What to do with living room? With pics.

[StormyTeacups]

We have just had a large extension built, which is very light and bright, but is making our cosy living room feel a little neglected.

We can't do anything major like carpets etc yet due to funds, but I was thinking of repainting the fireplace, corner but where TV is etc.

Any other suggestions? Or thoughts on colours? We tend towards the slightly eclectic I guess. I thought it all looked a little intentional, DH thinks it looks scruffy/thrown together.

Any advice?

White goods aren't normally in that spot, the utility is being floored! 😂

Looks like a laid back room. Now you have the extention which I assume is a living space I would embrace the TV watching situation and move sofas into an L shape around the fireplace and enhance the cosiness . Thin out the stuff on the shelves , use chest as coffee table? . Use light colours with maybe a darker accent wall? Can you swap one sofa for something lighter?

I think painting the fireplace wall would be a good start - you've got some nice bright colours in the rug?

All good ideas, thank you. I was thinking of painting the red bricks under the slate fire bit a more modern colour, and then the corner bit? When we have more bookshelves reinstated elsewhere I'll thin out the contents of these ones. Maybe put the board games from the top of the corner into the chest?

New area is kitchen/diner plus living area, so this is now a nice extra. I just don't want it to be neglected! It'll get a lot of love come the colder months when the burner is lit.

Natural colour big big rug (to tie in with colour of blinds).
Big enough that front legs of both sofas are on it. Looks more anchored than a weeny floating rug.
I've got IKEA Morum 3 X 2 metres, under £100.

A large print or gallery wall over the sofa would make a big difference.

Larger rug, and larger print on the gallery wall for sure. Find a print with colours that reference colours on cushions or curtains.
Clear out clutter in the bookshelf.

Play "household chess" in the living room with the family by trying out the furniture in different positions. It can make a big difference not to have all the furniture up against the walls. Even moving out sofas a few inches can make the room feel more spacious, but ideally group furniture in two or three clusters with particular functions. A larger rug would definitely help to anchor one or two sofas (front legs on rug). I'd consider painting the whole room in a pretty, cheerful colour (might take some time to find the best colour in relation to the carpet and the light conditions) with the fireplace in a slightly darker related tone. If you go for an L shape with sofas round the TV, would you be able to have a little table/chair arrangement in the bay window? Also, a nice big plant near the window would connect the room visually with the greenery outside.

You could have a lot of fun painting your fireplace and arranging your favourite objects (or quirky cheap finds) on the mantel.
Lots of ideas here
www.bhg.com/decorating/fireplace/mantels/creative-mantel-ideas/

And since you say it's more of a winter/TV room, a dark paint colour on all walls could be amazing and cozy. Would be easier to make darker paint work with the carpet.

What a lovely window. I can imagine it's such a cosy space in Autumn and Winter, OP!
I think I'd go for a dark green on all the walls. Should work with your brown leather sofas. Definitely a new, larger rug and get some more stuff on the walls. The boat painting is nice but I think a bit small for the wall space.
Would one of your sofas move in front of the window?
Then in terms of accessories, I agree the shelves need a bit of a prune and maybe pop some more intentional pieces on your mantle.

I think a gallery wall would be good as well. And a bigger rug, and bigger light shade. Lovely cosy room though.

Id cover up the shelves with a wall, paint over and put a mirror up.

You’ve made the mistake we all make of putting all the furniture against the walls around the room. If this is going to be a tv / snug room, declutter it first, get rid of the shelves behind the TV completely, paint the chimney wall a dark colour, green would be ok with your sofas.
Move the sofas so they face the tv / fire. I’d get made to measure wooden Venetian blinds for the window - far more stylish than the roller blinds you’ve got there. Also, do you have floorboards? If so, consider getting rid of the carpet and sanding them down. A messy, but cheap job!
I agree with your DH - it looks like a collection of stuff rather than carefully selected items. My house used to look like this when the kids were younger and we had very little spare cash. I hated throwing anything out (because it might come in handy one day). When we moved and had a big revamp I started from scratch, but appreciate that’s a costly way to work.

