It should be a foregone conclusion that gray paint is not a good choice for a northfacing room.

@littlebug Zone 5 Missouri

Yes, I know that now. I painted that room 5 years ago before I learned about lighting, and everything involved with interior design. It was a very costly and time consuming task to paint that room, so I didn't have the luxury of changing it immediately upon learning my mistake. Everyone has to start somewhere though. Do you have any advice on what would help with increasing lighting in a north facing window? I think i stated in my post that i already decided to change the wall paint to something other than grey. Thanks

@Kendrah

Oh my gosh thank you soo much!!! I've been reading article after article for weeks now and have not found an answer as clear and helpful as this one! I really appreciate you taking the time to share all of that.

Unfortunately, I cannot swap out the couch. I could move it to a different area of my room that doesn't interfere with the window light at all. And yes ive been wanting to throw that rug away for a while now, I was just holding off until I figured out more of a plan for my living room so I can buy the best color rug for this space. I just haven't been able to figure it out until you laid it out for me. Thank you so much!!

I am unable to paint the ceiling unfortunately... i rent this apartment and the management said I could not repaint the ceiling- not sure why. They were completely okay with me painting all the walls in my apartment 🤷🏼‍♀️

Oh management. What can you do?

Once you paint and do other things, your sofa may look fine just where it is. You can also put a lighter throw with it to help lighten it up.

Exactly, it's an older apartment too. Like not old enough to have any cool structural vintage gems. I think its from 1950's so the living room has the super thin cheap hardwood floors, unfinished. And its a bright orange, yellow color. Its actually the color that sticks out the most in the apartment. I thought about resanding and finishing floors myself to try and mute the bold orange color that pops out but I looked up how long that would take and how much it would cost and it wouldn't be worth doing that for a place I don't own.

Then half the apartment (entry, bath, hall, and kitchen have that older brown/yellow geometric pattern vinyl floor that just catches your eye because there is so much going on in the design. And the colors in that floor makes the hardwood color look even more noticeable. And all the doors kitchen cabinets etc are that old honey-cherry red-orange oak wood that just get oranger the more time passes. And countertops are cheap top trying to look like quartz or marble but using the same awful color and spackled design the vinyl floor has. So every time I try to design my room, those colors are so prominent I can't figure out the colors that would make my place cohesive and relaxed. There are literally no pictures online or on any forums regarding other people having same issue as me. Can't find anyone else who has same terrible, cheap flooring and cabinet finishes. So I can never find any color ideas from other people who have same thing. Its a headache.

But yes, I could also look into buying a couch cover in different color but I can't find one that doesn't look tacky or dumpy. But I like your throw blanket and pillow idea.

I just moved into an apartment from the early 1950s. The only redeeming architectural factors are a slight curve where the walls meet the ceiling in the dining room and living room. And decent wood molding around the windows.

You could be daring and post some pics of your place in this thread. I'd be interested to see if I have any suggestions for inexpensive ways to tone down what you dislike about it. You will probably get some comments that will dive you nuts too, but you can always ignore those.

This apartment has new, tackly, cheap ass faux wood floors. Aside from looking awful, my dog's nails sound creepy on them too! I'm covering certain areas with Ikea jute rugs. It such a neutral floor covering, it just helps the place feel more finished and less icky!

I have floor lamps similar to Kendrah’s I got on Amzn and love them. They change brightness/color, dimmable, and not expensive.
Kendrah’s

Kendrah, I would love to post more pictures of this place. Literally I've been living here for 6 years and the entirety of living here I've been struggling trying to make my place look good or cohesive for me with regards to the things about the apartment that I can't change. If you want to help give me more advice I would love that!!!! That would be such a gift for me. I'll post more photos in a second.

And that's a cool feature you have for your apartment. I cant picture it but it sounds cool! Mine comes from the same time period but whoever built this had no vision or skill. Its just flat rectangular rooms using flooring that is NOT timeless, the windows aren't centered to the room either. Just drives me crazy.

And yes!!! Same with my dogs nails on the floor. Its so annoying. I developed a habit of wearing headphones and playing music when the tip tap scratch of my dogs nails continues for longer than a minute!

I will also give you a warning ahead of time. I've been trying to update my furniture pieces slowly, but been trying to be cost efficient and go grab stuff from garage sales, side of the road, second hand stores etc and I got ahead of myself thinking I could upcycle these furniture pieces to make them into something I actually like and are functional, but its a long process so in the pictures you'll see more furniture than necessary for the room. Or the style/color scheme does not work together at all and I am aware of that, but im just stuck figuring out what im going to upcycle the random into. But please dont hold back on telling me what pieces of furniture I should just not try with and give it away. A lot of furniture I have feels bulk and too short, or I hate the wood stain or the color of it. And now im just too overwhelmed with ideas or figuring out what to do that I can't seem to progress any more with my rearranging and design redo.

