Please help me improve our living room

[LightsS0bright]

This run of wall in our living room really annoys me. There are so many things wrong with it.

The textured wall paper is terrible and poorly hung you can see every line between the sheets, I generally really dislike magnolia (yellow) paint. The fire surround needs ripping out, the mirror looks too small (from our old house) and the chair looks too big (matches the sofa and DH loves it so I can’t get rid) the doors need replacing and the brown carpet needs to go. I am working on finding a different clock.

Anyway I can’t strip the terrible wallpaper because I don’t think we have the money to pay someone to skim it and I’m pretty sure it’ll need skimming. Equally there is no money to change the floor/fire place surround/doors. In 5 years time we’ll rip it all out and redecorate properly.

Anyone have any ideas for how to make it all less drab in the mean time? I feel like more pictures on the wall might help. Like a gallery wall but I’m really struggling to visualise it. The sofa is directly opposite so I just sit staring at it.

And the gap between the fire place and the door and the fire place and the wall isn’t equal.

I like the shape of your mirror but I think if you want something to make that wall look better, a much larger possibly rectangular mirror would look better, to counterbalance the kooky fireplace.

Re pictures- you could then have three smallish pics either side of the wall in vertical lines, in identical frames. You could even just frame three nice postcards, but that could create a stronger look, if it was symmetrical either side of the fireplace

Paint the wall a deep blue and accessorise with a patterned rug which includes the similar deep blue shade

Can you paint over the wallpaper and the magnolia walls with a neutral white then the room will be less beigy/browny and could look fresh , it will even make the fireplace stand out like feature and u can add some artwork on the wall above the fireplace

We’ve been resistant to painting the wall paper because I really just want to rip it off 😂 but maybe painting it is just what we need to do for now.

And yes I agree on the mirror, it probably needs to be as wide as the fireplace surround. We only got round to putting this mirror up last weekend 🤦🏻‍♀️

Paint and a rug over the carpet would make a huge difference.

I would also paint the fireplace.

Before we moved I was thinking of white washing the fire place like the image attached. To make everything less beige. Is that what you had in mind?

Forgive me, OP, but is that a dry stone fire place? 😯

I can't zoom in on your photo, and I am obsessed by dry stone walls, so have to ask. 😁

I agree with PPs: a larger mirror with some bright artwork either side of the fireplace, paint the wall a darker, more dramatic colour perhaps?

I think I would move the ivy, and place the two remaining plants at either end. Could the chair to the left be placed elsewhere?

I would do a large round mirror. I'd also whitewash the brick and paint the walls. Maybe some baskets on the hearth at either side of the fire.

I would put a tall plant behind the big chair, that would cover up some wall if you don't want to paint it; or the one from the fireplace on a plant stand could work too

Agree bigger mirror too

I’d paint the wall, get a bigger mirror, tall reading lamp behind big chair and a rug. Also might be tempted to sand the wood on top of the fireplace so it is lighter.

I’d also paint that, either a dark olive, or a bright teal.

the mirror and clock is all wrong, they are just too small. The mirror needs to be much bigger, a proper statement. You can pick them up quite cheeky if you search, you also don’t need to hang it, you can lean it on the fireplace.

white washing would work, if you feel you can do it properly

I'd get a rug, a lamp and move on with my life. (Just being honest as I think it looks lovely as it is).

Mirror is much too small. Would think about where best to place a few large-ish pictures on that wall once the mirror was replaced. Would find a new home one of the chairs. And think I'd put a floor lamp in the right hand corner behind / to the side of the chair. I would want to curate what's on the mantlepiece so it looks 'tidy'. The clock is too big - but I don't think I'd be wanting to look at one in my relaxation space anyway. And I think the plants are too scraggly.
Personally I wouldn't touch the stone. I like it as it is. Long term I'd paint that wall a dark colour and get a lovely big textured rug.

You can use Dulux paint visualiser. You can immediately see that changing the colour and then adding a much bigger mirror would make it much warmer and modern.

I can’t believe how much nicer it looks in Olive green! Makes the fireplace as a while much less offensive. Thanks @Janieforever I’ll have a play with the visualiser.

@NeverGuessWho the one in the whitewash screen shot may be a dry stone wall but ours has quite chunky brown mortar so I don’t think it is.

I like the large standing lamp idea behind the chair.

The problem with rugs is that a big one is around £500, I’d want it to fill the space between the sofa and the arm chair so it’d want it to be close to 2m x 3m, unless if can find a decent one on Facebook marketplace.

Will definitely keep and eye out for a big mirror, lots of those about secondhand. Might get a nicer wall clock for a different wall, we do need one in the room to help us go to bed at a decent time. But you’re right @yomellamoHelly we don’t need to sit staring at it. It helps to think of the lounge as a relaxation space. I don’t think I’d quite got there in my head yet, we don’t have much time to relax with young DC 😂

Thankyou so much all, our last house was very easy to make very nice helped by it being much smaller, this one everything seems like a big undertaking.

If your DH doesn't want to get rid of the furniture, how about reupholstering (or covers) in a pattern that picks out whatever dark colour you choose for the wall(s)?

A bigger mirror is a must as others have said. Then maybe a couple of nice modern prints either side (not a matching pair as the spaces are not the same size). I love this site:

https://www.kingandmcgaw.com/

That’s a great site @ClematisBlue49 ! I did go down an Oliver Bonas rabbit hole yesterday too looking at their prints. We do have a lot of wall art already just most of it looks crap against a magnolia wall.

I know it’s so different to our house but I really like this, apart from
perhaps the grey background colour. Maybe I just need to knock a load of nails in and get what we have on the wall and take the plunge.

@LightsS0bright , yes it's tricky getting the wall colour right when you have a selection of art... I like that room, but you're right that the grey doesn't work. Putting the pictures up first may be a good idea, then getting some paint samples. I think if your artwork has lots of white space, then it would look great against a darker colour.

You also don’t need to spend 500 on a big rug

i have used these guys a few times, and they have some great budget but high quality ones, defo worth a browse.

https://www.love-rugs.com/products/sunrise-20752-multi-rug?variant=43325367648475

Also 20 percent off before midnight

Paint the wallpaper. Paint the fireplace if you can-it looks a tad flintsone ish at the minute. Replace blue Cocktail chair to left of fireplace as you look at it with a large plant (it's a bit too big for that space). Larger mirror might work better, though that one you have is nice

Try Amazon for rugs. We got a surprisingly nice big one for £82. It's not the thickest most luxury rug in the world but as it was for a high traffic area in our house and we knew it would get mullered, we didn't want to spend lots and chanced it and it's actually quite nice.

In addition to the suggestions above, could you remove the photos from the hearth and get a log basket, I’m assuming it’s a real wood burning stove. Also replace the wall light, or their shades with something simpler.