1. The arrangement of the grey sofa set is not how I intend to keep it- I just took the photo like that to get an idea of the shape & style of the sofa so that I could figure out what rug to put there.
2. I will be painting two large canvas' to go behind the sofa, I'm waiting to do that until I get more of a design going on - I was thinking the canvas' would mostly be white so that it lighten up the area.
3. I don't think we can paint the walls a different color: 1) bc hubby just repainted it 2) bc the wall eventually extends down the staircase into the foyer.
4. I was wondering if the way to go with this is a white rug- a glass table in front of the couch- some sort of side table- some sort of lamp and the mostly white painted canvases behind the big sofa? then I wondered if a glass table would be too cold/hard and maybe it should be a wood grain type table- something warmer- natural?
5. we want to put in different overhead lighting but when you turn around from standing there - it's the staircase and a chandelier - so I'm not sure if two hanging down lights will look right.
6. I agree with the heavy wood table from my downstairs space even though that's not what I was asking about- haha!! My hubby picked that table out & I always thought it was too heavy for the room- he always said it goes with the light fixture above and the long dining table in the next room. It's a Restoration Hardware table so it was pricey- so we're gonna have it for forever! haha

@decoenthusiate

The downstairs is actually a white & taupe couch, white & light grey rug, grey velvet chairs with white legs, then a white and taupe chair with medium toned wood structure- and of course that heavy/dark hunk of wood in the middle of the room. It's a monochromatic room & I change the accent colors - pillows, flowers etc...- as my mood or season change lol

@sina the room is not used very often, when the children were babies it was a toy/playroom... they are a tad bit older now- and don't play with toys... we thought we would make it a sitting area for hanging out- maybe playing board games. It is upstairs, outside the media room & outside the kids bedrooms... when you walk into the house you'd see the staircase wind up to it- and when you're upstairs you can look over the staircase to see the downstairs foyer.

The space needs color and some vertical elements. I'd suggest a bookcase, which can be used to hold the board games, as well as books, a good reading lamp, a game table and lightweight chairs to pull up to the table, and colorful pillows on the sofa. An oriental or patterned rug, rather than a white rug, to go over the carpet and tie the conversation area together.

@Suero I agree, we talked about putting bookshelves on the wall where the loveseat is sitting in the photos. Hubby wanted to mount a tv on that wall too but I dunno... Also the bookshelf we were kinda thinking was like the dark metal pipe with like cedar wood plank shelves? Open shelves... I don't know...that style may not even go. I swear, I cannot believe how hard it is for me to do anything with this dang sofa set... I think I said yes to it just bc it was inexpensive, something to sit on, and that I wanted to leave the store bc my kids were tired and grumpy. I literally don't know what the heck to do with this room! lol

Facing the staircase

Without the old tables hanging around and i placed a canvas on the back of the sofa just to give me an idea of what a light colored painting might look like on that wall. I realize it’s too small.

Following....Your home is nice, but I'm curious as to how the real decorators will advise you on how to break up all that grey!!

Glass and white sounds like you'll be continuing the cold feeling that's already going on. Art above sofa should be 75% of the sofa's width. You could put a TV on that wall and place the sofa with its back to the railing, adding a sofa table with decor behind it, so you wouldn't just see the back of the sofa from downstairs. Then add art on the end wall by the door. It looks like the chandelier in the stairwell may be too high to be properly appreciated from the foyer.

You have a nice home. I believe you can work with the tone on tone look, and use this as a more of a sitting/conversation area? When I see your nice staircase, I wouldn’t recommend a rustic style of bookcase. If you add a rug, look for something that blends in with your carpet, but with a pattern. Something like in photo below. For a coffee table maybe something other than wood, maybe glass, mirror or stone. You need to add more dimension, not necessarily colour.
For furniture arrangement, I wonder if you could move loveseat to where chair is, creating an L with sofa, then angle the chair facing corner. If in budget it may be nice to use chair elsewhere and buy a non matching chair.

