Help with living room

[Candy500]

Would love some ideas on how to improve this room - in terms of layout and colour. I have bought several rugs and returned them as they seem to swamp the room. The TV stand is about to be replaced with a dark wood one. Have not bought other furniture yet apart from the brown desk - not long moved in. Large office chair needs to go. Thanks for sharing any tips. Bay window- was planning a dining table but not much room. ----

It’s a beautiful room. I think you need an accent colour on one wall… maybe something much darker, on the fireplace wall. And that fireplace could be stunning if opened up a little more. Nothing wrong with the TV stand it’s just a little small. And the trend for having a rug half poking out from under the sofa has never looked balanced to me. Just odd. A rug with some colour to tone with a darker accented fireplace wall would be nice. And needs to be much bigger than the one you have in the pic. Buy yourself a couple of Homes & Garden magazines or get scrolling on Instagram for some inspiration

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAqti5dqkeB/?igsh=dTlneHYzMHJqaHU3

Or pop into B&Q and grab some colour swatches. I’m a bit older than you so not into the retro look per sé - I don’t dislike it but I’m more into classic styles and I lived through it the first time round! I’m currently a big fan of greens and biscuit colours. Have fun!

Wow yes that really needs improving. It is sooo brown. The only colour in the room is the green bag and a small red item (radio?). Are you just rearranging or intending to decorate? Not sure if it is the photo or the lighting but the walls and wood work are a rather dirty shade of cream. I presume you are stuck with the carpet and sofa so I would look for a palette that will zing so as to mute that brown effect. Personally I would go brilliantly white on the walls and woodwork and then use cushions and throw to introduce colours. I’d probably go red black white and beige bold patterns. It’s a bit difficult to advise on the layout and furniture as I can’t figure out how it fit’s together and what you want to keep. The large box thing is hideous and seems to be stuck out for no reason so can it go or be covered and moved. Hope I haven’t just insulted your favourite item. If you are not a red person then substitute a turquoise

It’s a lovely room but looks like a dumping ground for odd, too small bits of furniture and stuff. Do you need 2 large desks and desk chairs in there?

The sofa is too small for the space. A decent sized sofa and coffee table will improve it and give it more purpose. Personally I wouldn’t put a rug on top of carpet (if you’re going to keep the carpet).

Thanks everyone for inputs. Just to clarify Im not long moved in so the way it is is not intentional! -stuck with bits of furniture still that need to go - and the only thing done so far is painting the walls dulux timeless white (photo taken of sofa area does not show true colour) and fireplace was painted - had to hurriedly buy a sofa that I dont like as normal size sofas dont fit in the ground floor. So looking for ideas to redo everything. Thanks

I would get a much larger rug with a colourful pattern, some house plants, squishy colourful cushions to make the sofa look more inviting, and artwork on the walls. And lamps.

What’s under the carpet? You might be lucky and find original wood floors! that carpet is depressing.
You need a much bigger rug, and then to pick out a few colours from the rug to use for cushions. Brighter throw for sofa. What are your favourite colours?
can you move either desk out of there?

Do not do an accent colour wall. So dated. It's a lovely room, I think plants/ big rugs (big enough to put some of the furniture on top of them) and art will go a long way 🩷

What styles/colours do you like? I would put a picture rail in but then maybe go for a quite modern colour and colour drench the whole room. A peach would work nicely with your sofa?

It looks like a lovely bright room. I think it just lacks personality and needs a bit of colour. Get some new covers or throws for the sofas. If you need an office chair in there, you can get some with interesting fabric now, not just black.

The walls should be easy to paint. A pale green would look nice with your sofas, fireplace and the planned dark wood. It would be bright and clean but unobtrusive. Paint the bookshelf to match the wall.

Or Lust do some amazing wallpaper.

What's behind the fire surround? From the picture it looks like it might be a fab 1930s tiled fireplace?

It just feels a bit cluttered and too many pieces of furniture.
could you reconfigure the furniture
sofa opposite the fire place, tv mounted on the wall and get rid of the stand
I don’t think you need a rug but the one you have just now feels too small and isn’t adding much

could you post a floor plan?
other than that add more colour/texture to the room with pictures cushions etc

I would probably. Put the sofa in front of the window. Put the TV the other side of the fire place. If you need a office desk then pop it in a triangle shape with sofa and TV if that makes any sense. If not put an arm chair there. That would create a little social space. Put a big rug down that goes under both the armchair and sofa a little bit to create a zone..add a nice round coffee table in between. Paint the walls a white or off white and the rug could be one of them nice persian style ones with the bright patterns. Add pictures and cushions and throws etc ..add a plant in a nice wicker style basket, maybe a money tree ! X

The work desks need to go (or at least one of them!). Makes it feel like an office space rather than somewhere to relax at the end of the day. Do you have another room they can go in?!

Strip the fireplace back and see whats underneath. I would do something with the alcoves, possibly use the one on the right for a condensed workspace if you need a desk in there, I'd change the other to more traditional shelves, floor to ceiling with built in lighting (the same above the condensed workspace). Put small dining table where desk is with the seats that go underneath. Turn the couch so its facing the fireplace, or even replace with a corner sofa and put the TV in the bay window.

Or would make a living area with TV in the bay, a sofa facing fire and a comfy chair in the corner infront of far alcove. I would still make alcoves look more traditional with added downlighting, put an accent wallpaper or colour in their, still strip back the fire place and put desk and small dining table behind couch on the wall so you have separate spaces.

You can also take a photo of your room, tell ChatGPT what sort of thing you want, what furniture you want in there and ask it to design you a room to get some more ideas. It's quite fun, I have loads of screenshots on my phone of what it has come up with for mine.

