Iplay, love your photos. Thanks. They were certainly add a lot of life to ten room.

Loved finding them. Who would think that one could take all those different pieces, from different times and come up with a room like that? Talented woman and she probably did it al either from the rug or the painting.

Okay, now that I know the room is a porch, that the walls are not knotty pine, that the chaise lounge and sofa can't face each other,--and that you don't have a hernia!!!! here are some thoughts:

--You will be taking all of the furniture out of the room when you paint it, right? That's when you can decide what to bring back in. See suggestions below for what to keep or ditch.

--Paint the walls in that Sherwin Williams Topsail someone recommended upthread. But make sure it's a pale, pale tint of one of the blues in your lovely painting over the coach.

--Add a long, wide indoor/outdoor rug that coordinates with your pale blue walls. I see a tiny bit of red in your beautiful art work, so maybe an earthy red and sand pattern. There are several at Overstock.com

What to ditch:

. alas, the amazing chaise lounge.
. the lampshade on the reading lamp. Replace with a crisp white shade.
. every chair but the two that have arms.
. one of your two end tables.
. the light fixture over the dining table.
. Knick knacks that don't mean anything to you.
. All the clutter in the entryway including the cabinet

--What to keep:

. the couch--no need to reupholster. As others have suggested, just get patterned and solid pillows and a cozy throw in colors from the painting above it, blues, maybe a red and cream pattern.
. the dining set. Yes, it's dark and old-fashioned, but with newly painted walls, bright rug and pillows on the couch, some new lighting fixtures and shades, the table and chairs will look fine.
. the two wooden chairs with arms facing the couch as they do now.
. the little round table
. the existing shades
. milk glass lamp
. the floor lamp

--What to add:

. Build a window seat under those windows along the far wall. Have it built the depth of thick outdoor Sunbrella cushions you can find at Overstock, Home Depot, Lowe's. The Martha Stewart line has a line of outdoor cushions at Lowe's I think. Pick Sunbrella cushions that go with your color scheme--the painted walls and painting over the couch, the indoor/outdoor rug, or just sand colored. Put the floor lamp with the new white shade and the little round table next to the window bench. This is your reading/gazing out-the-window nook.

. Hang a big, round white paper shade over the dining table, or one of the Ikea lamps listed below

. Stackable side tables on the right side of the couch. Pull them out when people want to put down food and drinks if they’re sitting on the couch. Overstock carries different kinds. I see them at thrift shops all the time. Old-fashioned is okay because it’s a cottage porch, not Trump Towers.

. thrift shop coffee table or wooden bench that you paint dark red or white to connect the two chairs under the window.

--How to arrange everything:

. You need an uncluttered entryway to set the mood of the porch. Remove all the clutter you have in the entryway from the walls and floor, all of it. Instead, replace the existing cabinet with the oak cabinet that was under the window. Find a nice old oak mirror to go over it. It will reflect all the light from the rest of the room. If you must, put a coat rack in the corner there—easy to find nice old ones at thrift shops. Or add a row of wall hooks where your coats are hanging in the photo and maybe a bench below. Put baskets underneath the bench to stow whatever you’ve been tossing in the entryway.

. Keep the couch where it is with a cozy throw over the back and 3-4 modern pillows coordinated with the painting above the couch—soft, light blues and dark reds in patterns and solids.

. Put the wooden arm chairs across from the couch and angled a bit towards each other. Since I’m suggesting that you move the oak cabinet to the porch entryway, find a nice old narrow window bench to put between the chairs. Or an old trunk. No need to put a thing on it. It’s just there to connect the chairs, for people to put down drinks, to sit for extra seating.

Summary:

--walls painted in Topsail or some other pale beachy color with crisp white trim and existing shades

--uncluttered entryway with a coat rack, oak cabinet, oak mirror, wall hooks on the wall, bench with storage baskets for spillover items.

--Long and wide indoor/ outdoor rug under table and chairs in geometric pattern that coordinates with new wall color—earthy red and sand pattern.

--dining area with white Asian paper shade. (Ikea has some great hard-wired inexpensive, beach pendants. The Maskros, Knappe, Fillsta, the large Vate would all be great choices. Many of them can be ordered via Amazon if you don't have Ikea near you.)

--existing couch right where it is with contemporary patterned and solid pillows and color coordinated throw on the back.

----stackable side tables to the right of the couch to pull out as needed.

--smaller of your two end tables on the left with white hobnail lamp on it.

--your two wooden armchairs flanking the windows and facing the couch with a small bench or rectangular coffee table in earthy red between the chairs.

--built-in window bench at far end of the room. Use Sunbrella seat cushions that coordinate with other colors. Place floor lamp with new white shade and existing low round table in the corner of the window bench.







.

