First I would turn the rug. Center it on the window. Pull the sofa off the wall and put the front legs on the rug, Lower the art over the sofa about 5-7" above the back of the sofa. No to loveseat. I like lower backed chairs in a window. Look at swivel chairs. I think a stripe with the rug colors might be nice. I think roman shades on the window would be a nice update. Put the clock flat on the window wall not kitty corner. Paint will be your last choice once you have all the elements chose. If you mean Benjamin Moore Briarwood I had that on the front of my home and think it would be too dark. And the new color should probably go in the DR also as it's open to LR. But post a picture of DR for us to see

get rid of the valances! Here is a quick look with it painted SW Balanced Beige. I'd update the color, even a nice creamy white.

SW Neutral Ground

Thank you for the ideas and suggestions. I appreciate the advice and the time you took to help me. This is similar to what I envisioned for the room. Are my windows too short for this look? Will it work with the rug? I know the rug is busy and I am concerned it will clash with the neutrals instead of just being that pop of color. Do you think chairs in a cream color would work with the rug as well? Meanwhile I will get rid of the valance until I can pull it all together. Again thank you!

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What is your budget? Why does the rug have to stay? You can get a great neutral seagrass rug for under $1,000, which would lighten up and freshen your palette as well as lightening the paint and changing the window treatments.

Think about your livind and dining room as one space, so window treatment shoild be the same in both rooms. I agree with the blinds or Roman shades as previously suggested.
I, too, used to have a lot of pictures, and small items sitting about on tables which rendered them unnoticeable. Sllect one area, a wall in the living area, entry, or maybe a hallway, to display using complimentary framing. Lay pictures out on the floor to plan arrangement, then paper shapes to get the effect on the wall before hanging. You will be able to appreciate all your pictures together and have room for a cup of tea on the side table, plus easier to dust 😉

Diana Bier- The rug needs to stay because it was a gift. My budget would be about $5000 including the painting. I am thinking about reupholstering the chairs (they are comfortable) instead of purchasing new but I am not committed to that idea yet.

Comfortable chairs are hard to come by, so I would want to reupholster. you could definitely go with a lighter fabriic. I suggest taking the dark pillows off the sofa and then figuring out what neutral you want that makes all the new fabric, chairs and window treatment the right choice,

If i were renting your house furnished, and couldn’t change the rugs or sofa, or anything in the dining room, but you had already painted, reupholstered the chairs and created new neutral window treatments in the bay window, then all I would do is take down the art and put up 2 of these in the larger size, big, side by side over the sofa

"Zeste" Artwork, 16"x24", Fine Art Giclee Print · More Info

Then I would keep a big bowl of lemons on the glass table, naturally.

I’d also try out some new pillows for the couch

Surya Pillow Kit Poly Fiber Square Agate Gray 22 x 22 Accent Pillow · More Info

Surya Serengeti Round Pillow Cover SGI012-1818 · More Info

Maybe these for the chairs

Jerimiah Lumbar Throw Pillow, 18"x12" · More Info

And whoever that is on the top of the clock needs to come down from there. 😉

I cannot see if the baseboard is all across under the window but if it is panels like your inspiration are a no go. So oriental style rugs are classics and because they are busy does not mean you need to have everything else plain.

My oriental: with stripe chairs, floral panels and the wing chair opposite FP is small diamonds.

I still don't care for wing chairs in the window but if you love them try them facing the sofa.

JCK910- Your room is lovely and warm. I hadn't thought about stripes for the chairs, but I am a fan of the tone on tone stripes so maybe i will look into a light fabric for the chairs. They are comfortable and all my kids would like to keep them as they like to read by the window in those chairs. The baseboard does go underneath the window and along that entire wall and I do feel putting the panels under the soffit will dwarf the window so i guess I should move on from that look. Thank you for your advice.

Would this work with your bay? Can't see how the architecture really is around the windows since it is hidden behind the valance. Will your clock work in the foyer? All your art is hung too high on the walls. Center pieces or groupings 5' above the floor or hang 5" above furniture. Have you tried the larger bombe' chest that is out of the photo where the sofa is, using the sofa to divide the living and dining areas and turning the rug?

