Help me with my living room again 😩

[Youagain2025]

Sorry it's me again. So after thinking about doing something with my sofa that's gone out of the window.

But I do want to completely change the living living room. So basically change the walls and the floors, curtains.

My no 's are no dark walls. It has to be light although I will consider a medium sort of colour. Do I just paint or do wallpaper as well? Or maybe some sort of panelling

Floor wise I want to rip the floor up and put something better down. I'm open to the colour and type. I'm also now happy to put a rug down but short pile type.

I'm very against cushions and floor lamp/low light type. As I don't like a room that's dimmed . I like it bright light wise.

I have taken a few pics of the living room so there's a better idea.

I'm hoping to make a start this week.

@silvertulips I have tried to do one . Its not that good . Not sure if you can make it out

When you are in the room, how do you feel about it?

What would you like to feel like when you’re in the space? Think of adjectives like cosy, calm, energised, refreshed etc. there’s no right or wrong answer, it’s your home/space.

I know in the previous thread you were very anti soft furnishings for cleaning/practical purposes. One thing I would say, is if you do decide to have a home decor project, you sit down with the kids and tell them straight that the sofa is not for jumping on and off, and they put things back tidy when they get up. Don’t let the children treat the home like a playpen, they need to learn to have respect for their home environment, and their parents.

Ok the reason for no low lighting/lamps . Is because it causes shadows. I hate shadows it makes me feel depressed the same with dark walls I ferm like dark =depressing . I honestly hate it . Unless I'm in bed every ligjt in my house is on . I don't even like walking into a dark room . So the light is on even if I'm not in there.

The reason for no cushions/throws etc is partly it won't stay like it. It will stay long enough to take a pic and say that's nice . That's about it.

I also had threads on here for quite sometime because my house was an awful mess . And I had lots of support for a while . It took me a long time to get my house to reasonable. I now manage much better. But im s bit frightened of adding things. And I want things to stay as easy as possible.

Regarding buying things . I had to buy them because they were needed. Although probably not the best choice in type. But I did need them.

I think that’s kind of the point, the sofa is too large for the room and is dominating and will continue to, despite your wall and floor choices. If you make the floor and walls light the dark sofa will contrast even more heavily than it does currently. I’d get rid of the sofa and start from scratch. Pale walls/floors and a bright (vastly smaller) sofa might cheer the space up?

My suggestion:

Paint your living room walls gold! Looks like you only have two solid space walls (with one being full of the shelving unit and the other being the gardens doors) so you can pull this off.
The gold will catch the sunlight coming in from outside and give a lovely warm glow inside.

Reduce the size of the corner sofa unit a little - I remember this was your question from before. You don't need to reduce by a lot, perhaps just one section, to make it fit better around that corner.

Add a photo shelf on the wall around that corner to break up the big wall space.

Put stuff into your shelving units. Presumably you plan to do this! It looks big and chunky because it's empty. With stuff in it'll look more homely. But don't feel that you have to fill every inch. Where you have those open sections you could just have plants or a vase of flowers.

A floor rug - low pile, because being the route in and out of the garden a rug is going to be a dirt trap and need regular hoovering.

You have a great amount of window bringing in light and giving a garden view. Make that view better! I would paint your garden fence a "garden" green colour and add some climbing plants to the fence. Turn the garden view into a lovely green haven.

I can't just get rid of the sofa it was expensive and I'm still paying for it
I don't have that kind of money just to replace and start again.

I was thinking if the floor was darker. I don't know if that works work though

Sell it and buy another using whatever you make? 2nd hand sofas aren’t expensive. You’re wanting to change the space but won’t achieve that unless you change the focus of the room. Which is currently a sofa that looks like its proportions don’t fit the space - even if broken into bits. It’s hard but sometimes if you make a decorating error there is no use compounding it by decorating around the object that needs removing.

