Living room restyle - where to start?

[Magnificentbeast]

We've been living in our house for 6 years now. We haven't updated the downstairs at all. It really needs some redecorating. However, I'm a bit clueless when it comes to this type of thing and I just don't know where to start. Whenever I think about the living room in particular, I just get stuck. I can't visualise what I want to do with it.

My question is where do I start with this type of project? I suppose I'm looking for tips really to help me move forward with it.

What size is your living room? How do you use it? What architectural style is your house? What is your budget?

I personally like neutral walls, so that I can change the decor with pictures and cushions etc.
I tend to choose my curtains first, then the rest comes together.

What size is the room?

What is it used for?

What furniture is needed for its intended use?

What colours do you like?

Does it need structural adjustments?

Do the windows and doors need replacement?

Are you happy with the current layout?

What makes you unhappy with the layout?

Does it just need a good clean?

What bits don’t you like?

Having “a look” gets dated quicker than having a room that reflects your own tastes and lifestyle.

I redid my sitting room last year and started with the curtain fabric which was cream with pink and green flowers. I then brought in shades of pink and green in the paint, rug, cushions and pictures. Finally I had a third accent colour, black, which I used for lamp bases, picture frames and some of the furniture. The rest of the furniture was oak.

Also try not to match the furniture too much (this one was really hard for me). I find it better to gradually source items rather than buying all at once although I am impatient so don't always follow my own advice!

It's 3.5 x 4 metres, but there is a large brick fire place and a bay window. The house is 1930s semi-detached. We use it mostly in the evenings to relax, watch TV that kind of thing.

Budget-wise, I'm not too sure. Not thousands. I'm thinking in terms of buying curtains (up to £200), painting, putting new shelving in the alcoves. Possibly, but not definitely a new sofa.

The current carpet is brown from the previous owner days. There is some nice wooden flooring underneath so we would probably buff that up and add a nice rug.

Are you willing to post pics?

What colour is your sofa and hard furnishings?

That's interesting because we were researching new curtains yesterday and my instinct was that they would set the tone for the rest of the room. I mentioned this a few times to the DH but I'm not sure he was taking it in.

What do you like?

What makes you happy? Mine is pink, yellow and green with lots of pictures and a psychedelic rug.

Because it makes me happy.

The room is 3.5 x 4 metres with a large brick fireplace, alcoves and a bay window. It's a 1930s semi-detached.
We use it for relaxing, watching tv. Some of the kids toys, games etc are stored in there in Kallax style cube shelving. As they get older I'm planning to move on from the cubes. There's also an open metal shelving unit in one of the alcoves holding the board games.
I like greens, blues, maybe a little splash of warm orange or yellow. I also like neutrals. Some reds. I'm not a fan of pastels.
No structural changes are needed although DH has mentioned the possibility of removing the fireplace to make more space in the future.
Windows and doors are fine. The door is a dark wood.
Current layout is fine. I'm not sure there's much we could do to change it.
It's not spotless, could do with a tidy but it's not filthy either. Needs a dust and declutter.

I don't like the textured, white wallpaper (previous owners) and the artex on the wall above the fireplace. I really don't like the carpet.

It has potential to be a really cosy room to relax in. I guess that's what I'm aiming for. I realise the declutter is key to this. We're getting there gradually but we can't just chuck everything out.

I agree with you. Having a look can end up looking dated quite quickly. Do you think it's best to go neutral or just go with things we love rather than a 'look'? or both?

This is exactly how I'm hoping to approach it. I've been researching curtains just this weekend to get some ideas. I found I was drawn to 'nature' themes e.g. birds, flowers, trees and blues, greens with perhaps another brighter colour but also something that looks elegant, and quality. And then to perhaps add to it as we go along.

1930's houses can be anything!

I dislike curtains because I love windows. Unfortunately I'm a tad overlooked so I have floor length linen curtains which don't block the light but give privacy in the night. I pretend I 'm in France and there's patio doors to the pool behind them

All the houses round here have those wooden blinds.

The sofa is brown leather. It's getting on a bit now. We'll have to think about changing it eventually but that will be a whole project in itself!

We don't have a coffee table. Not really sure why. The storage cubes are white. Fireplace is brown brick with brown tiles on the floor and a dark wooden mantel piece. We have a black metal shelving unit in one alcove. I'm really not selling it, am I!
Not really willing to post pics.

www.diy.com/departments/next-chinoiserie-bird-trail-natural-smooth-wallpaper-sample/5011583535358_BQ.prd?srsltid=AfmBOoohuZ8HbBZHIOivtKjEfNx8yaTzgx7c53fZIr4XzNzaKdTjIxGGjpg

Make a feature of one element. With me, it's the rug.