Excuse the noise and basic video- but this may help in understanding the space.

No white rugs or glass tables. I think a darker toned rug ( pattern would work ) will ground the space and bring some warmth. It appears pretty sterile now. Wood & texture needed.

Are you changing out the front legs on furniture to the white ones? IMO, I don’t feel they suit the style of furniture and stick out to much.

For bookshelves, you could use standards and brackets mounted on the wall, and if you should mount a TV on the wall, just don't have shelves running across the area where the TV is.

@Marlene, we tossed around the idea of changing the legs out to TRY to make it look less modern but that idea didn't work out haha

@CeleryGirl I love you! those are great visuals! how the heck? What? How do I do that?! haha! It would take me a hundred years to figure out how to do that! haha

Also, generally speaking.... I thought that mixing metal & wood like the bookshelves I mentioned OR the White shag-type- soft rug and Glass table was a way to add texture mixing elements into the room... the wood and the plush shag rug giving texture and being the softer elements and the metal and glass bringing in other elements... goes to show what I know - perfect example of me not knowing what i'm doing over here!

West Elm Colca rug and IKEA NYBODA coffee table

what app or program are you using?!

Cate hearts Celerygirl

I use Photoshop.Enjoy! :-))

how would this look? https://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-shaggy-tribal-texture/Gray/200SEBS02A-P.html

I really like that West Elm rug...I feel like it's a good way to deepen the tone of the room but the texture seems like it would soften the room up as well. I need to go find a coupon lol

? https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/mistana-veropeso-coffee-table-w000175950.html

As was mentioned by Deco, turn off the overhead lights and use lamps only. Your new furniture is fine but color is needed. Try to avoid more variations of gray in your art and rug, because it does not bring about the change that is needed. Follow Celery's lead.

@decoenthusiate, it's a playroom... I bought a cheap sofa set that is something that can be donated in 2-3 years... Do I like matchy-matchy furniture sets? No. It was super cheap- I made a quick and regretful decision & now I have to make it work in my house & I hate it. I just want to know what coffee table, rug & lamp a person might put here.

I do realize I tend to love a more monochromatic feel of a room, it is what's comfy to me & my hubs. We like neutrals.

I hate this couch... so just gotta see if I can pretty it up a bit so that I don't feel like going in with a flame-thrower every time I walk in there! haha!

Wait, this is a playroom?! Wow, NOTHING in this space would hint at that. If this space is for the kids maybe let them have a say. Neutrals are great for adults but kids tend to like color

Needs colour of some sort..what a wast of space that landing is !

In my opinion you need to decide what use you want to make of this space. Do you watch TV elsewhere? Where do the children do their homework, play video games, visit with friends? In our house that space would have bookcases, a long work table, reading lamps, pillows on the couches and one or two on the floor for lounging.

Here is your rug with table. Be sure that beige color from rug does not conflict with gray carpet and walls.

Now that I see the layout, the turret area would be a perfect spot for a game table. I'd bring the sofa , loveseat and chair closer together for a conversation area, add bookshelves to the wall where the loveseat is in the first picture, add lamps, pictures and accessories to bring color into the area. It's a beautiful space.

@Suero that is a great idea! I can't believe that has never crossed my mind! haha!

@celerygirl... I like your west elm rug better! I'm going to go get it tomorrow!

@Sina Sadeddin Architectural Design, the kids never use this area... they don't play with toys...well...my daughter has some but she plays with those in her room... but yea...we had it like a neat playroom & they just didn't use it/weren't into it. Even though this room isn't pretty, they've hung out in there 100% more than they used to... they've played Uno & Battleship and will sit up there on their iPads. I don't think we need a TV in there really...I mean, it's right next to the media room with a huge movie screen, then there are 3 tvs downstairs. We don't watch much TV. They like the idea of using it for board games etc... and we have nice furniture and they don't mess things up...I mean our living room couch is white and have had it since my daughter was 1.5yrs old and it's still white. I guess our idea of playroom is sitting down and playing cards or games etc. We have a craft room for crafting, a media room for movies.

@yvonnecmartinthe kids do homework at the table downstairs, they watch TV in the Media room- next to this room, when their friends come over they are usually in the media room playing video games or watching movies or in the backyard in the pool. This would be a conversation area, board games etc...

Cate, when you get a rug , be sure it is in right size.

Yea I got that part down...I just could not pick a good rug to save my life! I felt like I was reading Old Hat New Hat by Dr Suess! Too Old, Too Bold...Too Red, Too Dotty...Too Blue...Too Spotty! hahaa!

my husband made this cedar plank shelf for our laundry room - would anything go in this room? or is it a clash of styles? Of course this one has an unfinished look even though he plane'd it. I'll post a few rough ideas below as well- just ideas.

It's hard for me to imagine if things go together, you can't imagine how I would lay awake at night staring at the black ceiling wondering if I made the right choices when we were building our house! Making all these big investments based off a little square of samples in the design center. little 4x4 squares of granite held up to a cabinet door...trying to envision the whole space based of just that- My brain doesn't work like that! lol

@Snaggy if I had to do it all over again I would not have a playroom area...actually there's a lot I would build differently - It was my first time having a home built, I didn't know what the heck I was doing!

We all have thoughts of “I should have.... I could have....”. I had my current home remodeled from the studs up several years ago, there are several things I would change but it’s too late. There are more important things to obsess about.

Agree'd @K Laurence! I can't obsess about the exact proper number of inches from the this to the that or if I have "wasted space" etc...

I just want to pretty this area up & since it is outside of my comfort zone & given the fact I've put so much effort into shopping for things only to have to take the time to return them because it don't go well... I thought, why don't I just ask other people whom this may come easier to... then I can just get over this hump and move on to better things!

@CeleryGirl posting the mock up photos really help me see what can be done...

What I was learning was that If I put anything geometrical in that space it seemed to thrust it into a look that was too modern for my liking... and if I tried to cozy it up with things that were more my style it just looked like a poor mash-up of styles- I looked like I was trying to make something happen that was clearly not meant to happen! haha

I'm ordering that rug today and will get started trying to find & imitate that look that Celerlygirl showed me. To me, it's a look that is a tad outside my style but totally doable- I can live with this! It's cute. I think the rug softens up the modern look of the couches.

Cate, you can use some wall tapestry instead one wall art, to bring coziness and softness. It would look good with Colca rug.

Cate, I mentioned previously I don’t feel rustic shelves belong in this room. I understand that’s more your style, but I dont feel it meshing well with the nearby staircase railings because they are also metal and wood but a different style. Something along the lines of these shelves have a cleaner look, but still have that rustic/farmhouse flair.
https://www.wayfair.ca/furniture/pdp/ermont-etagere-bookcase-lrfy1920.html?piid=33251788

@Marlene, I was mostly thinking of a way to bring some wood up a wall... I was thinking wood being a natural element- vertical for interest and then being able to put things on those shelves that could further add softness and color pops etc... whatever material to hold it together could be adjusted - my husband could even make them floating shelves. We don't *Have to have it* I just wondered if wood vertical shelves would work as a way to add softness. (hubs likes doing projects too)

also, I'm thinking we can change out the can lighting for pendant lighting- something that maybe down't hang down that much and spreads horizontally

following

So before you criticize- please know I’m not done... i literally just got the rug on my doorstep along with that QC fig tree haha and i ran up here and threw this together...i still need lamps and the coffee table and some other little things...

I just have to say thank you CeleryGirl for taking the time to create a visual for me all while not making me feel like crap about what I’ve got going on in my house i would have NEVER picked this rug myself but I love it! And it’s in so many ways perfect!

I’ve still got to get my husband to build black frames for the canvases too

I love it!! more pic’s!

I need to get some side tables & lamps then I'll post another picture. oh and something to go on the right wall

Following