Hey everyone! Good to hear from you all again. We have 2 wks before we go back to school. It's been a busy summer but good. My boy (14) is in marching band and they've been practicing all summer for the fall football games. He is worn out. My girl has been playing with friends and is doing a bit of a room redo herself (she is 10). Nice to see you all are well. We took a weekend a bit ago to Chincoteague VA and it was great! Hopping over to visit the corridor thread now.

Start by taking out everything you don't want/need Paint your walls white to start with as this will give the room a fresh new feel, you can always change this if you want but you can't go wrong with white. Dulux pure brilliant white is a good choice so you don't get confused with the cold/warm undertones. Change the largest sofa for something smaller, I don't mind the other one as it is a modern style but if it is worn and you feel you need to change then now is the best time. Wool fabric is a great hard wearing choice and is easy to clean. I have children and have had mid charcoal wool fabric sofas for 4 years and they are perfect! Don't forget that your sofa is an investment so put your money into this as décor can be changed a lot cheaper! Paint the fire surround colour to a charcoal to make it stand out and also link in with the sofas NOW.... is the fun part! I'd concentrate on the red curtains and find some art work or wallpaper or a rug or cushion that you REALLY love with red in and possibly some other bright colours. Be creative & bold! I would consider changing the green curtains but by this stage you'll have a better feel of the room and where it is heading and how you want the room to look from here. If you are worried about the cost of curtains, I'd look at IKEA as you can get some lovely cheap curtains from there. Once you've got to this stage, I'd post some before pics and after pics for us on Houzz and ask for further advice on decorating as you would have a blank slate and something that you LOVE that you can work with on the colours to bring in touches of texture and warmth and comfort from there. Good Luck!

What is going to be the focal point in the lounge area? Are you going to have a T.V ? If you would prefer to have a lot of seating for your gatherings in the main lounge, and, you have a formal dining room, maybe you could have the area at the bottom as a little t.v niche? Not everyone wants the T.V to be prominent. I think you do need a focal point though or it does become a little like a waiting room with all the furniture around the outside. The sofa at the top isn't quite working for me, and I know this is just at concept stage, but if you have a sofa that shape all you will see when you come in from the garden is the side of the sofa. The people sitting there have their backs to the garden, whilst those opposite them have no view either as it's blocked by the other end. I think it's great to have a lovely big family gathering, but you do need to live in the house also when so many people aren't there. I've given you the large area for entertaining, with a few tweaks, but left you with a little area for yourselves when the family aren't around. I'd tweak the bottom area further as those doors either side of the wall split aren't symmetrical, plus I kept the Hallway view free of furniture. There's enough space in the lounge are for many people to sit, but if you wanted to bring in a buffet table for special occasions, then you could place it in the middle and let people help themselves and go back to their seats happily

Good Morning Ranj, This is an exciting project, it has plenty of potential. I think you would benefit from hiring an interior designer who can look at all of your options and come up with something really innovative. The safe option is to go with one level, however the different levels can be fabulous for sunken seating or transitioning from an island to a table height. Different levels can be navigated safely when planned by an expert and they can add depth, interest, wow factor and more. I would love to help you and invite you to visit our page. Interior design can prove to be a great choice not only ensuring that your interior is a heaven for you but also through ease of the process, communication, project management and passing on trade discounts to you. We are happy to work remotely and can still visit site with precautionary measures in place for the current situation. We cover Cheshire and Wirral. Many thanks, Sophie Ellen Utley Interiors