I think you just need to pull it together with a few vaguely coordinated accessories. Find a pattered cushion in colours that go with your carpet. Maybe teal, mustard, terracotta etc. Then have about five colours (so probably warm, rich but slightly muted), and buy a couple more cushions, a throw to fold up on the arm of a sofa and a couple of ornaments in those colours. So it coordinates but isn’t matchy matchy.

Get a huge rug
Large mirror
Much bugger light fitting

De clutter and move the furniture around. Could do with a few large plants in some natural planters. Some lighter colour throws on the sofas would help break up the giant dark leatheryness of them too.

They are wooden Venetian blinds, one for each section of window. We used to have curtains but they cut the room up too much.

The bay is a little small for either sofa, maybe I need to have a juggle around. The sofa under the boat painting is horrible, dh got it for free from a friend and I hate hate hate it. The other is a lovely leather m&s one I bought nearly 15 yrs ago when I bought my first place. It is quite literally the only item in the room that was bought new, and not either given to us or found on Facebook market place! 🙈 As you can probably tell. Apart from the log burner, that was new.

Much bigger rug, gallery with beautiful old paintings, lovely lampshade and I’d try and hide all the cables by the bay window. A dark green would be lovely

@StormyTeacups

They are wooden Venetian blinds, one for each section of window. We used to have curtains but they cut the room up too much.

The bay is a little small for either sofa, maybe I need to have a juggle around. The sofa under the boat painting is horrible, dh got it for free from a friend and I hate hate hate it. The other is a lovely leather m&s one I bought nearly 15 yrs ago when I bought my first place. It is quite literally the only item in the room that was bought new, and not either given to us or found on Facebook market place! 🙈 As you can probably tell. Apart from the log burner, that was new.

I don't think the sofa is that bad! You could dress that with a load of cushions and a blanket/throw draped over one arm. Co-ordinating but not matchy matchy.

Water your spider plant! ;)

I think it looks cozy and friendly if not the most stylish room at the moment. You probably need to think about how exactly you are going to use it. Is it going to be a playroom or a family room or a more formal adult space? That will dictate what you need to have in the room.

Free faffing: you've currently got single pictures on each wall, rehang them as a gallery wall above the sofa you hate (to distract the eye although it doesn't look so bad, what is it about it you hate? Would painting the wood at the bottom a different colour help?). If you cut up a newspaper to the size of the frames you can play about with the arrangement on the wall before committing, the mark on the paper where the hook goes and drill or nail in the correct place. Like everyone says declutter and hide that mess of cables in the corner. Can the chest be used as a coffee table between the sofas and then you won't need all the side tables? Is the TV in the best place, would having it on a wall bracket somewhere else make the fireplace look better and less cluttered.

Some money: repaint, agree with a PP that a dark colour would enhance the coziness. If that's a bit scary earthy colours are becoming fashionable again and would go with the sofas, carpet and blinds so a beige or terracotta might work. Wash the carpet, I'm a great believer in the refreshing powers of a carpet cleaner, if you don't like it buy a big vintage rug off ebay and use that as inspiration for your colour scheme. Do you like the lampshade in the centre, if you like it keep it and think about using the colours elsewhere, if you don't like it replace with a cheap paper balloon shade until you find something you love - you could paint it to go with your colour scheme. Do you use the central light or would it be better to have a light to the side of the sofa? You could buy a few metres of braided cord (colour chosen to go with colour scheme) and a ceiling hook and get a light where you need it. Can you put cupboard doors on the shelves behind the TV, would give you more hiding space for all your stuff rather than it having to be a display space in an already crowded corner.

I like the open shelves but I would just dress them a bit more/style what's on show.

Can I just jump in and say that it has a lovely warmth and energy just as it is. There are loads of great suggestions from other posters but you often see beautifully coordinated rooms that lack that essential element and you already have that in abundance.

I know you’re looking for tips, but sometimes it can be a bit deflating too so I just wanted to point that out! I’m sure when you add in a few of these suggestions it will be gorgeous.

I'd love to see "after" photos. I don't think it will take much tweaking to look lovely