So, let’s kick off this new series with a living room dilemma from Anita, who lives right here in Georgia. Her mother recently moved into assisted living, so Anita got her sofa and loveseat, which are in great condition and are very neutral, a very good thing, in my opinion. One of the things I tell people that I’ve done myself is to buy mostly neutral when it comes to large pieces of furniture, like sofas. Anita’s living room appears not to be that big, so let’s see what we can do in decorating a small living room like this and bringing in some color and interest.
How many bold print sofas have you seen from 10 to 20 years ago, where you could judge the age of the sofa by the wild print that was on it? I’ve seen that happen lots of times, so staying neutral on a sofa is a big plus.
This is a good sofa to use for a starting point, in good shape.  Anita recently painted the room from red to this warm neutral, so that’s all good too. Anita’s dilemma is how to add warmth, coziness, and color to her space with accessories.
One thing I see in the above pic, is that the artwork is hanging too high above the sofa. You want to bring it down, so that it relates to the sofa below without having so much space between. I’d say bring the art down at least 10 to 12 inches from where it is now. The bottom of the print should be about 6-8″ above the top of the sofa, but look at it visually when you move it to be sure it looks good. I eyeball things, so hardly ever measure.
This wall is a good focal point for artwork too, so I’d go for something more modern on this wall to liven things up.
It looks like there is not a lot of room for a coffee table and side table over by the window, so I might suggest moving that round table in the middle in between the 2 chairs and pull them closer together in front of the window. I’d add a nice lamp to that table too. If there’s room, then think about a glass coffee table. Glass visually is light and airy and doesn’t seem nearly as heavy as wood.
The drapes look to be in great shape too with nice colors, so Anita, if you still like those, then pull colors from those drapes and bring it into your room. I think adding a colorful rug over your carpet would be a nice starting point. Not sure how big your room is, but a 5 x 7’ rug might be big enough, I’d make sure the front edge of both sofa and loveseat come to the edge of the rug, so measure your space and see what size will work. If not 5 x 7, then try an 8×10. That would really add a lot of color to your space.
Looks like you might have enough room for a few plants and enough light coming in to add some real plants to your space. I love a nice tree or plant by the window. Add one on an end table too for lots more life in a room.
So, here’s an Olioboard I put together showing how adding just a few things to the room will change it up and add much needed color. Olioboard is a free site that you can use to put together moodboards. I pulled items from the site and made a board for Anita and it shows all the items below and you can click to see where they came from.
Anita, keep in mind when you are looking at rugs, to check the tones against your drapes, if those are staying (and they totally can, the colors are great to pull from). You’d want to make sure the reds all line up well in tone.
This is a fun way to create inspiration for a room and hopefully you can see what a difference just adding few things can make in a room. The rug, pillows, artwork and accessories will really liven it up. Changing out lamps to a bit more modern would also be a great look, since the room is so traditional. I’ve loved evolving in style myself and I’m not stuck on all traditional anymore. Adding some modern elements to a room just kicks it up a notch and makes it so much more interesting. It’s all a learning process, isn’t it!?
Anita, what do you think? I hope you like my ideas. All of the rest of you are welcome to chime in too.
What do you see in Anita’s room that she can change to bring in more coziness, warmth, and color. These are my ideas, feel free to add your own!
Nice going, Rhoda, and since you ask – those two wooden armed chairs could do with a pop of colour – paint the wood in a colour you really love, and then change the upholstery to bright and cheery.
I’d add a mirror to reflect some of that nice light coming in the windows.
Love it Rhoda! I also agree with Susan, paint the wood chairs a bright and happy color and go with a fun print or geometric fabric on the seat would take them to a whole other level…and it’s easy to repaint or change the fabric down the road.
I agree about the chairs needing recovering, not sure I’d Chang the finish just yet. And a smallish mirror sounds good, just not a big one. One of those round ones is what I’m thinking. Color in pillows and art definitely needed to wake up the space. I even think painting the ceiling a deeper color would add some style, although most people are scared to do it! Love your choices, esp. the lamps.
I agree with you Rhoda, Anita’s space definitely needs some live plants.
I’m super excited about this new series! I think we can all learn from your wonderful ideas. Can’t wait for future posts in this series.
♥ Becky in SC ♥
Rhoda, your ideas are amazing. This is going to be a great blog series!
I was wondering if the round table would go in the corner between the sofa and loveseat. That might give a few more inches for the loveseat to move toward the sofa wall. And the plants would definitely add warmth!
Hi Rhoda.
I absolutely love your ideas!!! I also love reading the comments from others!! I am so excited to get this room going:) Y’all are so great!!
I do not have to keep the same window treatments so any ideas would be wonderful!!
I will be going to Home Goods this week for sure:) Keep the ideas coming!!
Thank You Again Rhoda!! I will send you a picture of the finished look soon!!
Great, Anita, I’m glad you are inspired. I went back and added drapes and a throw for more color. All of these things will make a huge difference. I think recovering those chairs would update your room a lot, thought about that, but didn’t know how much you would want to change. From now on, I’ll just throw it all out there and let everyone decide what they want to do.
Anita, Isn’t it wonderful to get GREAT “hand me downs? 🙂 Just thought I would add a comment. Moving into assisted care is such a difficult transition sometimes. It would be wonderful if you could purposefully place something your mother treasured in this room. Perhaps a framed photo of family (she and your dad?)….or something like that. That way, when she visits it may give her a little lift to see that you cherish something that she cherished. I don’t think it has to be anything BIG or esp. decorative….just something that might put a grin on her face. BTW….great ideas from all “commenters”!
Susan from GA
Meant to add an idea before I “sent” (oops)….maybe a plate on the wall she used when she cooked for her family….
Anita,
Please tell me the name of the brick used in the cedar hill farmhouse by the mantel.
HI, Julie, you will need to go over to Anita’s blog and ask her there, she won’t see this.
I LOVE your ideas of recovering the chairs and I would really consider painting them too:) I did put the round table between the sofa and love seat but the table gets lost because of it being much lower than the sofa and love seat! That was a great idea!!:) I am truly a happy lady tonight from all of your ideas:)
Anita, is that round table something that you consider precious? If not, I’d consider painting that a color. You might be able to paint the table and not the chairs, but changing the fabrics on the chairs would make a huge difference even if you don’t paint them.
Hi, I definitely think a large mirror over the couch would look great. I also would like to see 2 curtains panels per window.
Rhoda, I would tell Anita, to pull from the colors of the drapes, add a dark tone curtain rod , lightly distressed, paint the chairs in a neutral tone but find a fun fabric that incorporates the red and gold tones with a pop of blue green. These colors are not together now and there are fabrics out there now that feature that palette. I think all rooms need a combination of painted furniture, rich wood, and mirror. A mercury glass coffee table or glass top in an oval shape would visually make the room look larger and give a good surface for placing decorative objects. Plants always warm the rooms and give it life, but real plants pleased less they are high quality silk. Nothing is worse than dust collector fake plants. LOL!!! Lasti would add a side table in the blue green color to tie the fabrics together. The addition of blue greens and squash with red and golds immediately update the room. But most of all, have fun Anita and enjoy the process.
Hi Ladies,
I have a few ideas to chime in too..lol I would paint the chairs and table white (then distress the edges). If the table is too short I would set a few small squares of wood under the legs to lift it up.
I would change the curtains to an airy white. I think I would get turquoise pillows and white pillows and throw for the sofa that is also turquoise.
Behind the sofa I would put a large silver frame with chicken wire behind it and then hang snapshots of your family in black and white on the chicken wire.
Behind the love seat I would hang a large silvery mirror and a few mercury glass candlesticks or white candles with burlap wrapped around them.
I love the furniture and when your recover the chairs I would make them neutral as well so they match when you change the pillows and throw to a different color.
HTH Dianntha
Rhoda, Great job on the tips for her room! I love that you gave her the mood board, but she can also make her own choices. And you used what she already had, which is a huge plus, too. I can already tell I’m going to love this new series. 🙂
Rhoda and Anita, After looking more closely at Rhoda’s ideas–I love the table painted a warm blue and the blue drapes. Wow!
Those windows are gorgeous and I would showcase them. I would extend the rods and put panels of both sides of each window but have them barely touch the window so you see the full window. Then the beautiful piece between the window wouldn’t look so lost.
Also, from what I can see from the rest of the house it leans towards a more traditional/FC look. Do you want a different look in this room? I would change out the curtains so your not locked into that color scheme and go lighter and brighter since the furniture is so light. I think the current drapes and couch and love seat don’t blend well at all, even though they are all lovely. I would do a mirror/gallery wall over the couch. Shop around your home first.
I really like Rhoda’s idea of a glass coffee table and an area rug over the carpet. And covering the pillows in a new fabric will break up the all cream, but mostly I think you need to start with the drapes. I just see them at war with the couch!
I hope your mother is doing well in her new residence. Looking forward to seeing what you do. Love this new feature Rhoda!
I love Rhoda’s ideas. I would definitely paint the chairs and add new fabric to the seats. I think the room needs one trendy color that you splash around the room and get rid of it when the next trend hits you. My choice for trendy would be turquoise!
Great post and awesome ideas. Anita’s living room looks great as it is but your suggestions as I’ve visualized made it look so much better. I’d agree with Mary with the curtains though. You can easily see the contrast at the second pic — it’s too dark and heavily opposes the couch’s neutral color so I’d go with lighter drapes. Pastels maybe?
I think like others change the chairs fabric something to grab more of the cranberry in the curtains. And add cranberry popping pillows to couches. I think that color adds warmth to go with the wood tables. And new pics on all walls too. Have fun decorating.
Hi Rhoda. Love the new series!
Anita, the taller “center” table is a great look. It breaks up “height boredom” relative to all the seat-height planes going on in the room. I would relocate that heavy, round one from in front of the sofas. Think “oblong”, whether oval or rectangle, to kill the end table vibe. Something like this: http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/tables/bar-carts/red-chinoiserie-tray-table/id-f_324370/ It’s light and airy, has a small footprint, gives a good color pop against your neutral sofas. Could be in any color that says “hello” to other elements in the room.
Thank You Ladies for all the great ideas!! I am just smiling from ear to ear and so excited to get going on this room:) I do LOVE the idea of painting the round table and I do want to recover the chairs to a brighter fabric!! All of you are so great!! Can not wait to play around with panels for the windows from all the ideas!!!
Thank You Again!!!
I am one happy lady in Georgia!!:)
I love all of the previous ideas ladies!
Those windows are beautiful! I would also go with 2 panels on each window and pull them WIDE open to get the full amount of light that they will let into the room. To add an extra layer of interest to the window, perhaps Anita could add two leaded art glass panels on chains to the windows near the top? Something frameless, but kind of like this:
http://www.glassartdesigner.com/images/hanging/botany1-lg.jpg