What's missing?

11 years ago

Medium size room (lounge) that is looking somewhat bare right now. The front room is still in the process of being decorated (as you can see with the door and skirting).

So all walls are lacking in character. Would like to add some pictures or maybe a mirror but unsure as to where they should go. Any tips?

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PRO

Iron Rose Home

11 years ago

I absolutely adore your sofa! Your living room looks like a plain canvas right now, and you can do anything you want with it. I would start with adding curtains (the colour of your choice or something that you already used in other room). As your sofa is grey, and your furniture is white with pine details, anything as brass / gold colour could work. Then you can add small items, like vases, dry flowers, rug to match the curtains. Also some stunning canvas on the wall would make a difference. If you go for golden curtains, you could keep the art in red / brown shades. It depends which colour palette you want to go for.
I noticed that you have a light grey lamp shade, so you could also keep the decor in grey / charcoal / white to be consistent with what you already have. Just add few colour accents if you decide to for the grey scheme

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Comments (25)

shutuplegs100
Original Author
11 years ago
Hopefully these photos will give you a better idea as to what is going on. Will appreciate any recommendations.
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I don't think colour is the issue, it's tone that is lacking. Convert the image to black and white and it will look a bit insipid. The bank of cupboards where the fridge is would have benefited form being a dark colour, the pendants are nice but need to be much lower and the wall cupboards look a little high with gaps. I actually think the rug works well and would add more things with character. The splash back would have been more dramatic if perhaps teal tiles were used instead of glass.
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I think the room is most of the way there but for me there are a couple of hard elements that need softening and a couple of things that I think are not sitting so well. I think that the floor and sofa are quite hard looking. A rug under the dining table and a sofa throw could help. Personally I would choose bigger rugs to cover more floor as I think the colour is less contemporary than the rest of the room. I think a couple of oversized house plants could help too. In my opinion the overhead lighting is a little harsh and you should add some table and standard lights. Personally I would prefer to see curtains that match the front windows, behind the dining table. I would remove the picture rail that seems to circle only half the room. I also think that the cabinets would have more presence if against a darker coloured wall and wall mounted so the taller cabinets would be window height.
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It looks a lot better than it did in the beginning, I like the lighter colors a lot better and the wall looks very nice. Just one change I would make is center your lamps on the tables. They look like they are too close to the bed/bedframe to me. Maybe a plant or 2 or some type of small dark greenery? Maybe a smaller rug centered in front of the bed in same color scheme or bench?
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Your positive is its such a neutral scheme you could go for a bold accent wall to give it a bit of personality either on both walls or just the TV wall. You could then add a gallery of pictures around the tv as suggested above and layer lamps, plants to give it some interest. . You can always replace the navy cushions to tone in with the accent wall.
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headers13
11 years ago
There is nothing of any height in the room; I would add a shelving unit for books/objects. Pics as above look good behind the sofa or add a bigger cabinet for the tv with pictures or a large mirror above it.
peony grace
11 years ago
something to break up the wall - I have used the runged side of an old crib and painted it to turn it into a throw/rug holder - it fills a blank space but is portable too so you can move it out of the way whenever you need to...an old ladder would work for this too. large canvas or floating bookshelves with quirky frames / candles above the sofa would be good to break up the wall too....alternatively you could buy a few plain frames (tesco do great ones) and make hanging gallery wall with different images / photos / prints....

would you paint a wall a colour or do you prefer to keep it white? If keeping white, then maybe adding colour panels in the door would bring some more life into the room? Some people use wallpaper for this also, with interesting patterns....a bold designer shade for the light would add impact also and is an affordable way to make the room more interesting.
pippamc
11 years ago
You could add three images in b/w in frames along the bare wall; this would add depth and interest without committing you to one statement. If you wanted to add colour, the mount in the frames offers plenty of possibility, which could be picked up around the room with a similarly toned cushion or candle holder.
hbbkitty
11 years ago
It would look really nice if you could have maybe a black, silver and white theme. It would complement the nice and simple white tables you have
peony grace
11 years ago
nice diy hack...could work over sofa?
G H
11 years ago
Please don't paint the walls or add a feature wall. The room is too small I think. I like the pic above with the colour accent but for what I think the size of room is, I'd suggest clusters of frames or five medium pieces to make it look larger and a mirror to bounce the light a little.

Love the chair where is it from?

