WFH dumping ground to smart grown up sitting room? Help please!

[MaryGubbins]

We never decorated our front room as we have a sitting area. Just getting to it pre pandemic and it ended up as a study. Hopefully less WFH now and I’d like to sort it out.

I’ll post a pic of the rough layout (5.2m x 3.5m). Neutral fire place, tv point marked and yellow is the radiator. It’s got a pale grey carpet.

Layout is awkward ? One wall is the bay, one the fireplace and one the radiator. I also still need a small desk.

I’m also common so have always bought suites and am a bit lost as to the mix and match approach.

I fancy grown up, mid century? Velvet? But also don’t want it to date. This is not a room that gets a lot of use so won’t be decorating Again for a while.

Plan

Grab a cup of coffee and have a look on Pinterest for living room decor and just pin anything that you like without over thinking it.
Then after half an hour look over your pins and you’ll probably see some trends in what you’ve picked.
I find it a really great resource for getting started.

Everything ages, and even when things are still hugely popular we’re told that they’re old hat (grey decor is always derided but it’s still selling extremely well). I think the best approach is to choose a look that you love. Something that sparks joy. Concentrate more on how you want to feel in the room than how it should look iykwim.

What do you want to fit in the room? Comfy seating and a desk? Do you want a telly in there? Any other furniture (e.g. bookcases)?

Thanks for replying, I don’t think we need a telly but I’m out voted. So a small one. Need a sofa, desk. Maybe book shelves but not essential. To be fair we don’t need anything at all in it. Room was used only for Christmas Day and now as an office. I hope If it’s nice I’ll be inclined to use it.

With mix and match it's about finding a colour scheme that works to your taste! This might get you thinking about the realm of colour / furniture you might like for the living room.

www.homesandgardens.com/spaces/decorating/living-room-color-schemes-222934

I personally go onto Pinterest until I find something I love, then try my best to match it!

Thanks all I’ll keep looking on Pinterest. My whole house is blue, grey and navy and I really need to avoid doing that again. Usually I choose a curtain fabric and go from there.

I think if that is your colour palette and you like it, then use those colours on the walls (less likely to go off them) and then have some pieces that are more dramatic. We have a bright yellow velvet sofa in an otherwise blue & grey house and I absolutely love it. It was a real stretch for me at the time time to go brave (outside my usual "neutral" choice). Blush is quite popular now, could you accent with that?

Or maybe a dark green (with a big bay window the room could take it). We've used it in a bedroom and I find it a really restful colour.

I think blush is lovely. Not sure husband would go for it. I’ll post some of my ideas from Pinterest to let you see where I’ve got to.

Some blue ideas which are a bit safer. Going navy on the walls but a more neutral sofa might give me options to redecorate in the future?

The mustard accent? I already have a navy and mustard bedroom in the house.

I like the green, taupe and blush but concerns would date.

Houzz (online) is great for ideas and advice. Keen amateurs and some professionals often answer the advice requests. You can even save portfolios of ideas and share them.

I renovated a whole house with help via Houzz, including one poster who was able to 'repaint' the outside of my house virtually, in various colours, so that I could make a choice.

Really helpful.