@ker9 you do?? I have looked up so many lamp styles and never came across that design until Kendrah wrote about it. And its exactly what I was looking for in terms of needing a floor lamp that directs light upward and isn't obstructing or directing the bulbs light through lamp shades. And i like its simple design. It works since I'll need to buy at least 3-4 of those just to give my living room enough light to combat most of the shadows casted in the living room. Is it the same brand or name of product that Kendrah linked or does it just look the same?

Thanks for the warning. I get it. I used to be an avid alley hunter and garbage picker. Until I moved to NYC and had to really slim down my possessions, a lot of my furniture was in some state of limbo. It is really hard to pass up a good find, especially when you are being cost aware and can imagine a free piece someday making sense in your space. But, I also know the overwhelm of having a home that looks like it is verging on a second hand store, or worse a junk yard. (At one phase of my life my favorite phrase was "One man's trash is another woman's dinner party.) Part of the fun/headache is borrowing furniture from different rooms. I presume you don't have any storage space - attic, basement, garage to stash extra pieces in?

I learned recently that my apartment building was designed by a wealthy man's son who was an architecture student. It certainly feels and looks like a student project!

I bought this one for a back room in 2021, currently have it in living room. There are more models now in every price range. OOFO Floor Lamp,30W/2400LM Sky LED Modern Torchiere

You may only need two of those lights. They are super bright. Get two and then see what you need.

Mine is dimmable so nice low yellow light or bright white, changes color temperature.

There are so many nice rugs that are inexpensive now. If you start with a rug for the living room, you can build around it. Then you’ll know what color throw to buy for the couch. Or you can work with the color of your couch.

My first couple of houses were furnished with garage sale + on the street pick-ups + hand me downs. But if you know what you like, there will be consistency in the look of each room. I like antiques and was able to get some really good looking stuff from my first mother-in-law’s basement. Luckily, this is flea market- garage sale season.

Also, most communities have a “large item” pick up day. I found a perfectly good couch that way and it was in the den of two houses before I gave it up. Go to the high end neighborhoods on that day. You might score a gorgeous marble topped antique table…. 😊

Painting the walls a creamy ivory ( it stark white) will make it easier to live with. If you don’t want to cover the couch but work with the warm chocolate color, here are some rugs from Wayfair.

Or something like this.

Put some lamps on your end tables, too. A lighter paint color ,a creamy ivory like RedRyder suggested would be so much nicer. Also a new rug, and then work from there. Lighting is what brightens a room.

@RedRyder these are gorgeous colored/patterned rug ideas - thank you so much!!!! In the process now of ordering a brand new rug that is larger too. Your ideas nailed it.

@RedRyder garage sales and forums/neighborhood posting sites are my favorite places to check out first when it comes to looking for furniture or knick knacks right now. I even come across a lot of great rugs/pillows/blankets/upholstered items but I always get nervous about the transfer of pests parasites, etc so I always stop myself from buying those things used.

@ker9 thank you so much for that lamp recommendation!!! It's on my list to buy today, credit card ready and all!

@Kendrah wow I live in upstate NY, but we have larger renting spaces (I assume). I read about NYC and how many people fit into one apartment and the space of each renters room sounds incredibly small where I can't imagine you have anything more than a bed and some type of nightstand or dresser that is either squished next to your bed or is underneath the bed serving as a bed frame and storage area. I would have to throw away all my furniture, but that would kind of be a nice reset. Like forcing yourself to get pieces that you really really like and are functional make sense with your space. I totally resonate with that quote. Unfortunately i have just come to realize my imagination for furniture pieces or diy upcylcling projects is wayy above my actual capabilities of performing and the cost of the other things or tools you need to do the projects is the same price if not more than the furniture piece i want to order online brand new. So my thrift store apartment 😆 has gotta change. I do have a storage closet in the basement. Its a small closet sized space in the apartment buildings unfinished, disgusting basement. The ceiling isn't even covered up/finished and apparently it floods frequently enough where the building manager told us to get protective cases or something to lift our items off the floor in the event the basement floods again. And it is filled up right now with seasonal items and a few of my siblings items they needed to store as well. So its at full capacity and basically means I don't have any available storage space. That's funny about the person who built your building 😆 so interesting that a student was able to experiment and build out their idea yet has no idea if that design was actually useful or good since im assuming he doesn't live in it so doesn't know the pros and cons of his building ideas.

Let me know if you find a rug at a garage sale. I’ve never been that lucky.

Keep in mind that antique rugs that are very expensive have been “used” - maybe by many people. All rugs can be cleaned, so if you see a winner and it’s a killer price, just add the cost of cleaning it and you’re good!

@RedRyder no I can confidently say I have never found a rug at a garage sale that was considered antique, like the old school oriental design, expensive antique rugs. I've only found like newer cheaper simple design rugs at garage sales where OG price was probably $200 for 6x8 or something similar.