Home layout...

And the sofa she loves...

Just as an added bit of fun info, here's my dad's favorite look for a living room...

Rustic Living Room · More Info

And here's mom's...

Spring House · More Info

MerryHill Living Room · More Info

Eclectic Living Room · More Info

Now the question is, how do you combine these into something cohesive?!

PS: I realize that the rooms in their new home don't have any of these amazing architectural details.

They are in their mid-70s and retired, short on cash... but this is their last home and I really want them both content, happy, comfortable, and loving life in it. They've led incredibly hard lives and deserve these golden years to be wonderful.

Any thoughts on what we can do to work with what we've got would be appreciated. :)

The only fixed element that strikes me as at all rustic is the fireplace. I think your mom can decorate with her girly traditional furniture to her hearts content. It might non make Dad happy, but it doesn't sound like his tastes are driving the bus here. Maybe pull in a beige animal print rug for him, and a leather arm chair with cabriole legs.

As a woman, I'm sad to say my style is closer to your dad's. Sorry no help.

Congratulations on the new house. We are in the planning phase of a forest/mountain home and I have more or less the same dilemma myself. In our case, the solution is a rustic - industrial etc etc living room with a more traditional bedroom and a wabi-sabi minimal study room that may also function as a guest bedroom. In this bedroom, I will go with a sofa bed - shame, lol!- so that I can use this room as my home library, private sanctuary etc. It may not be the best for our guests - we are not planning to have that many- but it gives us a chance to actively use every inch of our home and have something akin to our dream rooms. I do understand that this is not exactly cohesive, and not everyone's cup of tea.

For a more cohesive style, I would say the British cottage style can handle almost all elements of decor because it is eclectic in itself and has a lived-in feel. I would invest in some faux beams to the living room for a rustic feel - perhaps brown for contrast or light for blending in- and I might even have an accent wall - maybe the fireplace wall- painted a saturated colour. The rest can represent your mother's taste. This way, there may be a cozy fireplace corner for Dad maybe. Laura Ashley's style may be an inspiration - she has lots of beige, cream, duck egg and white rooms as well as saturated reds, a mix of colours etc.

Looking forward to your future posts.

Not easy! I’m wondering if your dad would be happy with only a few rustic elements; maybe he just needs cozy and inviting and for your mom, a touch of whimsey, with feminine touches.

Picking up on the rusty brown in the fabric, add a comfy rust leather couch, add lots of patterns in room, your mom‘s favourite light and rustic tables for your dad.

Another idea, if there is a den, maybe decorate that room for your dad and living room for your mom.

My thoughts are similar to Colwell Consulting, but I would add:

- how many people for dining?

- more photos of patio with fireplace -- looks like an overhang in living room photos

- does your Mom want to keep the upholstery on that sofa

- budget constraints would be very helpful

- if budget allows, if utility room door were moved to entryway, you'd gain a 7-ft wall for furniture, which would be helpful.

- climate?

- which slider is used to access the patio and exterior fireplace

- TV desired in this room

I think adding a cowhide to bring a rustic side will work with your mother's victorian sofa. Add wood rustic coffee table and end tables. Add two slim line recliners in leather for your dad. Accessories such as window treatments, pillows and art will bring the room together. Go slowly, trial and error. Post as you go along. Would love to see how this room comes together.

Transitional Living Room · More Info

Colorado mountain towns are full of old Victorian houses. If you do some Googling along these lines, you might find some rooms that would give you inspiration for combining some traditional and modern or rustic elements.

Your mom's sofa doesn't really look like any of the styles that you showed as "hers". Would she be open to having it reupholstered? Or is it the fabric that she loves? Be aware that it would probably be more expensive than buying a new one.

If she doesn't view the fabric as "precious" then you could go funky for much less cost. For example, paint the fabric of the back to the solid gray of the background. Yes, you can paint fabric but often it's not comfortable to sit on. The back wouldn't matter. Then reupholster the seat only, in a velvet of the same colour. This is the idea. https://www.wildchairy.com/furniture

@Angelique How wonderful that you’re helping your parents with this project. Can’t offer you much in way of help with merging their polar opposite styles but I wondered if one of the two smaller bedrooms will be a den /office / TV room? Maybe that room could be dedicated to dad's style & comfort & he could pick most furnishings? Of course, there needs to be comfortable seating in LR for him & everyone else. As cute as your mom's fave couch is, I'm not sitting on it for long! It would be great in the Master BR by that FP in there. What is the 6’+ square room behind the master closet? Another closet? wondering why not one big room.

Something to think about if it’s not already at top of mind - your parents are in mid 70's - ability to age in place is critical & I assume was factored in to purchase decision on this house. Any changes made should pass the ease of use test.. doorknob change? look at lever handles, rug placement, consider trip hazards, bathroom updates - taller toilets, lighting - add more -furniture - less is better for less clutter - you get the drift.