Jennifer Brouwer Design Inc. · More Info

Unfortunately my foyer is not large enough to fit the clock and the coat rack/bench. Since the coat rack is functional I prefer to keep that there. Thank you for the advice on how to hang art etc, once painted I will follow your suggestions after painting. I haven't tried separating the dining/living room with the sofa because i often have to extend my dining room table into the living room. I have a large family and it would be inconvenient to have to move the sofa every time they came for dinner but appreciate the suggestion.

I like the furniture, and also the rug. New drapes will do a lot.

It’s hard to tell colors from the photos but I would try to tighten down your color scheme. Is your couch beige or gray? Are the dining chairs beige or rose? Perhaps something like black, silver/gray, and rose gold? Or beige, cream, and pink? Seems to me no green is needed.

Why are you changing your wing chairs? Is the fabric worn? I like the shape and colour in your room.

Your room could get a big lift just by removing some of the decor items. The valances in both rooms are really dragging the style down. Do you need drapes in the living room at all? Why not just remove them and see how you like it? Then turn the rug as suggested above and see how you like the look.

I'd also take down the wall art by the clock, and the 3 small items near the dining room. Re-hang the pair of pictures 8" above the back of the sofa. The best time to re-hang pictures is before you repaint, not after. Then you can move things around because you can get the painters to fill any of the little holes. Also, the paint is a little soft for a few weeks after you paint, and very easy to mar it.

Remove the pillows on the sofa, and all the little pictures on the end tables. The best place to appreciate these is in a wall grouping in a hallway.

Are you planning to keep your end tables and coffee table? What is the colour of the metal finish? Maybe you could update the look by spray painting the metal - maybe a warmer tone - antique brass? copper?

Could you switch the clock with the chest? If not, the clock will look better flat against the wall, not angled. And nothing beside or above it.

Partim- the fabric is not worn on the chairs, I was just thinking with such a dark rug I should lighten them up. That is a terrific idea to paint the tables. I was thinking of changing to a upholstered ottoman but the tables were very expensive, and are in good shape, so a little spray paint in antique brass i think will be a nice refresh. I know everyone keeps saying to remove the items on the table but i am finding it hard to part with the photos of my children. I do have various photos of the family going up the staircase, so I will work on letting go of some of those so I can transition the smaller ones onto that wall. I tired putting the clock flat on the wall and no one liked it that way. I was actually thinking last night i should swap the clock and the small bombe chest. I will give that look a try. My son and I turned the rug, but neither of us liked it that way. It is a 12x14 rug and looked odd by the dining area. Such great advice to work on the placement of the art etc before the painter comes!!!

Thank you for all of your suggestions! You, and everyone has been very helpful!

You absolutely do not need to part with family pictures. But displaying them on end tables is really dating your look. Find wall space to display them. Hallways and staircases are great for that purpose. Or instead of arranging the pictures on the wall directly, attach a picture ledge or two, and swap out the pictures periodically. I find that helps me "see" pictures anew, and might give you more pleasure than a static arrangement. https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/cat/picture-ledges-16305/

Your rug should slide as far as possible towards the the window area, so I don't think it should have encroached any more into the dining room. Don't try to center it on the sofa. No need for that. The wing chairs need to sit with their front legs well on the rug.

I would love to see a picture of your room without the valances or drapes. I think the room would look would be so much fresher without drapes altogether. I am assuming you need the sheers for privacy?

I will try to recruit another volunteer to move the rug again. lol

I have the photo ledge in my den, never really thought about it for the living room. will see how that would look once i move the grandfather clock and take down the valance. I have been thinking about just roman shades instead of the drapes, but yes i definitely need privacy as the window faces the street. Even though it is a cul de sac i would still prefer to close the blinds at night. I will post photos once i get the valances down and the clock moved. Again thank you :)

Before we repainted I moved a lot of pictures around. I asked the painters to repair all the little holes except the ones where I stuck half a toothpick in, so I knew where my hooks would go back in. We all laughed at that but it worked very well. Be sure they remove the toothpicks before the paint dries them in.

