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. ----

Will check that!

Ok, so if i liked that, I consider that you like straight lines, Id look for a plush rug (cream, stone, olive green, beige, rusty orange) that would sit partly under the sofa.

Id get curtains above the blinds, like in the pic you supplied - coral or olive green or something with some gold in. I wouldnt go cream - theyd be a pain to dust

Id add a mirror, gold bordered over the fireplace.

Id move the picture and maybe add a couple more behind the sofa

Id tidy a bit... fluff up and arrange those cushions.

I think the biggest problem is the lack of height in your decor. The walls are cream which would be statement if the alcoves werent so cluttered. Above about chest height, all you see is white and then piles of files and boxes. So you have options: move it and display a few neutral pieces of interest so the white/cream theme pops, look at the colours you want to go to and update the storage boxes in that space to align to your colour accent theme, buy a window box and use that for storage.

Id also consider some low maintainence plants. Ikea do some really good ones, they brighten up a space.

I think really you need a bit of tidy, a accent of colour and some interest higher up the room so the use of space looks intentional

It's a lovely room, is it a first floor flat? Before thinking about colours etc you need to plan your layout. I'm guessing with the desks in the room and talk of a dining table this is your only living room so the space needs to work hard. How many people live here? What are the dimensions of the room?

A round or oval table would work as a dining space in the window, or you could get one of those coffee tables that can be converted to a dining table. If you just need this to be a sitting room I'd have a much larger sofa and maybe (depending on dimensions) have the desk behind the sofa (maybe new brown desk in the window?) so you don't have to look at it when you are not working. You'll need to build in lots of storage, both in the alcoves but probably on the wall facing the fireplace as well. But make it pretty, e.g. a vintage sideboard looks nicer than line of ikea boxes but holds as much.

Features wise, those tiles look painted, I would suspect they are a dark brown originally which is why they've been painted over but if you plan your decor round the fireplace you can still make that look modern, it would certainly go with the earthy colours you like. I'd be tempted to get rid of the dado rail, I doubt it's original, it wouldn't have been needed in a room that was originally a bedroom. But check on rightmove to see if any of your neighbours have them. I'd also rip out the shelving in the alcoves, it looks too heavy for the proportions of the room, thinner shelves without those heavy surrounds would look better. Conversely I'd be tempted to put back a picture rail, again, look at your neighbours houses on rightmove, or you might be able to see the marks on the wall from when they were removed so you can get the positioning correct.

Finally, stuff. Once you have worked out a floor plan then look on vinterior to find things that fit (it has an excellent search engine that includes being able to search by dimensions). You can find stuff on FBMP and ebay as well but it's a longer process. Sellers tend to use more than one site though. Buying vintage is not only good for the environment, it's a shortcut to getting a good looking house, remember you should never be the oldest thing in your house.

Thanks for the specific suggestions - it all helps. Agree with the clutter issues etc- its all going to be cleared- eventually!..

I think my response just posted related to a post I tried to make yesterday. Great ideas above about the picture rail etc. yes its first floor

It's a gorgeous room, will look fab when you are all sorted x

I would suggest a bit of colourful artwork for the wall, possibly a wide panoramic print to fill the space above the sofa - maybe something like https://www.fotoviva.co.uk/panoramic-prints they are photographic art but if that's not your cup of tea there are other sites that sell the wide artworks.

"Before thinking about colours etc you need to plan your layout. I'm guessing with the desks in the room and talk of a dining table this is your only living room so the space needs to work hard. How many people live here? What are the dimensions of the room?"

I completely agree with @JaninaDuszejko. The room has great bones, but the first step is really to focus on the layout and define what the space needs to do.

Do you have a floor plan?
If you don’t have one, a simple sketch with measurements would also work. Ideally, also include the dimensions of any furniture pieces you definitely want to keep.
How many people will be using the room (for working, eating, and relaxing)? Do you need one or two desks in the space?

Yes it would look good thanks