Decorating my living room and have decided I hate it :( how can I make it better?

[marne2]

So I had it all planed, colour scheme, new curtains and cushion covers and wall paper, looked perfect in my head. I have just finished painting and my curtains have just come in the post and it looks awful , I still have the wall paper to go out which could make it look better but could make it ten times worse. It looks like young single mans living room, nothing looks feminine, curtains are rubbish ( my fault for buying online ). Walls are a pale grey, curtains are red, black and grey stripes, my sofas are dark brown and now look out of place. I can't afford to start again so the paint and wall paper will probably have to stay! I'm tempted to replace the curtains but this will cost me a fair bit as I have 2 big windows and the patio door .

Anyone else managed to f*ck up whilst designing their living room?

Not the living room, but I have been half way through coat number two in hall, stairs and landing and realised the paint was a disgusting pinky-peach colour in the morning light, instead of the pale brown it looked on the colour chart. The only thing to do was re-paint. I did insist on one-coat paint though!

What's your wallpaper like? If you haven't opened it, you may be able to get a refund or swap it for something else for starters. Can you send the curtains back or eBay them for something else? If so, then it's not the end of the world, although it is extra work and effort.

I bought the wall paper 2 years ago ( that's how long it has taken me to get around to decorating ), I'm only wall papering one wall as the wall paper is a little crazy so will liven up the room a little, I'm still unsure about it though but I could change my mind and use the wall paper in my bedroom and then only me and dh will have to look at it. The paint isn't much different than what we had before but we had more of a shabby chic thing going one rather than grey, black and red.

I'm going to have a little think about the wall paper before attempting to hang it .

If you spend a lot of time in your living room, it's worth making sure you get it right.

You could try selling the wallpaper - it's not worth the time and effort of hanging the paper if you're not sure about it.

I do like the wall paper it's just a bit quirky and not very feminine, I'm used to having more of a floral theme, maybe I will get used to it, the curtains are my main concern, they are poor quality and quite fin, I guess I could re line them with something thicker? They just look cheap and tacky. I with I only had one window then I would buy better curtains but with 2 windows and a door to cover it gets a bit pricy.

Cheap and tacky < your words> can never be a good look.

Cut your losses and send back and buy something you can see and hold in your hand. Get this sorted first then finding a paint shade that compliments the curtains will be easy.

Don't be disheartened all the hard work will pay off in the end.

The sofas are the most expensive thing in the room so you need to work with them. I cant see grey working with brown, sorry. Can you return the curtains?

It's a horrible feeling, isn't it? We've just had our hall, stairs and landing redecorated including extensive "making good" and I HATE the colour!! It looked so lovely on the chart and when I used a tester on various areas. I don't know what's gone wrong! It looks like undercoat, shows every single tiny mark (and I have 3 DSs so this is only going to get worse) and doesn't go with the carpet at all. I'm so disappointed! I only hope that it'll look better once we put up some pictures, mirrors etc but I'm not hopeful. Could you try to sell the curtains? I do feel your pain

Dh is home and he hates the curtains too so the curtains will be going in dd1's room. The grey walls look ok with the sofas, it is a really pale grey ( taupe ). I'm now thinking of not bothering with wall paper ( feature walls are out? ) and get some good pictures instead? I need some curtains with a bit of colour in them and a rug to match, any ideas what colour would look good with grey?

Really the curtains need to be the main feature don't they? The windows are the biggest part of the room ( there's almost more window than wall ). I think we will be going curtain shopping at the weekend.

Taupe is a brown tinged grey so maybe browns, purple (think amethyst) and maybe even some lilac or pale green. I'm thinking what would warm it up and feel more feminine and relaxed.

Or go for browns and creams and just a hint of a stronger colour such as cyclamen pink.

Using different textures gives depth and can make things feel more luxurious.

Thank you, I am now considering putting my old curtains back up as they are pale purple .

My old curtains are back up, looks a bit better and more feminine , if I can't find any new curtains I like I think I will just stick to the old ones, just doesn't feel like I have decorated without new curtains, maybe new furniture will help ( new side board ) and a new rug, oh and maybe some nice cushions .

Can you post a photo? (Apologies if you've already done this, I'm on the app)

I can't post a photo as I'm using iPad, though maybe I can do it if I'm not using the app.

Out of interest, what's the name of the colour you used?

It is this one. https://www.dulux.co.uk/shop/colour/perfectly_taupe

www.dulux.co.uk/shop/colour/perfectly_taupe

You need to lose the red stripes and possibly the wallpaper.

Well in our bedroom we mixed greys, taupe grey and pale silver grey. The curtains are taupe silk and look nice. I am still stuck on how to lift it too.

That's a very similar colour to what we have and we have dark brown sofas.
Ours is done a bit woodlandy so I've got wooden things, and a deep red rug. Our curtains have leaves on in red and brown.

I think the point of a taupe grey palette is that it's very neutral and calming Adding colour with 'accessories' misses the point There is really no need to 'lift' it if it's done well and suits the room. Colourful extras are like a pop of colour in fashion I think they spoil the elegance a couple of things you love in any colour is better than a pile of teal cushions from dunelm!

I have similar greige colour (elephants breath f&b) white woodwork, white above picture rail, sanded floorboards and a brown sofa and white linen armchair I am going for shabby rustic look... So keeping it neutral with colour in cushions and throws

If you have a fireplace nice mirror above it with accessories can make it look feminine for window treatments I'm actually going for white plantation shutters

That sounds lovely!

Well, marne that is the exact colour we've used in the hall that I was moaning about earlier! How funny! I don't dislike the actual colour iyswim, it just looks so different from how I expected. To be fair, I think it probably looks better in a "room" rather than than my hall, stairs and landing. I think I should have gone for a stronger colour. Perfectly Taupe Support Thread, anyone?!

We have white wood work, we did have a mirror above the fireplace but dh has now put the tv up there . I want to paint the fire place as it's no in use and looks tatty where various paint has been splattered on the stonework.

We have been shopping today and looked at some big canvas pictures to go on the main wall but then realised we could not fit one in our car with the kids in there , I think we are going to go back and get one when the kids are at school ( when we get time ), I ended up buying things for our bedroom which I am decorating next, hopefully that will be more successful. I think we are going to stick to 'shabby chic' kind of feel for the living room, I just need to get rid of dh's old furniture that doesn't really fit in with anything.