind of like the way it pulls some of the green/blue undertones from the walls on this room. Maybe I should look for something with a little more green or blue tones? This is flat velvet and I would prefer something with a little more sheen.

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I like that blue swatch! It'd look great in a shear or even a patterned shear. A rug with the same colors in it would tie it all in. I agree flagging the loveseat with matching chairs is a good idea. I'd also find matching tufted stools to go beside each chair as extra seating if needed for parties, etc.