Thank you so much House Gal for your creative thoughts! Simply amazing. I agree that the coat area needs re-vamping. I was also thinking about moving the wash stand there. Love the idea about coat hooks too. I was thinking of putting a narrow table between the chairs but love the idea of a bench....much more useful and would fit into the space beautifully. I like the idea of the seats in Sunbrella fabric. The chaise is very uncomfortable. Maybe I could sell it. The mirror idea is fabulous too. Thank you so much for your help. I agree that emptying the room will really help me get a focus. I will post more pictures as I get going. The lighting does need updating too. I like the look of the dining table but it is too awkward to sit mire than 4 people comfortably. I want a narrower table. It is 44 inches wide and a tight fit in the awkward space we have. It has been in the cottage since the 50's when my in laws bought it. I have attached photos so you can see the tight squeeze we have here. The 2 people who will sit at the end of the table have to straddle the legs. I would like to have something with possibly a pedestal or something that has wheels. Thank you so much again. I really appreciate your assistance.

Hi house gal...another idea..do you think we could use this wood box as the bench.

I'm not sure whether you mean the box to go in the entryway as a bench or the bench I suggested between the two chairs. It might be too deep and bulky between the two chairs, but you'll have to try it out. It could work in the entryway, in which case leave the oak cabinet between the two armchairs under the window. Then look for a big mirror that complements the wooden box in the entryway. You can still have your coatrack, and coat peg thing in the entryway. Maybe put one of your nice old fashioned wooden chairs next to the box.

Use Craigslist to sell your chaise lounge. Make sure you have great, well lit photos. Put your lamp beside it and the little round table and maybe a book opened on it. Provide dimensions.

Consider getting a round dining table with leaves you can add when you have more than four people. The room is long and angular and so are many pieces of furniture. You want to have a little contrast in shapes. Round tables give you room to move around. You need 36" or so between a table and a wall. A great look these days is to have a colored table--say white--with mismatched wooden chairs. I've found things like that by checking Craigslist every day: "round white table" or "nesting side tables." Keep searching. You can sell the existing table by itself. Keep some of the chairs in other rooms, or even put one by the wooden entryway box. Pull them to the table when you have company.

Here are a couple indoor/outdoor rugs, along with the Topsail chip Carolins recommended. The red would tie in the painting better, but might be a little too dark for all your wood furniture. Both rugs are from Overstock.com. I think approximately 8" x 12" so it would about cover the room over your other rug. Then tan seat cushions for the window bench if you go that route.

So get stuff out. Paint. Get a rug that coordinates with your painting and the paint you pick. Bring pieces in one by one as people have suggested. You can add the window bench down the road.

I think you are right. A bench will look better between the chairs. It would be more open and airy as compared to the wooden wood box. I will start checking Craigslist etc for round dining tables with leaves. A great idea to mix shapes in the room. Again, thank you so much house gal! I do want to move the wash stand. A lot to think about. Fun times!

I would put the settee kitty corner and put the extra small chairs in the dining room (corners maybe?) and pull the other chair away from the wall a little and slanted to face the couch. I would not put anything in front of the window to block the view.

I love all your furniture

Help again please. Not sure about the topsail blue colour for the walls. Any other suggestions are most welcome. The topsail blue is pretty but am just not sure.

Yeah it's not cluttered. Add pretty flowers and move the furniture around a bit. It seems cozy to me. And pillows

Black and cottage don't go together!

think shabby chic.....I'm with Janelle on this one---if your not attached to some of the pieces paint them in a distressed way

Hi again, laurinordin. You can go a couple ways with color. Bring your painting to the paint store and find the palest blue in the painting and match it to your walls. Do the trim, and all the lighting fixtures in crisp white. I find it helpful to buy posterboard to try out colors. (I went through six yellows in my sunroom and EIGHT whites for the rest of our house.) Different light conditions change the color. Many colors look darker than planned.

Another way to go in a sunroom is to go with white walls and a blue ceiling. That's a tradition that's popular in outdoor porches in the South. I happen to have a painted blue ceiling in my sunroom--Benjamin Moore Polar Frost. I don't recommend any yellows for your room because of your dark furniture. That's why I picked up on Carolyn's Topsail. But you can start with white and get all your colors in your rug. I still vote for the lightest blue you can get from your painting. Topsail looked as if it was a match to some of the waves in the back of the painting.

Here's my sunroom though it's hard to see the blue ceiling. The light fixture is the great Maskros $39 Ikea pendant, though I ordered through Amazon. The rest of the furniture is old stuff I painted. The wool rug, which I only have in winter over earthen tiles, was a steal from Overstock.com

Love your sunroom. I agree that yellow would not work in my room but clearly works in your sunroom. I will take my picture into a paint store for advice.

