How can I make this room look better?

[Fortunatepiggy]

This is our family room. We have a separate lounge so this is dining / living / playroom. It's a bit beige and boring! I dream of having good interior design taste but I am sadly lacking. What can I do?

Pick up the turquoise element e.g big rug. Get larger pictures or hang existing pictures lower on the walls, soften the patio doors with some voile or curtains. Difficult I know with little ones.

Pinterest is your friend. Have a look at what kind of styles you like.

I would start with the wall colour and ditch the magnolia - an off-white like Dulux Rock Salt would be much fresher if you still want something neutral.

If you wanted to zone it a bit more then you could do this with rugs - a colourful one for the kids end and something like a jute rug for the dining area? You could also put a big 16 kallax to separate the two areas from each other? How kiddified can you tolerate the play area being? We've got the kids pictures and creations on the walls and that definitely brightens the walls up! Easy to change around too.

You could just turn the sofa round so it's creating a barrier between the two ends of the room - free and easy :)

You have the Base for a great room, now it needs texture, so a rug, voices at the door perhaps, the sofa needs funky cushions in a similar material to the mentioned rug.

Then a big picture, mirror or oversized clock.

Voiles not voices!

You need a bit more interest on the walls. How about a huge artwork on the wall above the sofa and storage unit? Something that matches the personality of the room and includes at least a little of that turquoise colour that you have in your cushions and storage drawers; so a piece of modern, abstract art I think.

Funky fun chair instead of the box
Bigger prints on the walls get posters framed it's cheap

Looks like a walk through at the moment!

Get rid of the stuff on the radiator cover - put a print over it as a focal point

Turn the storage box side ways and put it next to the radiator or the other wall

Get some lamp

What are you aiming for a cosy room or open space? Is it the main living area

A big picture rather tgan 3 little ones.
If you turn the couch around as suggested by a PP, put the big picture over the radiator cover.
You could also think about a pendant light in a soft colour.

Everything seems to be in a line against the walls.
How about a fireside chair or such at an angle by the table and patio doors to bring the furniture into a circle with the sofa. You need a rug or coffee table in the centre of the room.
How about a cluster of pictures on a wall.

Thanks for suggestions! Our lounge is cosy and where we watch tv so this room is for playing and kids and eating and I work from home once a week at the dining table. Agree it looks like a walkway! Will move furniture around as a cheap fix and see how it looks. Have a really nice cream rug but took it up as ds wanted his train tracks on the floor! Removal/ replacement of picture above sofa is sensitive as FIL painted it and gave it to us as an xmas present! X

It's not the pictures - just the wrong size - move it above the table or opposite wall -

Get him to paint a bigger one

How about something like THIS or THIS or THIS on that wall? Not all abstract but the colours look possible.

I'd move the dining table up to the other end of the room and rotate 90 degrees. The sofa could pop in where the table is?
Also, as it looks like you've got some nice light coming in, then the walls would take a stronger colour. A deep blue could look good and there's lots around this season.
Then make all of the storage boxes white/ivory (sorry, not clear from photo which they are), add rich gold by way of picture or mirror frames (the additional pictures could be small child ones - that would look good in a 'naïf' art way) and chuck a rug with complementary colours to the lot on the floor. Blue / ivory / gold is surprisingly neutral, so 'complementary' could be a completely different colour altogether.
Also, if you can, update the light fittings to short pendants glass shades - something like this?

Your FIL paints? Excellent! Commission a huge painting from him, at least 150cm wide, preferably more. That'll keep him busy!

Also, for the FIL paintings (which are rather nice) wherever you put them, I'd drop down a bit lower. The recommendation is the centre of a picture should be around eye height, so lower than you'd think, particularly if it's going to be viewed from a seated position.

I would change the boxes in the IKEA units to the wicker ones.

Then I would get rid of the artificial flowers and paper that wall in something dramatic

I would put the fil art in the bathroom (it is lovely but not right for such a big room)

Agree with oversized clock above sofa

Look again, I think move the dining furniture down to where the patio doors are and put the sofa where the table is now. Then paper the wall opposite patio

I was just googling how to make neutral rooms look less bland earlier today because my sitting room is so bland. I noticed that even in a room with white walls and white furniture there is usually something that contrasts very strongly. ie, a room with white walls and pale furniture might have a black gloss coffee table. My mistake was keeping everything fairly neutral so that creams and whites all just blah in to each other. I have a plan now though.

Move the sofa at right angle to its current position

I'd get a big mirror (overmantel style) to go widthways above the radiator cover. This should bounce some light around, reflect the garden and give the illusion of space. I often see them listed on ebay locally for not very much

I like the idea of swapping the furniture around. Could you fit an Ikea Lack floating shelf above the Kallax to display some of the decorative items currently on top of the radiator cover/ Kallax? As with the pp suggestion re. wall art install it a bit lower than you think so it's not crowded near the ceiling. But not so low you hit your head on it (speaks from experience).

I've covered the top of my 4x2 Kallax in wallpaper that complements my decor. It's only bluetacked down (!) as I didn't want anything permanent. It provides some contrast and surface protection. It's faring surprisingly well but I know I can simply swap it for a fresh piece/look when the mood strikes!

I'd move the clock down a bit and have a large framed picture or canvas on the wall above the sofa. Is there a free wall next to the dining table? Could you put your FIL's lovely artwork there or display it elsewhere in the house?

I'd replace the lights with more modern pendant shades. I have the Ikea Knappa for example (sorry for all the Ikea references!)

A round rug would soften some of the rectangular shapes in the room. The Ikea (!!) Adum is quite bargainous for £25

More personal artwork/things on the wall. You could add some simple crown molding at the wall/ceiling joint. Brightly colored carpet and cushions.

Good idea to move the sofa so that when you walk in you see an inviting sofa rather than 3dges of shelving. Big feature over radiator cover. M&s have some lovely mirrors atm.

Avoid anything that looks too 60 minute makeover tho

I would swap ends. so you get the view of the garden when you eat and work from home. Put the painting on wall over radiator cover.

some art work on the wall opposite patio doors.
a cosy blanket on the arm of the sofa. You could add some bright pink to complement the blue. I would be inclined to go for different colours though. I would also display some of the children's art work and creations.

This is the other end of the room so we do have 2 sets of patio doors and I work from home sometimes so sit at the table to work and like looking out the garden. There is a large canvas of my son on the wall above the table

Yes pink might be a nice idea. I only really picked turquoise because I liked the cushions

I liked the artificial flowers initially but now think they look a bit naff. I also think the lamps need to be more statement!

Thanks