It could be the wallpaper

I like greens, blues, yellows, some pinks and reds. Not necessarily all in one place!
I seem to be drawn to naturey themes. I'm looking for a cosy, relaxing living room.

In my bedroom it's a particular throw- all of the colours and themes come from that

Pick up a few interiors magazines and see if that gives you any inspiration. Wander round IKEA, look at some catalogues, follow some interiors people online. You'll spot something that will trigger you into a colour scheme - maybe a printed fabric, or a paint colour.

My living room colour scheme came about after seeing a room shot on Instagram, and my bathroom from a room photo in a paint catalogue (it wasn't even a bathroom, but just had two colours which went really well together). In our bedroom I found a gorgeous wallpaper and picked the bedding/carpet/paint colours out of that.

Often you will need to work around something that's not changing (we had a brown leather sofa that we couldn't replace) and that sometimes makes it easier!

Our style was maximalist before it became a thing and we've collected 'stuff' for years (used to be mainly Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts Movement but has gradually become more eclectic since we downsized and had to sell loads), so - coupled with all our art/prints we usually have a head start when it comes to putting a room together.

I'm very keen on pattern and fabrics, but in our current living room the windows take up a whole wall from floor to ceiling so curtains sadly wouldn't work and therefore I couldn't use these as a starting point as I normally would. Instead, I took inspiration from our large antique Persian rug which has an unusual colourway that includes olive, turquoise, pink, cream and painted the walls and all joinery (except the oak window frames) in F&B Olive (an archive colour). We have one wall panelled and that is Olive too, plus we have committed that mumsnet faux pas of a wallpapered feature chimney breast 😉 using a vintage Voysey pattern in cream/black/gold/olive.

Cushions on the cream sofa and striped loveseat are a riot of all the rug colours (in a mash up of textures/patterns) plus a bit of purple and orange for good measure as we have lamps, lampshades and ornaments in those colours. The furniture, ornaments and art are stuff we love that we've collected over many years and is a mix of contemporary, mid century and antique.

Sounds mad, but it works for us. I could never go out with the intention of buying everything for a room in one hit - our rooms evolve gradually and totally represent us - so along with all the other great advice above, I'd say don't rush things, make a mood board if that helps and most of all enjoy the process!

Sounds like you have a blank canvas.

I'd get plenty of house plants if you can and stick with the black on the shelves etc.

I have black green grey and white.

The plants make such a difference to a room. The green of them will look lovely with the brown sofa.

Starting with a sofa colour or curtains sounds sensible. We dove straight in with a dramatic paint colour (dark green) and it's been quite challenging to figure out what other colours we want. Sofa colours were limited for cheaper sofas and I wasn't prepared to spend extra money for a brand with a better range. So we've gone with burgundy velvet sofas (DH refused to consider more green), a gold mirror and gold chandelier, we're still figuring out the rest.

I started with neutral walls ('gardenia' I think it was called) and like you have wooden floors. Then anything/everything goes with that. I have beautiful Turkish and Moroccan rugs (there are some brilliant sellers on Etsy) and like somethinghastochangesoon I like having lots of plants. Plus kilim cushions make a gigantic difference. We have 'plantation shutters' which I love instead of curtains. And paintings and prints which I've gathered over the years from local artists etc. Good luck :)

Oh and my kilim cushions are also from Etsy. Like this, for example:

I think you really need to start with the messy, structural stuff: first, plaster over the artex (after testing for asbestos; if it contains asbestos, you really need it removed by experts, or you'll never be able to hang up a mirror or picture on your chimney breast, as you absolutely must not drill or hammer a nail into asbestos), and take off the structured wallpaper and repair the sins to the wall the wallpaper is most probably hiding. Then I would remove the metal shelves and think about how to spruce up, or in extremis remove, your fireplace (fireplaces are usually a nice feature and focus point, so worth keeping and turning nice, first). Then rip out the carpet and sand floors and oil. Then put in new joinery (wooden shelving in the alcoves, possibly built in storage to replace kalax). Then you are ready to choose a curtain or rug you like and get your colour scheme from there. But new curtains, rugs and sofa will get filthy if you decide to do the works later, and will properly not make much of an impact - the saying 'lipstick on a pig' comes to mind, even thoigh it is properly way too strong for your room, but I hope you get what I mean.