Hi. Sorry you're a victim of the spam post above; very irritating. I'd love to see more pics of the room. Clearly the fireplace needs a complete rethink, and the TV doesn't look too comfortable next to it -- but where to go from there is hard to say without pictures of all the angles of the room.

Oh gosh, that spam comment is interesting... but please ignore it :-D
As Rina already mentioned, we do need more photos of the room. You can attach them if you click in the comment box under here and use the attach images button that magically appears. You can attach 4 pics at a time.
Good luck :-)

Hi, thanks for your replies. Not the spam one, lucky me first time I do this and get spammed. Carpet that's down in odd way is because my dog is old and it w pod en floor made it hard for him to walk on it s o put this down temporarily to make it easy for him. Thanks again for your time.

Float your sofa out in front of the FP and remove some of the pillows. Re-style your shelves with 1/3 books (standing and lying down) 1/3 large decor items and 1/3 open space.

Hi again. Now my question is, to what extent do you want to change the room? New colours, drapes, etc, totally new look and feel? Or adjust what you already have -- and I'm thinking particularly about the curtains, which are fabulous and joyous but rather overwhelming in what looks like a small space, and would of course limit your colour choices. I think the fireplace does need transforming, but does your budget allow for major changes, or minor?

Your fireplace that is now red is good as a color, but probably wants to be a neutral tone - something chocolate to echo the sofas is probably better than something to echo the cheery curtains. Here's a great color http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6083-sable/
That is going to make a good change. Red and white are terrific with chocolate, so your instincts are headed in the right direction. You may want to use silver tones tohelp tie in the gray on the curtains - unify all your metals around silver if you keep the curtains. Some simple graphic red and white pillows, one terrific piece of art with earth tones and some red, then you would have something stronger. Editing your shelves, and reworking your existing things on the wall - they are a bit high and lonely. You can use a big red mat on a smaller image to make it big enough for the spot you have w/out spending a ton. Finally, I can see why the drapery graphic was appealing, but since it has charcoal / gray in it, you might want to add a pair of chocolate ribbon trim on the gray bandings with fabric glue.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me with my living room dilemma, I really appreciate it. I'm happy to redo curtains, cushions, carpet ect a d I'm not entirely happy with black tv unit although my OH thinks its perfect, making me think, is it me. This is so helpful.

Hello Renewme. Great to know you're open to major change. I started work on the drawing below on the assumption you might want to keep the curtains, so I drew a soft version of the green from them. I'm thinking it would probably be best to paint the whole room, fireplace and all, in one colour. Either a soft colour such as this green, or a neutral. Also, the little hearth shelf on the fireplace seems to me more of a nuisance than anything else, so the minimum "construction" you'd need there, I think, is to box that in. For the rest, I've so far decluttered the shelves and put the stuff that was on the floor in a wicker work storage box -- you could have two or three of those there, depending on what fits. Great storage, neat, and they "hold" that bottom space by adding weight to it. The inaccessible ones behind the sofa could hold things you rarely need access to.

I didn't reframe your picture because there was anything wrong with the frame, it was just the easiest way to get it to hang straight. Mind you, I quite like the simple frame.

The afternoon is getting on where I am and I've promised to work on a picture for another dilemma, so I'll probably check in tomorrow and see who else has chimed in. For a major change -- have you thought broadly what styles of room you like? I checked your page and I see you haven't put an idea book together yet.

PS -- It seems your existing carpet isn't wall-to-wall. What shape is the floor in? Would you want wall-to-wall, or to show more floor and get a smaller rug? I like w-to-w in a small room, I think it gives a feeling of space.

Can you post a floor plan or more pictures that help us see where the second couch is? Afraid the whole room isn't really coming together in my mind enough to help you. Is your room rather long and narrow?

Hi again. I made the drawing above very simple, just to give you a cleared deck, as it were. But having done it I'm thinking that this fireplace would look good in stacked stone, which isn't something I would normally think of. It would still have the opening affect of single-colour walls all round if you picked a neutral from the soft stone colours for the walls. Is that a possibility?

