please can someone help me design my living room?

[jetcat32]

I literally have no clue!!! I have just moved into my house, and the living room is a lovely room - 4m x 5m with huge 3 x 4ft bay window area.

I have just put the lining paper up on the walls (never done that before - its magic what it covers lol!) so no colour yet. Not sure if i am going to put another layer of lining paper to paint - or actual patterned wallpaper.

I have vertical blinds up at the window - mainly because the headrail was there already. So not a problem to change.

Floor is oak laminate, not dark oak.

Furnture wise i am starting from scratch. At the moment i have borrowed a cream suite, but will be replacing that soon (cant keep washing the covers!). I really like brown leather, but not sure what goes with that?

I like shabby chic style, but not the cream sofas that all the sc pics have in them. I need to be practical!

Oh, and there is a white louis style fire surround, which has been glossed white. What can i do with that, as it is wayyyyy shiny lol!

Sorry for the essay, and thanks to those who have read to the end. All ideas would be great, before i spend even more money on home magazines!

I am the same lala.I am all for do what you love but can't bear what I call b and q room staging!

and i do really appreciate your help. I do like the eclectic (sp?) look, but i also like the idea of having at least some notion of a theme pulling it all together. Its not that i want everyone else to like it - i just want to sit in my room, look around and think "this looks lovely!"

I will sort the walls out and the fireplace, and then decide on what furniture.

Dare i ask - where would i look for some lovely tiles?? And is it really easy to put them up, as i am not very DIY at all - though i would love to be!!

I am in the middle of this atm with dp i am total control freak re decor but he has some weird ideas which he thinks are great!

Ha, ha, yes! I sometimes throw my husband a token "What colour should we have on the stairs?" type question and then spend ages scorning his choices.

jetcat - depends what sort of tiles you want. I knocked through two rooms in my home and had similar fireplaces with completely clashing sets of tiles in them so looked on lovely ebay and got two sets of very similar vintage ones. My friend had a similar fireplace and got some glass mosaic tiles in a creamy/grey/slightly lilacy colour that looked really nice (and are also very easy to fit, you just need tile snippers rather than a cutter, if that's a deciding factor).

lol noddy! must be hard when you have your own ideas and a partner has different ideas - you stand your ground lol - it sounds like you know what you're talking about!!!

My dp lets me be.I also ask his 'advice'and then totally disregard it just as he does if I say anything about musical instruments!

Hmmmm, strong opinions on keeping the 'virginity' of teak it seems. Well, I suppose my absolute indifference to this particular wood stems from having spent couple of decades living a glorious expat life in SE Asia and teak there is more common than pine here.
And I do like painted furniture.....
However, each their own, I'm sure you'll end up with a fabulous home!

My Deco is great for playing around with interior design. They have tonnes of furniture, wallpapers, paints etc, and you can browse other people's designs for inspiration.
These days I am wasting spending almost as much time on there as on MN, but I think I'm getting more of a feel for how I want things.

well, i have just received the fabulous F & B colour chart - so many lovely colours!!!

Could i ask for opinions please on 'borrowed light' estate emulsion for walls, dead flat 'french gray' for fire surround, and possibly 'pointing' for skirtings?? ALthough, i do like pavillion blue as well for walls. I guess i am going to have to get the samples lol!

Also, do i need to use primer for emulsion if painting onto lining paper?

No need to prime lining paper, just slap on the emulsion. I think all the colours are nice - I know lots of people use F&B colours for woodwork but, tbh, I'm not sure it's worth the money - just use white gloss and wait for it to go yellow .

lol lala - i was thinking the exact same thing! i have white satin everywhere else, so thinking maybe i should continue that - just a basic b and q satin (please dont chuck me off mn lol!!)

Would the fire surround really look ok painted french gray - my friend thinks it looks a little dark?

am getting the samples of pavillion blue and borrowed light as i can't decide between the two. Is there an actual store i can buy them from, or is it just online?

And (in a very quiet whisper now!) is it really worth getting the actual F & B paint, or just getting the colour matched?

You can get them in Homebase and F&B also have distributors in many towns and shops in some. Just look on the website. I think French Gray would look fine although I think the fireplace should be slightly darker...

IMO, no point getting it colour matched because part of its charm is the slightly chalky way it dries that other paints can't imitate. It does have a certain sort of texture.

thanks so much lala, i think my friend was thinking that as fire surround is louis style, it needed to be white at all times lol!

looking at the colour card, seems pigeon is darker, or perhaps hardwick white?? For the walls, i must admit i am leaning towards borrowed light, as pavillion blue looks a little green??