G
G H
11 years ago
Ignore the chair question I blew the pic up and can see it is a piano from ikea.
peony grace
11 years ago
also, would you put white textured scatter cushions or colour cushions on sofa rather than dark on dark? follow that through with a colour vase or other accessories? think gh is right re:painting walls and feature wall btw...
shutuplegs100
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the comments guys - some real good ideas. Yes, chair is from IKEA cheap and cheerful.

My main concern is knowing where to put pictures and a mirror? Round mirror or rectangular? Which wall?
shutuplegs100
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the input Niamh. Will probably keep the walls the same colour at the minute. Was intending to place a tallish bookcase by the window wall to the right. Think this would work? Colour of book case? I suppose the advantage of a shorter bookcase is that I could either place a mirror or picture above it. But then the taller bookcase would surely help break up the wall?

Thanks to everyone for their ideas
shutuplegs100
Original Author
11 years ago
So had another trip down to ikea (it's cheap - do forgive me) and purchased a Hemnes bookcase and a few pillow cases. So this picture is the window wall. Am happy with the progress.

It's the door wall which is bugging me. Do I put a chair there? A picture or mirror?
jenny2657
11 years ago
maybe cover your walls with loads of different photos. Possibly friends, places, family? Maps also make any wall space interesting. A mirror would just make the wall look more empty and bare so you want to add lots of colour to it. One I had an idea of inviting friends over to paint my wall with me by adding all sorts of brush strokes, shapes and different colours. Or better yet you could get paint that acts as a whiteboard when put on the wall :) its a bit expensive so I would go with adding a map, posters or photos :)
Sarah
11 years ago
IKEA do picture rails which you attach to the wall then you can place/lean different pictures or photos on them at different heights, thus allows for flexibility. I saw a photo on here with that same look, think I'm going to do it in my living room.
Kelly B
11 years ago
I would put a large mirror above your couch. I definetely thing yellows and greys would work well. I agree that you don't have much storage so maybe a bookcase with some books and quirky ornaments on? I have a ladder in my living room.withbblanlets on and I have put fairy lights around it too it looks very nice
helen3107
11 years ago
Oh Kelly B where did you get that tray from? Love the ladder idea! We've thought of that but not practical with a baby in the house.
I'd got with a pale grey colour in your room with a wall that has all different frames with pics in them.
Nice floor and sofa!
Matthew Decorator
11 years ago
A feature wall perhaps? Bright if your feeling brave
peony grace
11 years ago
We have a ladder type thing too for blankets, but I've seen ladders or grilles used for magazines, books, or bull-clipping illustrations to which might be a nice feature?
PRO
itondoart
10 years ago
Put a mirror where it reflects to window to create the impression of another window looking out onto the garden. I'd go for a round frame to add visual interest and to soften the "squareness" of the room.

You can use our free iOS app to experiment with what art will work in your space. It lets you visualise art to scale and in real time using an iPhone or iPad:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/itondo/id1004978847?mt=8

Eva Fernandez has some gorgeous, inexpensive round botanical photos on dark brown backgrounds that would look stunning (56 x 56 cm unframed). Here's one example:
PRO
Xenon Interior refurbs Marilyn Watson
10 years ago
Art
PRO
GuigsART
10 years ago
Hi.

Have you ever considered a real interesting eye catching piece of art work to really brighten up your area, I think a select piece of art would really make the space stand out, add interest, colour, texture and add a great talking point to the room....

Please check out my website if you like the idea and please get in contact, commission work is also welcomed so if you like a particular style I can do in a select colour palette and size as an original piece etc…..I’m also able to produce all original paintings in high end print format, in any size same or smaller than the original. (all within proportions to the original so not to cause distortion) All prints shown are Giclee prints onto soft textured fine art media. All prints come with a white border these can be made to measure too. So lots of options,

www.guigsart.co.uk
Laura Thomas
10 years ago
Nothing wrong with IKEA - it's about how you style it.
How about adding colour to the bookcase by adding wallpaper to the backing or painting it to match any accent colours in cushions/pictures?
bissetb
10 years ago
Add a bookshelf. That would really cheer up the room.
Stewart Charlesworth
10 years ago
By the looks of the main photo, you have a late Edwardian house or a 20s 30s style? (I might be totally wrong there!)

Because of the apparent height I would run a picture rail around the room, as possibly would have been there originally. This breaks up the wall and allows you to constantly hang your pictures in whatever order you like and gives the option to rearrange them whenever you feel like it, all without knocking holes in your walls!

What's missing?

Iron Rose Home

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