Honestly, I think just taking down the valences, relocating the photos from the end tables, pulling rug closer to 2 chairs by window, switching chest and clock, and painting room a creamy white will make you feel like it’s a new space.

Do you pull the dark drapes pull all the way across the windows at night? They don't look as if they would reach across but maybe they just stack back very tight when open. Maybe your "fix" is to remove the valance first, leave the drapes and see how you like that look.

You have some excellent suggestions here. Your dogs are adorable btw. Have you thought about taller lamps in the side tables?

Sarah- I hadn't thought about taller lamps but I do plan on going to home goods this weekend so I will take a look around there.

Partim- I do not pull the drapes closed at night; you are correct they will not reach. The silhouette shades close for privacy.

Gcubed- i will try a creamy white but there are soooo many choices how do you narrow it down? I did not like any of the paint samples I ordered from samplize (BM- Muslin, BM- shaker beige, SW-balance beige). For some reason the beiges appeared almost grey, and the muslin was yellowish in my home. Especially in the dining room.

I will post pictures after i move the clock, the valance is down and I like the look without it but it seemed bare not to have the side panels. I was thinking of perhaps doing the half rods with panels on each side of the window. Still working on moving the rug again but so far no volunteers to help me move it lol. Does anyone have any other specific paint color suggestions? Once again, thank you all for your time and input!!!

This is the dining room for reference.

Would it diminish the gift of the rug to use it in the dining room? or is it too big for that room?

if you had a lighter rug in the living room, reupholstered the chairs, took down the drapes and used a neutral paint, you would be very far down the road to an updated look. Maybe all that would remain to is getting pair of inexpensive modern metal lamps or even just sq shades.

i think your living room rug would look nice in the dining room if it fits

ital- they was my initial thought when I received the rug, but then realized it would be almost wall to wall if I moved the rug to the dining room. So I am trying to decorate around it. I had a light sage rug in the room previously, it had forest green and lilac accents so it worked beautifully with the room.
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here is a houzz article that shows a big rug filling the whole dining room nearly wall to wall isn’t a no-no

Cambridge Dutch Colonial · More Info

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/10-tips-for-getting-a-dining-room-rug-just-right-stsetivw-vs~32442746

Where is the rug with the sage and lilac tones now?

Ital- I donated the old rug, below is a snapshot of the prior rug. In hind sight i should have kept it but oh well. Do you have suggestions for paint colors. The choices are overwhelming......

Do you know what fabrc you are picking for the drapes and chair?

also, have you completely ruled out moving the living room rug to the dining rooM because of its size? if not, do you think updating your space might go easier if you had a rug somewhat like this in the living room?

Safavieh Florida Shag Collection SG467 Rug, Cream/Beige, 8'x10' · More Info

Or

Safavieh Natural Fiber Collection NF114 Rug, Natural/Beige, 10' Square · More Info

.?

Love the top rug. Thank you for the suggestion. I will try the rug in the dining room and see how it looks. Thank you again for the suggestions. The family consensus is that they do not want beige walls so i am really struggling with paint ugh

Ital- can i ask where that rug is from ?

click on the “more info” link to learn about the rug.

if you pick your drapes and upholstery first, and new rug if you get one, it will be much easier to pick a neutral wall color with the family.

Here’s another link with more pictures

Safavieh Florida Shag Sg462-1113 Rug, Cream/Beige, 8'0"x10'0" · More Info

I wanted to suggest you try something in your dining room. Move your 2 upholstered chairs from the ends of the table to face each other in the middle, and put 2 wooden chairs on the ends.

i would also move the candlesticks to the sideboard and while i know you are trying to update, i think a lace table cloth might look nice on your table

Snowflake 60x86 Tablecloth · More Info

And clip on mini shades for the chandelier

Double Trim Silk 3x5x4.5" Chandelier Shade, Bell, Champagne, Set of 6 · More Info

The very last thing to choose is paint, after absolutely everything else is done. Because you are holding paint samples against a green wall they look very different than they will look when the whole room is painted that colour. You do not want that surprise! Put up big sheets of white paper or paint a wall with white primer, then put the paint samples against that.

Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. I so appreciate everyone's your time and input :)