White walls and light blue ceiling will be luvly :-)

Okay, a bit grand, but it gives you an idea:

Hello houzzers, could anyone recommend a wall colour other than blue or yellow? Thanks.

I'm suggesting a bright kelly green for the walls to freshen up the whole space with some muted grey patterns to tone it down. Here are some fabric suggestions for curtains and re-upholstering. The flowered one for curtains, the retro one for the chair and the grey one with birdcages for the couch. The settee is very ornate so I suggest reupholstering it in a simple crisp white twill fabric.

To replace the table and chairs I went with budget-friendly IKEA. This table is more country but the grey upholstered chairs make it more cottage-chic (and they're very comfortable!). I thought this rope chandelier added a rustic touch along with a simple patterned sisal rug in either grey to tie in the fabrics or natural to tie in the chandelier.

Hi Laurie. It's a long time since I've contributed here but I thought I'd chip in on wall colour. Your picture has some subtle greens in the background, and of course there is the green outside for your room to talk to. How about something like this? (Sorry, not a paint colour, just digitally created.)

Looks like a Maine Woods cottage to me. The chaise could be spectacular in the right place and with the right upholstery. Re-upsholstering is done with a heavy-duty staple gun. Then you hot glue trim to cover. Unless, of course, the innards are in bad shape. Sprung springs or sagging spots take more work.

If the dining table is uncomfortable, it's probably because the chairs are the wrong height. Your box will make a decent bench as long as it is the right height, length and has cushion. Otherwise, it will look like a make-do.

Paint will work wonders for lightening up, so will pruning. The chances are small trees have grown into huge behemoths. You can probably remove some. If you can't you can raise the canopy --- removing lower limbs.

Thank you Lydia, Sigrid and Rina. You are all very creative. The settee or the "fainting couch" is really uncomfortable so I will need a professional to look at it. Several people have told me to sell it but am not sure I can part with it. We are considering either a round table with extensions or the reclaimed flatiron table from restoration hardware. I am looking on kijjiji and online as well.

Got these cushions. Started the priming.

Ah... good to hear from you. Nice cushion. The lighter walls already look better and it's only the primer coat :-) Great!
Came across this picture the other day and it reminded me of your room:

See how those colours are the same as the ones in your pillows?

Thank you. I will finish priming the walls. Then the ceiling gets painted. Will keep things updated. Having a great time with this project.

An update...trim still needs to be done.

Another pic

Wow what an update! Looking forward to seeing the finished room :)

That room is looking so "yar" as Bing Crosby once said to Grace Kelly about a sailboat in "High Society." I'm curious about the wall color you went with. It looks lovely with your lake painting and the sand and red of your couch and pillows.

The paint colour is behr. Sandstone cove. It is very neutral. I could have even gone a bit darker.

Love it. So much brighter. The change a lick of paint can make :-)

It looks wonderful. The accent colour in the cushions is a touch of genius. Well done.

Just re-painted it in Natural linen by benjamin Moore. Has a little more depth and contrasts the ceiling better.

Lookin'good!

This will be my last post until the spring as we are closing our cottage this weekend. Here are the fabrics I have chosen. The sales staff at Designer Fabrics in Toronto helped with the selection. Furniture will be upholstered over the winter

The stripes will go on the fainting couch. The light fabric will go on the couch along with the vinyl to keep it retro looking. The slightly darker fabric and vinyl will go on the chair.
Thank you all for your great suggestions. Have a healthy winter. Will post the finished product in April.

Love your choices. You (and we) won't recognize your cottage in April.
Hope you have a good winter too. Thanks for keeping us updated :-)

Nobody mentioned that the chaise is probably an "East Lake" style and could likely sell for some good money. You might want to finance the Reno with what you get for it?!!

There has been lots of debate about whether to sell the fainting couch or not. For some reason, I can't seem to part with it.

If you love it, don't. I really like the textured finish on the other sofa and hope you'll consider keeping it.
Since the floor's linoleum, have you thought about painting it? It's oil based and should hold paint well. You've got the whole winter to figure out a pattern!
Look forward to seeing your finished project in the spring.

Thank you. The floor has a neutral Berber type carpet over the old linoleum tiles. The new fabric for the couch has a nice texture to it as well. I was going to leave it but family members wanted it re-done.

The carpet looks great- misunderstood a prior post and thought you were looking for options. The fabrics you've chosen are beautiful as well, and I love the pillows!

Thank you brickln. Will post updates in the spring!

Just to update you. Thank you all for your help. I need to put something over the chest at the end. When I get time, I am going to paint the chest. Any ideas are welcome.

Oh wow! The settee is gorgeous!!!! You did a fab job. I love how light and bright the cottage looks now. Love the colours you chose.

Progress!

It's looking great. Thanks for the update.