stuck with horrible black sofas and don't know how to redecorate room around it

[CurlyhairedAssassin]

We had an extension along the back of our semi detached house a few years ago and still havent got round to styling it properly. It was so draining getting the extension done that we just threw up white paint on the walls, bought a cheap neutral rug and a couple of lamps and that was it. I have still got "temporary" curtains hanging up that are all worn and, and no pictures or anything else new.

The main issue apart from the lack of oomph to do it, was that we replaced our sofas and I now regret what we chose. DH wanted recliners so I went along with it, but I hate the style, they're so naff. But as they're only 6 years old, DH is absolutely against buying new ones. So, if I want to do the room up, I've got to work with them. How can I make the room look better with these in? I don' t know what colours to put with them, what accent colours for cushions and rugs. Even worse, our floor is mid brown laminate.

And our lounge is very long now, with the new bit having a tattered old sofa in it and an old ikea poang chair with worn fabric on the seat. It all needs doing but I keep looking at the sofas and feeling totally uninspired as to what look will work with them. We still have the same cushions on the sofas as in the photo. It isn't actually a photo from my house, just one off the internet, but our floor is similar, just a bit darker and the walls are the same colour.

Any ideas, apart from getting new sofas altogether?!

Yes first step - bin the cushions. My first thought was something quite bold like Mascotte is suggesting. But also like blush pink as goes well with black and maybe some metallic gold accents. I don't think the sofa is that bad - there is a lot you could do.

Oh wow! I feel your pain OP.

That sofa is fugly as hell and with those cushions looks as though it belongs in an early 90's teenage boy's bedroom with some black ash furniture from Argos and lots of bright red sports car posters on the walls.

I feel you are approaching this all wrong. Ignore the hideous sofas. Decorate the room how you would if they weren't in it. Innocently let them stand out like a sore thumb (bringing your otherwise beautifully stylish room down). Then wait for DH to decide all by himself that it doesn't look right after all.

If that doesn't work, 'accidentally' spill something on it (or better yet, set a toddler up to do it).

If the footstool is not attached, I'd also suggest swapping it for something in a different colour (whatever will go with the new scheme you choose) and less bulky.

They look more deep charcoal to me than black-black.

I'm in agreement with PP regarding painting the wall blush. Theres a lovely colour called Almost Oyster that would look good, or Blossom White (both Dulux).

Get rid of the cushions, they're very severe. Theres a cushion on Wayfair called Petherton which is a very light grey with a subtle leopard print which I think would look good.

Throw in a large light coloured rug and a big potted plant and it would look lovely.

You can use grey as a moderating colour for pastels too. It depends which you prefer.

It's not a black sofa! It's charcoal grey, same as mine.... interesting most people have suggested dusky pink tones. We've got wallpaper with both dusky pink and sage green, and cushions and a rug in these colours too. Cream curtains.

I am going to go against the grain and suggest that you consider going really dark on the walls, or at least the walls that the sofas are against. If you hate the sofas then any pale colour will just make them stand out more. Against dark walls they will soften and blend in, and become less noticeable. The same trick works to make a very large tv much less dominant in a room.

I agree Yippie...a dark green or inky blue would look brilliant

I really like those sofas :)

You could really have a LOT worse to style your room around !!

If you are on Facebook there is a couple of DIY on a budget groups , 1 especially is very good with over a million people in it and that's brilliant for ideas ,

As pps have said add some grey and mustard accessories , some nice throws, cushions , cheap as chips ! B&M are good if you're on a proper budget , Matalan , The Range , supermarkets also. A nice rug can transform a room.

With those I'd make the colour scheme dark grey, emerald green, gold and beige to add some softness. I'd do a dark or bright wall behind it, not a pastel, with wall art in those colours and a lot of white space, with gold frames. I'd put an emerald throw with beige and gold (mustardish) cushions, a beige rug ideally with one of the other colours in it as well, a dark grey coffee table, mustard curtains.

That's just one idea. Of course look on Pinterest.

Other ideas I like are...

Dark grey, light grey, beige and pale pink
Dark grey, black, white, silver
Dark grey, duck egg blue, camel, beige
Dark grey, sage green, camel, white
Dark grey, orange, teal, white
Dark grey, camel, white, slate blue

yorkshiretea your first pic is EXACTLY what I had in mind.
Op, don't focus on the sofa, see it as a backdrop to show off your cushions and throws.

They are dreadful aren't they, such an ugly heavy shape. I was going to suggest reupholstering but the colour is the least offensive thing about them, if they were a beautiful shape you could easily work with grey. Sell them and start again.

It's the shape rather than colour I'd say. Soft touches could really help disguise it the shape and add colour

Wow, didn't expect so many responses, thanks, everyone! I'll try and add a photo of my actual room as it is now (bit outing). Can't get it to work at the moment, though. It's just very boring and bland. I took it from the other end of the room and it's a very bright day so the wall at the end does get quite dark on a dull day.

Gatekeeper, you asked if I like classic neutral, cottagey, scandi, bold patterned, gothic horror, All of the above, except gothic horror, I did that when I was 20! I have never really developed a style as such when it comes to decor as we've never really had the money to do a whole room from scratch with new items in it. All the rooms in my house just seem to have filled up gradually with items and as they've worn out we've just replaced them without too much thought. I do the same with my clothes. So now we've got to this stage in life where we have money to do the rooms up but we don't know where to start or what we like. I do look on pinterest but it gets overwhelming and there doesn't seem to be many black dated recliner sofas in all the lovely pictures on there!

Taste-wise, I guess I don't like ultra modern things that can date quickly as I like things to last a long time. So generally I'm more fairly traditional with a contemporary twist and open to any suggestions. I'm hindered by DH who has terrible taste (he picked the sofas and I just went along with it) and moaned when I bought a neutral rug, throw and side lamps to try and make the room seem less sterile. The kids snickered at the throw too, but now they all fight over it . If I'd had my way we'd have got a neutral paler coloured sofa, non reclining, cos all recliners look fugly to me! It is the shape, yes, but I feel that I should trry and live with them for a few more years till they get worn out, hence trying to find a decent theme to decorate with. Oddly, though, DH does like Chesterfields, which I also like, but I don't find them comfy to lounge about on for long and now they've all got used to the recliners they don't want to go back, they all love putting their feet up every time they sit down.

The cushions came with the sofas. They are quite 80s teenage boys room, I suppose, but I think the neutral throw and rug lessens that slightly? I guess in some lights the dark fabric can look charcoal as there is a "slub" kind of weave to it, but they are black.

I'm not sure a dark colour on all the walls would work as the room is very long and narrow, with flat walls (no chimney breast anymore) apart from where the extension joins on.

Thanks for all the pictures and suggested colour schemes. @yorkshireteaspoonie I really like the style in the one you posted, with the brown coffee table. It's perfect. But as I say, the room m;ight be too dark that end to take it, I think. It really is dark in winter.

I'll get myself on some FB groups, and have another look at pinterest with the colour schemes suggested. I had thought last year about yellow accent colours, as someone suggested, but I think yellow/mustard is too on trend and is heading out of fashion again.

I just need to do it though. And try and ignore DH's opinions of things I pick.

Thanks again, you have all been very helpful (and a couple of posts were very funny!)

Sorry that was a long post, should have tried to keep up with the replies as they came in!

Hopefully photo attached

That’s a great room, OP! It looks nicely proportioned.

I’m going to try and convince you one more time to go dark. Something like Downpipe, only up to the picture rail. I’d do all four walls but you could just do three (assuming there’s a wall behind the camera) and something like a blush on the fireplace wall. If the room is dark in the winter then I would personally run with this and make it really cosy rather than trying to make it lighter than it naturally is. The sofas will absolutely disappear into the walls.

BIG mirror above mantelpiece, bigger than you have now - the same width as the mantel to create the illusion of a chimney breast.

Large drum lampshade on the ceiling pendant, in a bright jewel shade of silk.

More lamps. At least two standard lamps, one beside each sofa. The lamps should be bright enough in combination to illuminate the room on their own. It should be rare for you to need to put the ‘big light’ on.

Hmmm.....I like all your suggestions except the dark colour! I'm really not sure about that with this particular room. At the camera end of the room we have bifold doors onto the garden (that's the extension part, (so 3 metres out currently with an old poang chair, another battered old cream leather sofa (needs to go!!), and a tall bookcase). So only 3 walls and I wouldn't know which walls to paint dark but I think having all 3 dark would be too much. It's just quite a long room so it might look like a dark tunnel.

It does face south, so light at the extension (camera) end, but because it's long the light doesn't travel far into the room on a cloudy day.

Fair enough

You don't need a lot of money to have a cohesive look though, it's just how long you are prepared to spend obsessing about it. Your room is nicely proportioned and you have period features. Please burn those bloody spotty cushions now though! Simple things can make a difference, e.g. your ceiling light fitting I'd have lower and ideally a bit bigger. The pictures around the fireplace group together on the opposite wall in a 'gallery wall'. We have pictures up the stairs and they include photos I've take and pictures the kids have done but all nicely framed by the local art shop. Agree, you need lots of lamps. I think your rug is a bit small, the received wisdom is to not have a rug island but have it anchored under at least one of the sofas. You could get a bit cheap rug from IKEA to stick under the one you have if you are particularly fond of it.