Thank you all. Thanks Rina for taking the time to change the wall etc or me to actually see. You've all given me ideas and motivation to do something about the place, I'm actually spending a lot of time but hating it. So still open to help, but I'll make a start and keep you posted. First up change wall colour.

You got me thinking with the stacked wall, don't know if brave enough to do real stone, had something like that years ago, and to be honest it did cross my mind again, but on the back of your comment looked up brick effect wallpaper and murals, they get good comments, what do you think???

Well, we just have to get you to un-hate it. It really could be the most exquisitely snug room. I'm working on an ideas board for you, based on neutrals and coming soon. Look at wall colours, but don't make any decisions until you have made decisions on things that are harder to find in specific colours -- just get yourself an idea of the direction you want to go in for now.

I haven't had personal experience with brick effect wallpaper and murals -- they're not exactly commonplace here (in Johannesburg) in any domestic usage.

Thank you. You see, often when you ask friends they don't want to offend you and therefore don't really give accurate comments. This is helpful.

Okay, here it is. I hope I haven't confused things, but I've tried to show how the neutrals could be accented differently, depending on what you want. If you cover the left with your hand, you'll see the warming effect of the red -- which might be a particularly good idea, as I think you still have the red poppy curtaining in the dining room? Cover the red cushion and you see the cooling effect that teal would have. Cover both and you can see how gold poshes the whole thing up. You could choose almost any colour to go with this neutral palette, and you could go more or less formal as you like. I had a purple vase in there too, and it looked great but it really did make the whole thing look very confusing.

Oh, not fair not to say where I found this stuff. Accessories from zgallerie.com, carpet from http://www.egecarpets.com/carpets/wall-to-wall-carpets/soft-dreams-lux-grey-beige.aspx?PID=1596, picture from http://www.allposters.com/-st/Art-Posters_c41632_p2_.htm, red cushion from Target ... and I'm blowed if I remember where the two curtaining samples came from. The fireplace came from http://freshome.com/2012/03/09/30-stone-fireplace-ideas-for-a-cozy-nature-inspired-home/. Prices of these items no doubt vary widely. For some I was scared to look (eg that luscious carpet). However the cushion and art poster are both very reasonable, I think. So there's always a way to get the look without raiding a bank. I do hope the colours come out more or less right when I attach this. Some are quite subtle.

What a clot I am, I thought I hadn't attached it yet. Yes, colours close enough for the purpose.

Room from different angles

Wow, Rina your a star, thank you for putting all the time and effort for me. I like what you've suggested, funnily enough Teal/greens are my other favourite colour along with reds. By the way reason for terrible looking carpet arrangement is purely because I have an old dog who can't walk on wooden floor and I wasn't sure if it was worthwhile buying good carpet, because he can be sick at times and thought I'd hold off, but so sick of my space I know I need to replace and hope for the best. You've done a great job it all looks good. Even size of ornaments. I'm going take all that on board and see what I can do. Have a look at your sites and mood board. Thank you again for doing that.

A floor plan with measurements would be helpful, but with these extra photos, I can see a couple of problems right away. You don't have much clearance between the door and that love seat. At the same time, that love seat is right up against the shelves which obscures them and limits their usefulness.

The second love seat is shoved back in an alcove which removes it from the flow of the room. So...I'd say reconfiguring the furniture is the first thing to do.

I'd replace the sofa in front of the window with a single chair, perhaps one with an ottoman that can do double duty as a coffee table. Pull the second sofa out of the alcove and completely onto the carpet, far enough so there is room to walk behind it from the front door.

The alcove can hold a console table and some art, and maybe a big bowl where you can drop your keys when you come home.

Then I would do something like this in the alcove after moving the love seat out.

Hi again. I'm glad you found that useful, and that Groveraxle has tackled the furniture orientation etc of the room. I'm not too bright spatially, unless I'm actually in the room. I think you can happily use the teals as your major accent, and bring in smaller touches of red as well.

