unloved living room- where to start?
Gillian Mcmill
3 years ago
We’ve moved into a wonderful Victorian manse (built 1860) but it’s a project! This room is to be our family room (ie child friendly) but currently just contains our old furniture (with the exception of a lovely arm chair from next) and needs a complete overhaul. I’d like the keep the arm chair, and possibly the curtains- but don’t know where to start? Any ideas? What’s everyone’s views on tv above fireplace? Controversial? Thanks in advance!
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3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoTV is above FP would be too high. Get a large TV console for balance.
Sonia
3 years agoRelated Discussions
unloved victorian house renovation
Comments (3)We just bought a Victorian semi and were met with a completely horrifying blend of stale (hopefully dog) urine, dog, damp and smoke. We've been in for around 3 weeks now and the only way to get rid for us was to remove absolutely anything that could have soaked in the stench and could be removed. We: Ripped out all of the floor coverings; Removed any furnishings left (curtains/nets etc...still smelly after 2 washes, remove light fixtures, or soak clean); Bought Home Bargains out of nutradol & placed one in each room, along with periodic sprays with the air freshener version. After about a week, we removed them and started with "scented" ones in their place; Kept all of the windows open and the heating on to try and flush some fresh air through; We also sugar soaped all of the walls to try and remove some of the smell from the wallpapers and ceilings, but unfortunately, that wasn't far enough and we ended up stripping (or are in the process of stripping) all of the walls, and then sugar soaping the bare walls before painting. Getting rid of stale smoke smells seems to be the bane of my existence currently!...See MoreNeed help with designing kitchen/dining/living room open living plan
Comments (10)Thank you for your response. We had plans pretty finalised until we found out that we can keep just that long wall into the large space as it is a load-bearing. There is an opportunity to put a door in though. I am attaching what it looked like with all the walls that we can now remove. We have also been tinkering with ideas which I am adding as well. I added some comments on the plans as well. What we want to have is a dining area with a large table that seats 8-10 people. We want enough space for two people to work and cook in the kitchen. Thus, we were thinking of an island or an L-shape workspace coming out. We'd like to have a utility room to have space for all the cleaning utensils. Washer and Dryer will be upstairs in a separate laundry room. The living room is nothing formal but an area to relax and watch TV. We'd like to have an L-shaped cough in there for a family of four (2 kids under the age of 10)....See MoreDecorating our living room
Comments (5)I personally would have thought that if you have limited natural light coming in, then to maximize it indoors you would first need natural daylight white bulbs in the lighting that's on during the daytime. ( Ceiling lights and spots ). You can have warmer lighting at night by the use of lamps etc with warm white bulbs for a cosier feel. Keeping surface light and airy would involve the lighter cooler colours such as cool whites, cool greys, pale blues or yellows. Once you start going down the warmer natural tones, the light will start getting zapped out. Add some soft furnishings as contrast colours, mustard and white work particularly well with grey. Put down a rug. ( have a tidy round and de-clutter ), I think the soft furnishings are lacking and it just needs an inject of colour and life. