Hi All!

*Warning: long post :)

I’ve been lurking on Houzz for photo inspiration for a few years and have only recently stumbled upon the discussion forums. I’m so excited to find a space where people can help guide me in the right direction. So, here I am, looking for help with my living room setup and décor dilemma…

A little background info first… we moved into this house in September. We have 2.5 year old twins and a dog who can wreak havoc on any space, so it needs to be both functional and esthetically pleasing (for my sanity). We purchased some new furniture for the space before moving in, unfortunately I’m having some buyers remorse with the colours and potentially size of the push back recliner chairs specifically. We are both tall and wanted large comfortable furniture that would last for years with the kids. The house is very warm and has a lot of bead board style cherry wood on the main floor (kitchen, living room and similar coloured hard wood), it also has a lot of cream and brown tile which is outdated now but we aren’t looking to update for a few years. I wanted to bring in some neutral cool tones to contrast the warmth but not sure it’s working out. I’m hoping with a few tweaks (new rug, right art, plants etc) we can make it all come together!

Paint: Sherwin-Williams Pale Oak

Wood: Cherry Wood with bead board

Furniture: Décor-Rest Sofa 2934 (Duncan Grey), Décor-Rest Margaux Push Back Recliner (Balance Graphite)

Room dimensions: 16 x 17 feet

House style: Not sure - what would you call the style of our home? Traditional? Transitional?

Our style: I’m struggling with defining it – maybe a mix of transitional, farmhouse and boho? Maybe too much going on haha

Things we are willing to change:

Furniture layout – the brown chair in the corner is not staying if we stick with current configuration, we just didn’t want to move it until we finalized the setup. You’ll see a double grey toddler helper stool next to my island which the twins use daily so for now it’ll have to stay. Their little brown table under the large red piece of art can be moved.

Rug – this rug fits with our old house colours and furniture, it can be moved to either my bonus room or downstairs livingroom.

Art - I love all of our art from our travels so if we can incorporate that throughout I would be very happy. We have a fair amount of canvas painted art and some local prints that could be interchangeable – I can include pics if that would help? Same for our décor in the built-ins, most of it is from travelling.

Side tables – can refinish or replace. Suggestions for refinishing?

Coffee table/storage ottoman – this is filled with kids toys so any potentially new piece would need storage.

Shelving display/décor placements

Things we cannot change right now:

Colour of wood

Flooring

Lighting

Furniture (couch and chairs)

Fireplace surround

Anything kitchen related (unless it’s décor) – that will be another project in the future.

Initial Thoughts:

Add hanging macramé plants where the brown chair currently is with a large woven basket underneath for blanket/pillow storage or a floor sized plant/tree.

Change out the rug for one that would tie-in colours (cream, light and darker grey).

There’s a lot of lines throughout the space so I’d like to soften it up with some circular décor/furniture – woven basket, large roman numeral wall clock, ottoman or side tables.

I know this is a lot to take in so thanks for reading all the way through.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I’m new to all this so please be kind :) Appreciate all the help!

I originally had the furniture set up this way: