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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask your opinion on my living room

121 replies

MooMooAchoo · 29/12/2025 17:16

I’ve just changed colour scheme but I’m not sure if I regret it. The grey was before and brown is now (yes I have posted before with photos of the carpet when it was laid and now NC!)

To ask your opinion on my living room
To ask your opinion on my living room
OP posts:
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8
Mumstheword1983 · 29/12/2025 18:32

Re the woodwork. I posted about similar here and you can see before and after pics.
www.mumsnet.com/talk/home_decoration_pictures/5433745-to-paint-or-not-to-paint

ADHDdiagnosis · 29/12/2025 18:22

MooMooAchoo · 29/12/2025 17:41

Thanks everyone. The clock is just on a hook put up by the old owners I’ll move it down! What colour would you advise doing the woodwork? Any recommendations on wall art? x

Woodwork needs to not stand out. So white or same as walls. Unobtrusive

tsmainsqueeze · 29/12/2025 18:20

I like the brown carpet better ,but as others have said i think the unpainted wood against the painted is really dated and the clock looks bizarre,
when the sofas come i would be adding some throws and cushions otherwise you may end up with a lot of 'brown'.

värskekapsas · 29/12/2025 18:19

i think its cosy and actually i like wood work

Coconutter24 · 29/12/2025 18:19

MooMooAchoo · 29/12/2025 17:41

Thanks everyone. The clock is just on a hook put up by the old owners I’ll move it down! What colour would you advise doing the woodwork? Any recommendations on wall art? x

The clock was also the first thing I noticed! Looks much warmer with the brown.

ADHDdiagnosis · 29/12/2025 18:17

I like the carpet. I remember your last thread.
I think it looks great with the tree but after Christmas maybe you could change the brown wood work. I’d have that white- farrow and ball everything. It’s really cosy as it is with the tree lights though. Then get some fairy lights up all year around. That’s what I do anyway!

Chestnutmarenutjob · 29/12/2025 18:16

Needs way more colour

uninspiredpanda · 29/12/2025 18:15

If that first pic isn’t ai it’s got some weird photoshop issues on the sofa by the stairs and the top corner between the stairs and the clock. Weird…

HollyhockDays · 29/12/2025 18:13

The woodwork would look better painted. What does ir look like in the opposite direction ie from the kitchen door?

Ophy83 · 29/12/2025 18:12

Paint the woodwork white to match the doors.

Colour can be added with pictures (try art.com or even dunelm/ikea), cushions, throws, curtains, a footstool etc. Go with art that you like. Your room is so neutral that blues/pinks/reds/greens would all look good.

If you don't have any, get some lamps to emphasise the cosy feel created by the new carpet.

babasaclover · 29/12/2025 18:11

Paint the banisters white refresh it

Overthebow · 29/12/2025 18:09

I don’t really like the brown carpet, it looks like a 70s style living room rather than modern. Don’t get a brown sofa too, the room will be so dark and different browns will look strange.

2026isgoingtobebetter · 29/12/2025 18:03

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This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

DahlsChickenz · 29/12/2025 17:57

I like the brown carpet, I think it's cosy and elegant and much less dull than the grey.

I think the wall colour is absolutely fine and a nice safe neutral, but I do think you could go deeper and richer on the walls and it would be lovely.

MiddleAgedDread · 29/12/2025 17:56

bakebeans · 29/12/2025 17:20

I would get rid of the brown around the doors. It makes it look dated

I agree! Very old fashioned.

GreywackeJ · 29/12/2025 17:56

Paint the dated orange pine around the doors and on the stairs white or cream. Move the clock down by a foot at least, it looks most odd up at the ceiling.

If you’re attempting to be modern, lose whatever that sign is above the door.

Add a big plant or 2 and maybe a big rug to break up the expanse of grey carpet.

itsthetea · 29/12/2025 17:50

Unless you can get wood doors the woodwork best be white

overall it’s looks nicer - warmer - than they grey

Skybluepinky · 29/12/2025 17:48

Just so extremely bland and dated, looking at it is similar to my friend’s mums lounge and she is 75 and looks after her grandchildren.

WarmthAndDepth · 29/12/2025 17:42

The brown will always be preferable to grey. In my opinion, grey interiors only really look good in period houses with most of the original features still intact, or very stripped back Scandi-style spaces, tempered by narural fibres and materials. In newer spaces, with synthetic fittings, fixtures and accessories, it looks cold and impersonal.

Original poster
MooMooAchoo · 29/12/2025 17:41

Thanks everyone. The clock is just on a hook put up by the old owners I’ll move it down! What colour would you advise doing the woodwork? Any recommendations on wall art? x

OP posts:
Raera · 29/12/2025 17:41

I suspect the clock is high up because of the door opening below it.
The new look is lovely, much more cosy than the grey and the wood surrounds add a lovely contrast.
If you painted the surrounds and stairs, you could never go back, so proceed with caution!

ComtesseDeSpair · 29/12/2025 17:36

Agree about staining the woodwork so there isn’t so much of a starkness of lots of brown but very noticeable because it’s different shades of brown. I think the room will look cosier when you have more furniture in an possibly a bright rug and some plants to add colour.

NuffSaidSam · 29/12/2025 17:35

I like the grey better than the brown, but tbh neither are really my taste so I'm not sure my opinion is really worth anything (I'd never even consider brown or grey, I like a lighter background with brighter accents).

BaubleMeTree · 29/12/2025 17:31

The reason it doesn't look right is because you chose a brown carpet that doesn't have the same tones as the wood. You could stain the wood darker or paint it, I am not suggesting white but a colour more in keeping with the brown carpet.

If you pick up a paint colour card say Little Greene Paint Company (you can order one online for free) the colours on the horizontal row all compliment each other including the neutrals. The same with each vertical set of colours too.

Once you understand why rooms like cohesive you will see it. Plus I agree with the other people saying your clock is way to high. There are lots of videos on youtube about colour theory, understanding tones and hues. I did an evening class in interior design for fun years ago. Look for shapes repeated in rooms from vases to chair backs to fabric patterns to art work.

tinyspiny · 29/12/2025 17:30

I don’t like the brown woodwork around the doors , the clock looks silly and the carpet is not to my taste . The walls are inoffensive .

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