Or if they need to stay get a room divider to hide them at the end of the day. Ive done that in our bedroom and it actually works surprisingly well.

Without knowing what other space you have available, it's difficult, but I would either get rid of the rug or get a much bigger one. Rugs next to sofas were to stop the carpet getting dirty from footprints, but now you can get carpet shampooers easily they aren't necessary, and look a bit odd.

Have you got two desks in there? Is that really your only option? If two of you wfh could you share a desk, put one in a bedroom, or get one that folds away so it's not there in the evenings when you want the room as your social space. Also, the shelves seem to have a lot of what looks like work-based things on them. Files and so on. If there is somewhere else to put them you could use the shelves to display things rather than store them. Do you need so much paperwork? A lot can be stored digitally unless there are work reasons why not. If it's possible, I think the room would look better if it was personal space with your own personality coming through.

I agree about the fireplace. It could be a really nice feature, depending on what is behind the panelling/tiling. And yes to plants. They can liven up a space without costing a fortune, as can light fittings and lamps.

It looks like a well-proportioned room, and could look lovely. Why not think about a colour scheme you like (one main colour and a couple of accents) and keep that in mind when accessorising a bit at a time. You don't have to stick with the same shade of the main colour, but it will anchor the room if you have a few vaguely matching/toning items, livened up with contrasting ones. Cushions, lampshades etc can bring on colour fairly cheaply and make the styling look deliberate.

Everything looks too small and too bland-the rug’s too small, the occasional table is too small, the picture above the fireplace is too small and hung way too high (bugbear of mine!)
The storage boxes on the shelves would be better if natural coloured rattan, and without the handles, can you rearrange the shelves to look more intentional as they just look like a load of stuff has been rammed onto them.
If you put more pictures up, they need to be hung much lower than you think-if over a sofa the bottom should only be 8-10” above it.

It's a lovely room! But I agree with PPs that it lacks colour, personality and warmth with rich or earthy colours (like the green and red/orange from a PP's photo). Also note from those photos that the artwork on the wall is part of a set and probably bigger than you'd think to buy. I feel people always go way too small with paintings/posters/artwork. It's very rare that I walk into a room and think the artwork is too big, usually it's the bigger the better - you will be surprised!

I also agree with the PP above that people tend to buy small furniture and put it around the edges of the room, when they actually have space for larger furniture and a layout that uses up some empty space in the middle of the room. (Unless they need the floor space for something)

A floor plan would definitely help @Candy500, but I agree that the sofa facing the fireplace if possible would look good! I'd want to investigate the fireplace itself to see if there's original tiling etc in there somewhere.

@Lifebeganat50 is right about the pictures being too low/small - although I appreciate you've only just moved in and they might not be permanently placed! Art needs to be at eye level and if grouping several smaller pictures, the bottom one(s) can be even lower imo.

I don't agree with @abracadabra1980 re: rugs - no-one said they need to be 'half poking out from under the sofa' which would be odd - they should, theoretically, be sufficiently large for the sofa(s) front legs to sit on it, with the majority of the rug in front of the furniture. Depending on the room size - again, your floor plan would be invaluable here @Candy500 - you might want, for example a 3m x 2m or larger rug.....

A larger sofa, more art, lamps, plants and patterns/textures in colours you love, to complement or contrast (depending on your level of bravery!) with your walls/joinery colour - which, btw, I'd colour drench in something a bit more punchy than Timeless (but I prefer deep, saturated colours which you might hate!). No feature walls, although wallpaper all over would be lovely.

It's potentially a lovely room that just needs your personality stamped on it. If you choose what you love, gradually rather than expecting to buy it all en masse, it should all come together beautifully 😉

Definitely investigate which could be behind the fireplace. The alcoves would look good with soft lighting to highlight some art or pieces you like. I would also have floor length curtains to soften the walls a bit, co-ordinating cushions on the sofa and a nice big rug. Table lights too - I'd go so far as to remove any ceiling light as I detest them!

The fireplace and surround will look lovely at Christmas with garlands/lights/candles!

I imagine almost any colour would work in this room as it’s so nice and airy. But if you keep the cream walls and pale carpet, it could look really chic to paint the woodwork an almost black grey.

Little Greene Lamp Black is an 'almost black' grey that we've used repeatedly on joinery (and floors) to great effect, so I'd second that suggestion. In the Georgian cottage we moved to last September and are slowly renovating, we've painted the - 1960s - bedroom floorboards with their floor paint in Lamp Black as well as the - also 1960s - staircase spindles in Intelligent Eggshell finish. It's a great foil for the bold colours we're using elsewhere in the spaces and works well in both period and contemporary decorating schemes imo.

Tell us what youre after do you like colour? Muted natural tones? Are you a minimalist? A maximumist? Are you interested in photos? Plants? What colours do you like? Do you have kids or pets? What purpose are you looking for the room - lounge? Office? Dinner? Combo? Do you like mixed fabrics? Do you need something durable?

Otherwise we can only offer what wed do with it. I like colour but I would say if you like a little colour or a lot.. green or blue in the right shade for you is always a good shout. Green is the colour of grass so goes with most others if you like bold colours or florals, looks natural with beige and stone tones and obviously allows the use of plants to provide a natural view. Blue does a similar thing - ties in to nautical, beige beachy tones, helps coral tones stand out.

Do a video and send it to @ dearmodern on Instagram!

Warm colours burnt orange, gold yellow. Desk may have to stay for a while… thanks

Sending some images of what I like in terms of colour / style