Give your dog an ear scratch for me. I so sympathise. I've been there, and have foolishly now put in a smooth floor in the non-bedrooms -- well I will have if the contractor comes in and fixes the mess this week -- and that has left my ageing dog with nowhere comfortable to lie when he's at the front door watching for dogs walking past, and little comfort in general. So I have to think now of how and where and what size of rugs to put in. He's sleeping on a folded blanket near me right now.

Are the loveseats the same size or is one larger than the other? If the one in the alcove is smaller, you might be able to flip them to give more space to the entry area. Or, you might do better to send one of them to a bedroom / office and add back two chairs. Always challenging when the path through a room helps make it a lot more linear. You've got more input which is great. Adding teal and keeping what you have won't make sense - if you add teal, you need to change curtains - that is a lot of red going on and if you keep them you need to repeat it in some places that aren't the fire wall.

Hi Libradesigneye. As I understand it, Renewme wants to change the room completely -- curtains go, repaint (including fireplace, which I'm hoping she might refinish with stone), recarpet etc. We were looking at a neutral background, and I was thinking she could use teal with that -- and, if she wanted to, place a couple of small red accents, as teal and red are her favourite colours and there's red in the adjoining dining room. Less dominant than the cushions in the board I made, probably. So the room would be predominantly cool and calm, with little zaps of warmth. Would that work, do you think?

I'm enjoying the furniture placement comments.

Robins egg blue and red are a combo that really takes the right fabric to pull off - can be done. Love the idea of robins egg with the brown - stone on the fireplace would need to be pale linen / camel to bridge white travertine surround and deep brown furniture ideally and turn sides back for "chimney" but coherent color story will not come from teal here, red there unless bridging fabric introduced somewhere. Not too many options robins egg blue / plus red. Look first before you leap . . .

Here are a few rooms that combine reds and blues in interesting ways -- not that I expect you to put baronial panelling on the walls. In the first one it appears that the art has been used to tie the colours together, though at one size I find the colour in the art is blue, and at another size it looks green.

In the second, the art is the red. Full stop. I do find this bright robin's egg and red a bit alarming, but I'm a ninny. And Libradesigneye is right that finding a fabric -- or art, or perhaps a rug -- that combines them well is the best way to make it work.

The third has an interesting idea. I think the room's colours are combined in the table cloth, though it's a bit hard to see, but I like the way ribbons have been stitched to the chair in the foreground to tie everything together. One could easily do the same with a cushion.

The fourth is probably closest in feel to something you might consider (?) -- especially if one thinks of the walls being neutral and the blue being in the curtains. Also interesting, in that all the red accents have been gathered together to highlight one corner.

You could also think of using green instead of red as your companion to blue -- a lot easier to pull off and to find, for example, curtain fabrics to help. If you're not tying this room to the dining room via the red, it would still be easy enough to do as the poppy curtains also have green in them, and if there's no more green in the dining room right now you might well find it easy to add some. I love greens and blues together and there's such a huge range of colour possibilities in them. The combination would also tend to be more spacious -- I'll replace the red on the idea board with green and you can see what you think of that.


http://rischmoller.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/design-inspiration-robins-egg-blue/

http://www.simplyseleta.com/2009/04/something-familiar/

http://blog.asmarainc.com/blog/bid/60585/How-to-Design-Cozy-Glamor-with-Red-Rugs-12-Chic-Interiors

http://theenchantedhome.blogspot.com/2011/06/baby-blues-in-grown-up-spaces.html

Here it is. I've removed a couple of things that didn't work with this combination -- the patterned curtaining has gone, but the ivory stripe works. Also added a little wall ornament just because it seems born to be in the same room as the painting. It's from wayfair.com.