Good luck with your project with your parents & I hope you have fun with it & them!

If they are anything like my parents and in-laws, two comfortable recliners or his and hers armchairs are going to be their most important pieces of furniture for the living room as they will be spending many hours in them. I would start with those and work around them (side tables, lamps, etc) and see what other furniture if any will fit in living room after that. As far as combining rustic with glam, you can look for inspiration in photos of mountain ski houses. Use light colored chenille or velvet upholstery and curtains, metal or wood tables, sheepskin in front of fireplace, fur throws, maybe a touch of leather somewhere (ottomans, light colored Moroccan pouf), glamorous lighting, large art.

Can they have 2 living rooms?? LOL.

know the rugs are gone from the listing photos, but damn...what trip hazards!! So many small rugs!

Since they are short on cash, the easiest thing to do is move what they have into the new house. Let them live with the house for a few months to see what they really need. The ordering time for new furniture can be several months or longer nowadays. @ginatay124 is right about the recliners.

If they must have the house painted before moving in, choose a classic off white from the best local paint store, whatever brand it happens to be, because chances are excellent that it will go well with the existing warm wood floors and most new furniture that looks good with the floors. In my area, the pre-mixed, off the shelf colors are easily the most popular (Swiss Coffee, Cottage White, White Dove, Navajo White, and so on). Shoji White is a great choice, too.

It is perfectly okay to bow out if you are overwhelmed. Or you can postpone your active involvement for a few months. Sometimes what people really need immediate help with when moving in is getting things unpacked and squared away- arranging the kitchen shelves and drawers, hanging the artwork, putting up a birdfeeder at the kitchen window, adding nightlights in halls and bathrooms, hanging the shower curtains, buying new door mats for front and back doors, plugging in the lamps behind the bed, and so on.

@apple_pie_order agree! Considering they're in retirement, fund restricted and already short on cash. Instead of spending money right away, let them live in the home to see it's personality and then make changes.

You all are so incredibly helpful!! Sincerely appreciate every response here, thank you so much!

A little bit more on our situation: The home was purchased by my husband and I; we'd saved up for it because my parents wanted a home of their own as opposed to living with us indefinitely (they'd been living with us, in our home, for a couple of years). They are both in love with this place... but it truly does need a lot of work to make it clean/livable. They are both on disability and don't have much of their own cash for anything other than food... everything done to this house, and all furniture purchased for it, is entirely on us.

That being the case, we won't be doing any extensive remodeling. Just cosmetic clean up and then gradual updating overtime.

I really do feel very overwhelmed, just because of how incredibly different their tastes are, and how adamant they each seem to be on getting their own way... haha! I do get it -- they're excited to be in a home of their own. This is the first home they'll own; they'd always rented prior to moving into our house. I'm super excited and happy for them, and sincerely wanting them both to love their space. The thing is, that combo seems to be impossible to get right - they are polar opposites... lol!

Some of their old furniture from the last apartment is still in storage. Right now, I'm thinking they'll move into this place with that, and we'll then figure it out as we go from there.

I did paint several samples of paint (all SW) on one of the walls today, and brought them both out to take a look and choose on. The good news, is that they seemed to agree on one!! The bad news... it was my least favorite... figures!

They chose Welcome White by SW. It's an off white, which is fine... but it's much more orange/pink/peachy than I'd wanted. And darker, too. Oh well... it's their place, and they should be happy with it. Here's what that looks like, and the entire home will be painted this color next week. It'll at the very least look clean... can't wait for that! :)

The goal is to have them moved in by the new year. I'm thinking we'll take the next month to continually look through photos for ideas so we can have a solid goal in mind, and then start gradually working toward that goal. I'll keep this thread going and think it should be fun to see what comes of their space. :)

A couple of other things:

They have no rugs at all, and both like those. Trying to help them settle on a style they both like that'll work with the end goal. Any ideas to that end would be great.

And chandeliers. Dad is REALLY wanting an antler chandelier in the living room. Mom is willing to potentially let him have that, if she can have her more modern, glass chandelier over the dining room table. I don't know how I feel about these two in the same space together... any thoughts?

Another item they don't have, is a dining table/chairs. We'll need to buy this asap, and it'll have to be some sort of an extendable option, because we do have family on the other side of the country that comes to visit. When we all gather, it's not unusual to have 20 people in the house... I realize there isn't a table that would allow for that many people while still fitting in that dining space, but still, the more people fit, the better off they'll be. I'll post a photo of the dining area, as well.

