My sitting room is bland. What sort of furniture looks stylish and attractive but still cosy in a sitting room?

[Woodfordhound]

We have a large open plan kitchen family room at the back of the house and a smaller 3.5mx4m sitting room at the front. The back room is how we want it and where we spend all our time as a family but I’d like to enjoy the front sitting room more especially as it has an open, working fire. There is a large bay window which I’m struggling to decide what to cover with. The panes go virtually up to the bay ceiling so any rail would need to be attached to the ceiling. I currently have two neutral coloured sofas and an ugly coffee table and matching ugly tv stand in there and that’s it. I don’t know where to start. Any decor pointers?

Bump

rugs, scatter cushions, nice lamp a few candles will help with feeling cosy.

Wooden slatted shutter blinds would be great in the bay.

Thank you MrsMH. Any idea on furniture?

Thanks, Veronicat. I worry that shutters would be less cosy than curtains and block out too much light. Maybe not though.

We have a similar bay and at first fitted a curtain pole, in keeping with the era of the house. It was v difficult to fix due to four angles and being fixed to the window frame. We have now added wide slatted blinds, which work very well.
We also have made this room a cosy room with dark rich colours, light oak and beech wood and mid century modern furniture, light flooring to balance the darker walls.

Thanks JT05! I’ll have another look at blinds.

Although you have to fit a curtain pole to the ceiling, is there any opportunity to do so that you can have heavy curtains that fall to the ground? It gives a really luxurious feel. I always feel that deep blues and greys give a really rich feel to a small room, and perhaps things like hexagonal side tables and some lovely pieces to decorate the room. Dunelm Mill are great for things like this. Pinterest is also great for tons of inspiration!

I like loaf furniture.

I would go for some candles and textures. I love faux fur cushions and throws. They make a lounge seem really cosy and luxurious. Also what about a tall floor lamp? They're practical and also a homely addition.

Framed posters, mirrors, plans, nice lights, rugs, storage...

also nice to have a mix of old & modern pieces

We have wooden blinds in our living room. The colour palette is mostly grey, but has pops of yellow, pink , orange and teal. The wall colour is Sunday School by Crown Period paint, it's a really soft colour that changes throughout the day. I love and am sad that it'll be rarely used once we do our extension.

I'm sure it's not everyone's taste but we love it.

I'd have long sweeping velvet curtains, a padded window seat, tall lamp, cosy seats around the fire with a table/trunk or blanket box in between as a coffee table. A bookcase and music system.
Throws, fresh flowers and the fire lit, then it's a place to retreat to, light a candle, nurse a glass of wine and read a book or write in your journal. I love spaces liek that. When our sitting room isn't hijacked by DTeens' band equipment I love lighting a fire and reading in there.

Do you have any plants? Mine is quite neutral as I get bored easily so I can easily change the colour scheme with soft furnishings. But I have plants all over the room and it really makes the room look put together.

I also have a lot of decor bits all over the place to fill any gaps, just fancy bowls and tea light holders, but spaced out so its not too cluttered.

I get a lot of stuff from wayfair too, they’re really good for inspiration. I’ve just bought a lovely large coffee table from them for only £150, in sonoma oak and its really eye catching.

I think wood furniture that isn’t the typical orange wood colour is really nice and modern.

Could/would you put in a window seat in the bay if the wall isn’t straight under it? You could paint it any colour you want and add lots of coloured scatter cushions. I’d love a bay window just to be able to have a window seat (have actually been considering getting one put in somehow just for this)

Check out made.com

It has some brilliant furniture and home accessories

We had the same problem with bay windows to the ceiling and I wanted thick luxury curtains for coziness. I got a ceiling mounted track that can be bent to the bay shape. I think it was swish brand. Although I'm not generally a fan of tracks it is relatively discrete and works very well.

Thank you everyone. Lots of food for thought here. 4years, your room looks lovely and cosy and I do like teal as an accent colour.
I think heavy curtains are going to be the way to go. I like blinds but I’m not sure they’re going to give me the cosy winter feel that I’d like to create in there. I think maybe some sort of unit with books and the Sonos system so we can have a glass of wine and listen to music.