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Sorry I'm not doing that. I'm not selling the sofa for probably much less than I paid to buy a 2nd hand sofa whilst still paying of this sofa . I know it does not really work in the room . So I just have to think of other things

You do have me thinking. Maybe gold could work. I could try . Worse case is it doesn't work and I paint over. I have come round to a rug now. But as you say short pile

It's tricky for people to know what to suggest though OP, as all of the obvious ways to reduce the visual impact of a very large dark object (to make the room more cohesive) aren't things you want to do in the space. Dark walls would blend it in, cushions or throws would break up the block of colour, lower lighting would reduce the contrast between the black and white.
Could you upload any pictures of living rooms you love - that might help?
Google Jonathan Adler rooms - other than the black sofa, which is tricky, I can imagine something inspired by his style could work in a light white room with someone who appreciates bright colours.

I saw your previous post. If you have darker walls then the sofa will disappear into the wall and it will not feel such as large block in the room. When there’s a lot of windows dark walls don’t seem dark.
Table lamps or a standard lamp can be there to look nice, you don’t have to actually use them but they add texture to the room.
I do understand about the cushions and throws. My cushions spend most of the day on the floor in some sort of den. I’ve just accepted that and put them back a night as cushions have significant play value for the money!

Ok the reason for no low lighting/lamps . Is because it causes shadows. I hate shadows it makes me feel depressed the same with dark walls I ferm like dark =depressing . I honestly hate it . Unless I'm in bed every ligjt in my house is on . I don't even like walking into a dark room . So the light is on even if I'm not in there.

Brilliant and clear answer, thank you. The advice I’d then go for is the ceiling light and side lights. If it’s too bright you can use a lower wattage bulb (I know that’s not the right word, sorry). The side lights give coziness and the ceiling light would ensure you felt visually safe with no dim shadowy corners. What about (for hallways and unused rooms) some of those plug in lights that switch on automatically at dusk? Or, normal lights on a timer?

((Your hatred/fear of dark shadows would be helped by window coverings))

And these things can be cheap and plain, no need for fancy stuff if you’re still working out your style.

Does the sofa come apart?
Just thinking maybe you could have them each other to look more cosy?
I don't like dim light either. My bulb is daylight and on permanently
You've lots of light coming through which is great and I think the white shelving looks nice
You could maybe put some wicker cubes on some of the shelves
I don't think you need a darker floor.
Flooring is very expensive so I would just fill in any cracks with a laminate repair kit.
I did this for ages before I got luxury vinyl
( which looks the same)
I've been on your threads before and I think your ideas are always better than you give yourself credit for!

You can use throws, cushions etc for the sofa. A rug to match the throw.
Daft to say just get rid of it like we're all made of money

Couldn't think of the term but I have a led ceiling light which was £30 and will last for decades so definitely think about that.

Also don't go for a darker floor. We had a dark floor and I fucking hated it, it swallowed the room.

Attached images of monochrome living rooms. These all work. You need to add texture (rug, cushions, throws), some art on walls, a rug, lighting and more plants.

The photos added above all have light flooring. So spend your money on accessories.

I don't think the panelling, softening look goes with your sofa or the white unit.

You either choose to try and tone it down as best you can, or embrace it.

Some ideas for black sofas here https://www.digsdigs.com/black-sofa-ideas-for-living-room/

I'm a bit confused with the light thing. You said about cosy . But to me that =diming or low watt bulbs that means darker/shadows which is what i don't like. I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding though. ?

Wicker cubes could be an idea to . It would break the unit up a bit.

I do want to get new flooring but I don't need to rush it.

And thank you . I'm just finding the living room hard . Bedrooms felt easier compared to the living room .

TBH I think that this fairly small room is overwhelmed by the huge sofa and wall unit. They don't go very well together, and then walls and floor are different again.
I'd suggest finding a pretty pale colour for the walls and get some shutters in a similar shade for the doors and windows. Shutters would add some variety to the light in the room making it less stark, and the straight lines would echo the wall units, and it would be cosier without being fussy.
A carpet rather than hard floor, in a similar colour to the walls but darker, would bring the whole room together. Then a rug and some pictures.

The gold is a good shout. Currently it looks cold, clinical and uninviting. It needs some personality and warming up. Can you put some books or pictures in the display unit or get rid of the top half so that you can introduce some colour. You could paint or wallpaper the back panels of the storage unit in a vibrant colour or pattern. If you then placed your succulent collection on the shelves they would really pop against the bright colour.

Thank you I will take a look

Hopefully this a cautionary tale to anyone else thinking of buying upholstery on hire purchase.