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!! <3

Patricia Colwell Consulting: Lovely space, love it!! Thank you for sharing the photos and your thoughts. :)

KW: Some wonderful, practical advice in your post - thank you for your thoughts. The home was purchased primarily due to the fact that there isn't a single step to be found anywhere; they are both with many health concerns, and I know it's only a matter of time before they'd have some major issues navigating around.

ginatay124: Haha! Couldn't agree more! The entire time they'd been living with us, comfort has been the most important factor. Recliners will be a must!!

Anna (6B/7A in MD): YES! Those rugs drove me nuts when we went to see the place. Not sure what the thought process was behind the ones in the hallway! Wish there was space for another living room, too... but unfortunately, not an option. =-/

I would absolutely have the antler chandelier and the sputnik chandelier in the same room. Because that's what they want and there's no reason they shouldn't have it. Yes it will be more eclectic than the usual Houzz or Pinterest matchy-matchy professionally photographed masterpieces. But it's more important that they are happy where they live.

Let's remember that the standard Houzz answer to "My daughter wants to paint all all 4 walls and ceiling hot pink - what should I do?" is "It's her room, let her do what she wants." That should be the same answer here, as long as they are OK with "you can have your X as long as I can have my Y".

@Angelique - you and your wonderful husband have my utmost admiration. Your parents must also be admirable people to have raised such a generous and caring daughter. It’s one thing to be in a position to help family and quite another to actually provide the help.

A thought for your consideration when furniture shopping. In my area, a mid sized metropolitan place, a good source of higher quality furnishings is estate sales and furniture consignment stores. The stores are usually very well merchandised, inventory turns quickly as prices on items drop every 30 days or so and they mostly will accept only gently used pieces.

I look forward to following your progress via your posts!

Kathy

Here are a couple of directions to consider. Replace the mantel with something like this and wash the stone, letting mom have her cute chintz cottage sitting room. Dad can do a rustic man cave in the back bedroom.

Indian Hills Living Room · More Info

Or you can combine an eclectic look with her Victorian tastes and some manly rustic decor like the mount, antlers chandy, leather footstool and some masculine looking art.

Rocky Mountain Retreat · More Info

Or let her have the majority of seating pieces and then add more masculine/rustic casegoods.

1905 Victorian Cottage Living Room in Katy TX · More Info

Just here to say you’re an amazing daughter!! I love how your parents’ are polar opposite in their styles! It actually made me laugh out loud! Im
Glad you’ll be updating this post with your progress! I’ll be following:).

You and your husband are gems! I agree with everything @Ac Lb said, and @apple_pie_order and @partim too. I'll be following your progress.

Following.

decoenthusiaste: Those images are great, thanks for the ideas - the middle one is especially fabulous. Love everything about it, that's really up my personal alley... haha!

Thank you all for your kind words and support... this journey hasn't been the easiest, but they're deserving of our help and we truly want to see them happy in their new place. :)

KW: You are so right, estate sales are a major source of furnishings for me and always have been just because I love finding pieces I couldn't get elsewhere. Mom is a fan of some things we've come across. Currently on the hunt for a dining table/chairs. Checking out our local consignment stores for those.

Also, another development, dad has finally convinced mom to let go of her curvy black floral sofa!! We sold it last week and she's putting that money away for a new leather sofa they'll buy down the line. They do have a matching burgundy sofa and chair (I'll post pics once they've been moved into the home) that they'll be using for the time being.

The home is currently being painted! Final choice for all over paint color ended up being Casa Blanca by SW. Here it is:

Kitchen cabinets are being sanded down and are currently being repainted as well, as the paint that was on the cabinets was pretty scratched up. One day, I hope to save up enough to gut that kitchen and replace the cabinets... but at this point, a refresh will have to do.

Colors chosen for the kitchen cabinets from my narrowed down options (primarily by mom, who's super opinionated and tough to argue with lol), are as follows:

SW Dover White for top cabinets:

SW Clary Sage for bottom cabinets:

Another decision made so far, is for the dining area chandelier: Dad annexed mom's original sputnik idea, but they agreed upon this simple fixture:

Now, the trouble is, since she couldn't have her sputnik, she's not agreeing with his antlers for the living room (LOL), so we're stuck without a decision where that chandelier is concerned.

Upon walking into the home, both lighting fixtures will be visible as they're in the same space.

Any recommendations/ideas as to what may work with the overall theme taking shape so far, that would work with the above chandelier?

I'm thinking either two of the same fixtures, or another that's very different in shape. Some thoughts would be appreciated. :)

Hope everyone's enjoying what's left of the week! <3

I'm with @partim regarding the French sofa. Get it re-upholstered--maybe with a solid jewel-tone velvet. An emerald green would work nicely with the paint colors you've shown us.

Use it as the main piece, then add more transitional lounge chairs to go with:

Living Room · More Info

East London Apartment · More Info

2 of the same fixtures.