What would you do with this living room?

[cantdecideanything]

Just moved in and having a complete mental block over this living room! The sofa and TV unit are from my old place and are to be replaced. We originally wanted a big slouchy orange sofa along the wall, and a smaller dark blue one in the window but now I just don’t know! There’s a toddler in the house so trying to avoid super light coloured sofas… We’ll be changing the curtains at some point too, but not too keen on repainting the blue walls for a while.

Photos attached with sofas we were considering before said mental block!

I would re-hang that door so it opens the other way. We did this in one of our downstairs rooms and it's made a huge difference to the use of the space.

I'd put the tv in the corner between fire place and window. Then bring the sofa forward from the wall and have bookshelves behind it. That gives great storage for toys/ games (low down) and books or photos or ornaments above. It is also decorative

Ideally the bookshelves should be dark with lights in. ikea billy fitted by a joiner often works.

Instead of a second sofa, I'd have several big comfy chairs. And definitely a very big rug to draw the room together.

I agree with this. Smaller (colourful) sofas facing each other either side of fireplace or maybe L-shaped to each other around fireplace with TV at an angle to both sofas. Some people prefer TV mounted on wall which is a personal.choice. It isn't for me. As a former shorthand typist, we were always told when what were then called VDU screens came in you shouldn't be looking up to the screen because it would cause neck problems. Orange is one of my favourite colours. If you've got a toddler in the house, I'd opt for a cleanable sofa. I love the look of the orange fabric one but I'd opt for something you can clean or it will stress you out when the toddler drools on it, is sick on it, has an peepee accident on it, spills food on it or draws on it with crayons. If you decide to re-paint, you can get washable ones. The proportions of the room and the existing fireplace look very good. I hope you and your family will be happy in your new home

It's a fabulous room with a beautiful window.
I would move your sofa from against the wall and put a console table behind.
Definitely some big art or shelves on wall. Coffee table to break up large space.
It's really lovely.

Is that a dehumidifier? Do you have damp. I only ask because I do and I was thinking of investing in one
.... has it helped.

100% needs a rug

@Redlarge it is! No damp but I used it in my previous place which did have damp and it worked a treat. We had it on in here over the weekend as we’d used a carpet washer.

I agree with building in storage in both alcoves, would have been there originally and will be very useful! You could do cupboards in bottom section to hide clutter.

If the TV is the right size you could wall mount it inside the cupboard so you just pull it out when you're using it, but depends how often you watch TV. It works well for us but we tend to just watch a bit last thing in the evening.

I would pull the sofa in from the wall so there's a fairly substantial gap behind - that can be a playroom area?

I agree with at least painting top and bottom of walls the same colour, though a picture rail would be great. If you kept the dado rail in the playroom section you could possibly use it as a feature to hang things off/make a mini room?

You’ll need a large rug to pull everything together.

I knew it! Those proportions scream Scotland, English are much less generous.

Depends on your style of course but vintage or antique furniture comesin abigger variety of sizes than modern and so you might have more luck looking for large furniture on sites like vinterior or Ebay or auction sites.

I think the carpet is dragging it down. Are there floorboards underneath that could be sanded? It seems to be crying out for wooden floors to me.

I don't know why you think houses in Scotland always have more space. They don't. They build new houses with a few inches between them and call them detatched. The room proportions have reduced too.

Sofa ok with some throws and cushions
but the paint is awful, paint the whole wall dado etc all the same colour, light off white
or anything but that !!
plants a rug and a cool lamp would help
three nice pictures in a group a cool mirror would help enormously

Agree with bringing sofa away from wall
snd having console table behind with lamp, plants, pictures etc!

I’m back! Sofas delivered yesterday as they were in stock!

We’re planning on moving the dado rail to picture rail height and painting up to the rail in a neutral Stone colour, plus adding a rug - to be decided! And new curtains…

but I’m still stuck on sofa placement. I’ll get a new Tv stand at some point but the heater it’s in front of is off as we’ll be using the fire in here anyway. Thoughts?

Are there lovely wooden floors under that carpet? I think wooden floors with a big rug would change the feel of this room completely and it would be easier to achieve the look you are going for. The carpet takes the room into the wrong decade and the colour of it will clash with the creamy colours you want.

@Snoken hmmm, we might need to look into that! It seems like a fairly new carpet. The dining room is almost a carbon copy of this room, but without the cornicing and it has lovely rustic wooden floors. It is bloody freezing in there though which is my only reluctance to switching out the carpet 🤣

The TV looks odd. I'm not usually a fan of TVs on the wall above fireplace, but yours might look best there in this room. That whole wall looks odd as there is a built in cupboard and wall that goes to the ceiling, rather than two alcoves, which would look more balanced.

You could get a huge rug with edges that go almost up to the sofas. It would change the look of the room if you get the right style and colour.

Rearranged again… rug is obviously too small but was just trying to get an idea! There’s now an awkward dead space between the sofas though!

I'd try moving the sofas into an L shape with the lamp table between them at the corner of the L leaving a gap between the wall and the back of the sofa.

I've got a big sitting room, my sofas are each about a metre from the wall.

Could you try a console table behind one of them with a plant/ornament/lamp on it to add interest.

Move the radiator and put in a window seat.

The sofas are lovely. I actually think the curtains will look good when the room is painted. Which is good as they're horrendously expensive for non standard sizes. Agree to add a picture rail.

I think the carpet is what's throwing it for me - it clashes with the warmer colours. A neutral/warm toned wool loop would look good. Personally I love wood with a big rug, but yep original floorboards can be cold.

I'd buy a gorgeous big light also, I think that would really change the look of the room. Warm lightbulbs and opal glass. The lighting and dimmer switches really changed the feel of our rooms

And the light looks the wrong scale for the room, a much bigger one hung lower would look better

We have two large sitting rooms. We don’t have the sofas matching. We have two sofas in one room but they complement each other. We pull the look together with cushions and the rug. The other room has two chairs and a big sofa and a table between the chairs. We also have room for a storage unit where we have a few items to add interest. So a vase with flowers, candle stands, a limestone sculpture and a couple of photos. In the room we have big mirrors over the alcoves above console tables with lamps on them. Coffee table and a big rug pull it together so doesn’t feel everything is against the wall. Yes to several lamps and some books on the coffee table. The room here just looks undressed! No character and obviously needs painting. I would love Setting Plaster by F&B with the sofas. Add neutral but textured cushions and throw. I’d check the floorboards as the carpet looks puckered.

the most recent layout is best and you could put a BIG plant or a BIG lamp (or both) in the corner space between them.