I have not read all of the posts, however, I am sure you have received some excellent suggestions. Have you considered tiling your fireplace and incorporating a mantel? Also, have you considered beefing up your built-ins by putting cabinets at the bottom and open shelving at the top on both sides of your fireplace? This would allow you to mount your tv on the wall and use the cabinets below the tv for media storage. Your room would have a focal point with a real wow factor. You also mentioned that your Pergo needs to be replaced. I would work on the bones of the room before addressing the rooms decor. Replace your floors with hardwood. They will bring a coziness and warmth to your room. Select a natural stone to cover your fireplace for more warmth.

You know, I've never ever put any of my pics Online, even my facebook page doesn't have a pic and is very rarely used, I'm so paranoid about privacy. But you guys have been brilliant taking time to think and discuss ideas of my space. I'm so glad I decided to bite the bullet and commit to asking for advice.
I have thought about changing layout of alcove at either side of fire with cabinets because I think the black unit is so in your face but my hubby thought It was a great idea and I went along but regretted it as soon as I saw it in place.
Give your dog a wee pat for me Rina. They never ask for much but a wee bit of love.

Not a designer but I think the family picture needs a new place. It competes with your fireplace and tv I think? If it needs to be In that room I'd put it on the wall behind the sofa. Get a slightly smaller piece of art or a mirror

I think I agree about family picture, I had it behind the sofa but think it might be time for it to find a new home elsewhere and not try to get art that doesn't conflict with it.

Another reason I'd like to see you move your furniture: your shelves to the right of the fireplace look good and need to be on display. I would dump the console, hang the TV on the wall and raise it a bit with a matching shelf below just for balance. You could put some baskets under the shelves to hold remotes, dog toys, kids games.

I also think the family portrait needs to find a new home. It's overpowering and a bit disconcerting there. It would be better in a more private place, a hallway or bedroom, I think.

Very nice solution to the TV problem; I like the single balancing shelf. Yay, two votes for storage baskets!

Looks good, I think I'll also look at cupboards under tv to hold all junk in cabinet, DVD, sky box etc. but it shows me I was right when I told my other half the black cabinet wasn't going to work, it looks so airy. what are you all using to put these things in place with my layout and is it easy to use. I'm loving this advice, everyone of you have added different aspects and Its making me get excited about decorating it.

Should I Put more shelves up top on both sides or leave it with tv and cupboard below, right now shelves are not wall to wall, should I make them wall to wall?

Rina. Do you still think I should have brick wall there, Or does the plsin wall work, have to say your mood board looked good.

Your fireplace with stacked stone veneer:

On your question about the shelves, I like the way they look now, but if you can give us a better shot of them, head on so we can see the whole shelf, I'll give a more definitive answer. I wouldn't go any higher with them though. And I wouldn't put any above the TV.

Hi -- not brick, stacked stone, as in Groveraxle's drawing. That was my first thought when I saw the fireplace, which is odd because it's not a material much used where I am. It just seemed perfect. I worked on a drawing but never got it finished -- eg walls still green as in my first drawing, and the picture's too big and dominant, etc etc -- but here it is, for what it's worth. I'm not sure about boxing in the shelf any more, it does look rather heavy in the drawing.

I think the left side can be just the one shelf, it balances well with the TV above it. I don't have Photoshop, so I use Microsft Paint, which is much less sophisticated. So it's easy to use in a sense, but it takes a long time and is very bitty to work with. I like doing complicated things with simple machinery (20th century gal), most people are more sensible than me. Oh, yes, I remember I stalled on the fireplace when I saw that I'd made the stone much too small, but I still love the colours.

I'm getting excited about this room, I feel a solution and action coming on ...

I like the shape of Groveraxle's artwork above the fireplace. To my eye, that spot needs a narrower piece than the family portrait. A mirror would be nice too, but it depends upon what would be reflected in it. With the TV, the fireplace, and the portrait, there are too many shapes that are similar.

Alta, I agree with you about the shape of the artwork. Groveraxle has it right.

Thank you all for comments, when I make up my mind as to what I'm doing I will post for help or comments. At the moment life has got in the way of progress, priorities have changed but hopefully it will be continued soon.

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