If you're not keen on dark walls then what about a light grey or pink as PPs have suggested. The fashionable look is to have wood and walls the same colour and think about your ceiling, don't default to pure brilliant white, chose a lighter or darker version of what you have on the walls.

Look at vintage suppliers or auction houses or small independents rather than going all new and all from the high street. That will help create a more individual look. Every room in our house has something vintage, something IKEA, something designer, something high street, something handmade. But it's like getting dressed, it's fine to not be that fussed and happy in a thrown together look. After the great red lacquered drinks cabinet debate of 2004-5 DH doesn't get much of a say anymore (After he told me 'we just need something the same size and same price and same style but not that one' I bought the cabinet and still love it and he now agrees I was right) and I spend hours obsessing while he rolls his eyes then he sees the final room and agrees that yes, I was right.

That sofa looks grey. I thought you meant black leather. The floor is also lovely. I would go for a lovely safe green with lots of natural material and massive big pot plants. It's a blank canvas, enjoy it x

Your rug should also be 3-4 times the size of the one you have now

I think the sofas look absolutely fine.

The cushions are terrible - definitely an 80s Athena poster look.

I think you should start by buying a bigger rug, with a bit of colour in it, and a bigger, neutral lampshade. Then get some cushions which pick out colour from the rug.

Dusty pink walls might be nice, or a sage green, or even something like a Hague blue type colour, depending on chosen rug.

Personally I still quite like one wall in a colour and the rest pale, although it's not popular on MN. Or one darker wall, and the rest a warm pale grey might work.

The sofas look a lot better in your photo than in the original one. I think it's the shape more than the colour. Chuck a throw over the back cushions of the sofas, that contrasts to your new wall colour, and they will look very neutral I think.

I agree with Remus, I am still prepared to paint one or two walls a different colour and that might be helpful here. Your eye is drawn to the dark sofas and they are not balanced by anything else. With the moulding on the walls you could just paint the inset bits perhaps and keep a large margin of paler colour framing it. It if you really don't want to go dark then go for drama elsewhere - a very bold and eye catching print above the fireplace perhaps. A standard lamp would be good in the corner. What about mid tones like Dulux Overtly Olive or Dusted Fondant. Neither is particularly up to the minute (though I am fond of them both) but I'm more talking about the "darkness" level than the actual shades IYSWIM.

OK thanks for all the advice, it's all stuff I wouldn't have thought of on my own so I really appreciate it, I feel much better about what I'm doing now, I have a bit of a plan in my mind coming together, found lots of good stuff on pinterest. Only thing is, I'm not sure I'll have the time to paint at the moment, if I leave the walls that neutral colour (it's Dulux Timeless) for now and just get cushions, throws, rugs, lamps, pictures, plants etc I'm hoping that would be fine? DH and I are both working full time, he's basically never here as his hours are so long, so as well as working a full day I'm doing all housework, food shopping, cooking, gardening as well as try and give the teens some attention. Plus shopping for this stuff may be more difficult than usual so it may all take a bit longer than it usually would. I think a warm light grey would work eventually though. I do love some of the more out there colour suggestions/combinations that people have mentioned to me, I'm just not comfy with the idea of a dark colour in such a long room with natural light only at one end.

Anyway, as a result of your advice my plan is:

rug: get a much bigger one, with some pattern, possibly some colour which could be picked out in any cushions. When I look at the photo, the rug does look a bit silly in the middle of the floor now I look at it. Funny what you just get used to, seeing it every day.

cushions: burn the spotty Athena 80s cushions! use lots of textures and contrasting patterns/colours

throws: texture, maybe use it over the back cushions of the sofas

2 standard lamps by each sofa: would a metallic style add some interest? And probably another couple of side table lamps for up the other end of the room.

Ceiling light: can't be any bigger or lower really as DH and DS would bang their head on it. You can't really tell from the photo but it's quite low, it's not Victorian height ceiling, so only a few inches above their heads as it is.

Bigger mirror above fireplace, or a very large bold print/canvas. Where are the best places to look for large prints/canvases?

Gallery wall above sofa/s.

Very large pot plants, and other greenery.

Wicker/natural material accessories.

Just need to find all this stuff now, and figure a way of getting hold of it during lockdown. I am still waiting for some deliveries of things that I ordered weeks and weeks ago and about to chase refunds so I'm a bit wary of online shopping at the moment.

Thank you all again, so much, I'm sure all this sort of thing comes naturally to you all, but it really doesn't to me, so I do appreciate it. I will probably be able to do it all in the school holidays and will post a photo then!

Dunelm, The Range, B&Q and George Asda would completely fulfill all of your ideas. Personally I’d avoid a lot of metal if your going with a pale grey. It’s a current trend but the all grey, metal, sparkle, glass look is very cold and sterile in my opinion. I’d stick to the natural materials and huge greenery plants to keep it warm and interesting