Front room in need of a design lift please
Hello everyone, our front room has a couple of nice features (wood burning stove, bay window) but the room feels really drab and gloomy.
I think our mistake was trying to work with the dark purple wallpaper that the previous owners had put up on either side of the chimney breast. We bought curtains and cushions to match. In hindsight, we should have changed the colour altogether. Our furniture is sheesham wood, so quite dark again, which probably doesn't help.
I would really like to have some shelves in the recesses, to store all our books. We could keep the built-in unit on the left, and just add shelves above it, and from top to bottom on the right hand side. I feel that the armchair is to big for the room but it was expensive so reluctant to get rid of it!
The room does get some light in the afternoon (on a sunny day). We painted the walls a kind of taupe/grey-ish colour (can't remember the name now!), and the carpet is light brown.
I am not entirely sure how to give the room a lift, to make it cosier and brighter, without breaking the bank. Any tips would be gratefully received!
Many thanks
Comments (11)
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Comments (15)I can't tell how old the home is from those photographs, but from the shape of the arch, it appears that it may be from the 50s or 60s, maybe much earlier. Since this room is the first thing people see when they walk in the front door, it needs to be designed as a "WOW" feature. I can't tell if you have enough room to separate the front entry from the rest of the room, but adjacent to the door would be a good place for a coat closet. To do it correctly and to make you happy, I would need to see pictures of the exterior and get some room dimensions. The room needs to be re-proportioned. That means that the fireplace mantle needs to fit the room size. Perhaps a mantle that incorporates a space above it for a flat screen TV. Properly sized crown molding and baseboard would enhance the feel of the room and make it more formal. If there is hardwood under the carpet, sand it and stain it a medium natural color to highlight the species of wood. The fireplace mantle should be the same species and color. If there is no wood under the carpet, I would recommend hardwood for a floor, not laminate. (You get what you pay for.) Since there is a radiator on the exterior wall under the window, I would replace it with a baseboard radiation heat panel, incorporated behind the properly proportioned baseboard so that it is hidden. The windows need to be framed (PLEASE don't use "picture frame" styled molding. You could use a chair rail and wainscoting all around to formalize the room even more. You need drapes for the window array that should fit the windows. The windows look fairly new, and the muntin array (4/1) indicates that the style of the house is traditional, perhaps Craftsman/Bungalow. What I have described for the room would fit that style....See MoreFront elevation - Please help us choose which design to go for
Comments (21)Always intrigued by how different people have such strong and mixed views on choices like this! No 2 is my personal preference - looks more modern and "integral". I find the other 2 designs look like after-thought bolt-ons and make it look like an older house that's trying to be something it is not. The middle design doesn't feel that way to me. But it's only a personal view.... ;-) Caldicot Kichens...See MorePlease help with front door/room dilemma
Comments (8)Hello Miriam, What a lovely cottage. I would use the front room a reception, mudroom / library, occasional writing. It looks like a lovely bright room. It can be used as a dining space for occasions to accommodate a big table if needed. You could put a folding table between the chimney which can act as a console when not in use. An internal window could be added to the space to the right of the stairs opposite the entrance door to bring some more light into the back of the house. In the back room if you put TV above the chimney. You could have a breakfast bar table with couple of bar stools. That would free another wall for a couch....See MoreFront Porch design Help Please
Comments (8)Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Definitely want to keep the two doors- we have a beautifully tiled floor and are in the process of renovating the hallway, so that it is the main guest entrance through the original door. The new door leads into a bootroom for coats, muddy dogs and boots, with the far end as a laundry area and is therefore definitely not an entrance I would want visitors using. If we remove the old porch we will then have to repair the render on the front of the house, which we would prefer not to do. I am very open to using and paying for design services- we have used an interior designer for the inside of the house, but she is currently away on holiday and booked out for a while and we have quite a tight and unexpected deadline with the builder if we want this done this year and before winter. This is the bootroom entrance (bench not yet painted and room clearly not yet finished from a styling perspective ) so you can see that it is not a suitable main entrance. Main hallway is plastered but waiting to be painted / decorated along with stairs and landing....See More
paddyart
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoI love your idea of shelves. Wallpapering panels is easy so first repaper the alcoves or paint over the purple wallpaper. (there is some great library wallpaper on eBay that looks like library books in shades of neutrals / beige. This would look really quirky behind shelves.) I would also fit your tv on a wall mounted arm just above the cupboards so you can push back flush to the wall when not watching. Then build shelves above tv to match other side.
Replace your 2 lamps with something bigger and not purple. Homebase do great silver table lamps. I have added photo but would change shade for off white. You may need to move lamp from fireplace to beside chair on side table?
Finally a large silver mirror over fireplace (see ikea solange range) would brighten up room. I would move your dark wood mirror and replace with your photo montage.
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8 years agoannelf
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