Hi everyone,
Looking for advice on furniture arrangement before purchasing new furniture - last time we bought one piece at a time and tried (as you can see below) to make it all fit.
This is a 3 level townhouse done in Elmira White with a green/beige trim that we are redoing. The main floor color change is in BM - Sea Haze with a feature wall in Iron Mountain. The dining wall is being updated to Whittal Brown. With the open concept, the kitchen is in Sea Haze and Whittal Brown as well. Baseboards will be in Grey Owl and I am doing the trim around doors in the same color as the walls as the way the original colors were drove me nuts. As a result in the bottom and top floors I am redoing all the baseboard and trim in the Elmira White (bathrooms are in Monroe Bisque so changed the baseboard and trim to match).
Anyway, the living furniture won't go with the new colors so we will start over. The room is 13 feet wide - the doorway is near the window in the picture and the fireplace is opposite the chaise. Most 'idea' pictures I see have a fireplace on the back wall and the walkway opposite so I can't find a picture that is similar to our layout . The use of this room is for reading papers and drinking coffee on weekend mornings and having friends over to drink wine in the evenings.
I am thinking all light colored furniture to be able to have fun with accent pillows etc. Will keep the coffee and end tables and the mirror but everything else can go if I can figure out what to replace with - mind you I may simply recover the cubes as we just pull them out if we are having more people than seats. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Furniture_Arrangement_2.jpg | 27.07 KB |
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
Thanks gals!
Good point about the artwork color. I will keep that in mind when adding accents or changing pillows. :D
It looks great. Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a beautiful space, i really love your new furniture and the mirror is beautiful. I like the way you simply dressed around the fireplace. Nicely done!!! :clapping:
smiles
janetc
I'm simply crazy about that dark wall, and LOVE your mirror!
I really like the new space! I think I would pull a colour from your artwork in to the rest of the space----
It actually looks better in person - the mirror is much larger than it shows on the photo. Thanks for the tips - I really love just having a sofa and two chairs now.
And I reupholstered the cubes so can still pull those over as well when needed!
Found great information on best height for curtain rods so that will help with my bedroom - I love this forum - terrific information. Thanks everyone!
Monica
The sofa and new 2.5" faux wood blinds arrive on Tuesday so getting so close now!
I am going to post pictures that include the ceiling. I doubt I will be lowering anything or switching anything but points heeded.
Wow, you've done a really great job!! Look forward to seeing the completed room!!
I also agree that you should lower your picture over the sideboard for all of the above reasons. The lamps are also IMO too small, and a pair of taller, thin buffet lamps would look great on either side (not blocking) the picture. However , since you already have a pair of lamps on that wall (on your end tables), I would suggest that instead of lamps you could use a grouping of contemporary candlesticks....
You also might want to [I]consider[/I] hanging the mirror over the sideboard, and the picture over the sofa....but I would wait until you have the sofa in place first....just a thought...
Vast improvement to date. Can't wait to see finished pics. I agree that the lights on the sideboard appear to be too small for the space. Great colours.
I missed this thread when you originally posted -- really like the changes you've made :) The fireplace wall is very nice, and I like the colour transition between the staircase and the 2nd floor. The dark gray is a beautiful colour.
A couple of suggestions -- I would lower the picture over the sideboard. Keep in mind that the majority of the time, you'll be sitting down when you're looking at the picture, so even though it may look too low when you're standing up, it'll be at a good height when you're sitting down. Plus it'll help it relate better to the sideboard if it's hanging closer to it. And if you don't want to block the picture with taller lamps, I'd just remove the lamps altogether. The small ones are a bit too small for the space, I think.
You've done a really good job with your condo :)
Thanks again for all the tips!
The floors and stairs have been installed so we are on the home stretch now - reinstalling face plates and paint touch ups now that the tradesmen are all gone.
We chose smaller buffet lamps as the picture of Lower Manhattan is the focal point. I am still undecided how to decorate the sideboard - any favorites out there?
Will post updated pictures once the new sofa and window treatments arrive. The two cubes are being reupholstered as well. (The chaise has been sold and I have one more chair to get rid of). The length of the new softa is 79" which will be perfect.
Ugh!! Water damage, repairs and insurance, nothing worse. However, it does seem as if you have everything now under control by your pics and are in the final stages of decorating. The Christmas decorating, etc did make the room seem crowded but your home will be great when finished.
