To ask your opinion on my living room

[MooMooAchoo]

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!)

fy is an art prints company which has some cool stuff. Or some family photos.

your room looks clean and functional but it doesn’t really spark joy or show your personality…

Doesnt look like there is much in the room? Things to add in:
plants
book shelves
wall art
cushions
big rug- make sure it’s big
mirror
sideboard
drinks cabinet

I like the walls brown but I would have picked a lighter carpet OP.

Love the new wall colour

@uninspiredpanda I used iPhone clean up as my DD was in the photo

You could add a pink tone around the doors & add lots of plants to break things up

The wall colour doesn't go with the carpet. Your room is dark, you shouldn't put cool tones on the wall and mixing up with warm tone of the carpet. You need light, warmer, light reflecting paint on the walls plus some refreshing decor. Agree the clock is totally in the wrong place.

The darker colour makes the room look more cosy. Xxx

It looks so bare and empty! Not sure what look you’re going for…

Op what do you want the room to look like? What are you imagining?

The woodwork looks dated. Try colour drenching it with the wall colour. I don’t think the carpet goes with the paint colour choice either I’m afraid.

Repainting the woodwork would be a big job, especially if it’s varnished or finished- it could be tricky to get decent paint coverage. I’d wait for your new sofas to arrive and see how it all looks together in case you find it’s not needed.

The angles you’ve shared look a little strange, stairs and doors wouldn’t normally be a focal point of a room. I think looking from this angle is encouraging a lot of comments about the woodwork but instead i think focus should be the other way with sofas facing a tv/artwork/fireplace on the opposite wall to the stairs x

The carpet clashes with the orangey wood door frames. So I'd definitely paint the door frames, skirting boards, banister etc. I'd have probably gone for a lighter greige type carpet as it's such a big area and now looks quite dark.

Can you post a link to the sofas you are getting? Do you have anything on the walls behind your sofa - pictures, mirror etc?

It looks from both photos like you tend to push all your furniture to the edge of the room. Often people believe that this makes the room look bigger. It doesn’t. It makes it look like a waiting room or that you’re about to hold a square dance. Hence people saying it doesn’t feel cosy.

It’s hard to advise how to arrange your furniture without seeing what you have, but try to think about bringing the chairs inward and creating a space where you feel you’d like to sit and chat - if you have a fireplace, arrange the sofa facing that and 2 chairs facing one another with a coffee table and a rug in the middle, but not a mile away from each other pushed against opposite walls. You want to be able to talk to your friends when they come over. Then maybe a corner elsewhere in the room with a table, a lamp and a comfy chair where someone could sit to read.

Think about how public rooms are arranged in country house type hotels for inspiration - what is it about how the furniture is arranged in a cosy corner that makes you want to relax with your friends? That’s your inspiration for the layout. I also find looking at room layouts on Instagram really helpful.

Mmm, unfortunately I have to say I agree with all of this.

I really don’t like it at all (sorry, you did ask – and I’m not sure you like it either considering all your posts about it). I don’t like the carpet colour or the bare woodwork. It really is such a subjective subject though.

Why did you get a new carpet? The first one looks pristine.

Brown wood needs to go asap

I really like it. It reminds me of chocolate! If it was me I'd paint the woodwork as suggested by PP, then with your brown sofas you've a lovely backdrop to inject other colour with cushions and rugs to suit your mood/seasons.
Jewel colours would be gorgeous in winter (like a tin of roses) and greens in summer (peppermint creams).

So much cosier

I would repaint walls a warm hue, easier than redoing woodwork a coral /warm orange, goes with woodwork and furniture. It's plain just now, could be cosier

See now I like the brown woodwork! I’d paint the walls a dark-ish green, maybe Overtly Olive, then get some chunky wooden photo frames on the wall with prints in

Why are the stairs in the living room? Have you knocked out a wall or two? Doesn’t it make it colder being open to the staircase like that?

Yes, me too. The fashion for this comes and goes and a lot of people like the natural wood look. Two decades ago people were stripping back painted woodwork to recover the wood. Unless you want to paint it, it's fine.

I like the brown better. It makes the place feel much warmer.

Looks warm/cosy once your brown sofas are in, it will complete the look.

Both look fine, grey everything’s going out of fashion now, the brown is nicer.