When choosing a sofa, you can pick the style you want and than have it upholstered in the material and colour you want. There is usually a number of selections and you can definately take the samples home and see if they fit in. Please forward pics when the painting, flooring and the furniture you have is placed. Love the mirror and the chair (like the colour) in the picture. Glad you are opting to pass up the chaise and it is difficult to see the lamp on the end table. Nothing worse than trying to find a pass picture of your living room to post (other than a flood) :rolleyes:
Thanks for the comments. Well we did do it backwards! But I must explain - we had a flood (main pipe was clogged so a strata issue) and our hardwood floors were all ripped out! This happened on May 29 - so we decided, since we were going to be without floors for awhile, maybe it is a good time to make changes. We did start with paint first because of the time limit to get it finished before the replacement floors will be installed. We also decided to get two sets of stairs refinished in hardwood rather than carpet while we are at it.
I agree that perhaps one (not oversized!) sofa with two chairs is enough and bring out the cubes when I need them for extra bodies. At a minimum I can get rid of the chaise (noone wants to sit on it) and go with one on each side of coffee table? The Erin chair fabric will still go with the new colors and also the natural colored armless chair (the name of those types is escaping me right now!). The third one (right now by the window) was scratched by the cat when we were at work so good riddance- it's 7 years old anyway. New lamps for each end table (only one is in pic due to xmas tree but I have two) and new blinds - need to get rid of the white metal ones. I guess overall my main pain point is the chaise. The old trim was HC79 Greenbrier Beige and no offense if anyone has it - but we just don't like it and ended up always decorating with green tones to match. We love the colors the BM specialist help us choose so am open to taking the time to find the right pieces for the room.
The dining table is also a dark brown - an eight seater but 54" square from Chintz. So two people at each of the 4 sides. I think the reason one of them is showing in the picture as it was christmas so we added an extra table to serve 13 people, so normally not that close together. Attaching other pics - sorry it is chaotic looking and obviously trim around doors etc not painted out yet.
My 2 cents....for whatever they are worth....
IMO loveseats are not that practical for a small room. They take up twice the space as an arm chair, but really only seat one person..unless they are "lovers" or you are jamming people in. Something to think about.
I also caution against choosing paint colours [I]before[/I] you have the fabric chosen!!!
I like the paint colours you chose [U]however[/U], DBD is right. It is ideal to find your furniture pieces first before chosing paint colours. Otherwise you will be frustrated beyond belief getting furniture to go with the paint. A very common mistake many people make.
I too think you have too many pieces happening in the space. Perhaps go with a sofa and 2 chairs, cubes when necessary. If you have a dining set, you could use the 2 head chairs (have them match the living room space furniture) when company is over.
Another idea is 2 loveseats and 2 chairs.
Can you post another pic of your space from a different vantage point?
I don't know but I think you are making a big mistake by painting and then finding furniture. You've already said you made some mistakes before, I think you are heading for another one.
Seems to me step 1 is figuring out what furniture will work in the room (might be what you have with some edits or just a replacement or two), finding it, and then going for paint colours. Otherwise you just limited yourself to what goes with the paint and it is a lot harder to find furniture to go with paint, than paint to go with furniture.
Meanwhile I think you have the right idea about the colours (at least the basic ideas but it's the undertones that are going to be critical when trying to coordinate with fabrics/furniture) but think you could use what you have in furniture unless you find they just aren't working for some reason. If there is a reason, let us know because no point in recommending things like ottomans if you have discovered you don't like them.
The issue to me seems to be too much furniture crammed into a small space. You have all sorts of options and it would help if we knew what else is in the room. You said a fireplace, but in your picture it almost looks like there is a wood chair back on the right. Is there a dining set there. Where is the fireplace in relation to the chaise, directly opposite or over the the side more? I'm betting using the chaise, ottomans and a couple of the chairs will work but you are going to need more smaller tables so you can pull things away from the coffee table more.
Anyway, here are your colours (as close as I can come and not sure if they are on the right walls) and to me, I think the furniture you have could work depending on getting the right shades for the paint. No point in starting all over unless you really need to IMO.
ARGh... for some reason it won't let me add attachments. I'll try in another post and see if that works... sometime later... got it.
Do you need that much seating in the room?
If yes perhaps you could find 2 loveseats and place one below the mirror and the other in front of the window and have a chair beside the fireplace at an angle. The ottomans are a good idea for additional seating when you have guests and perhaps they could be tucked under a coffee table when not being used.
Thought I would post a before/after of the trim I am changing in case anyone else has purchased a new home where color choices weren't an option :)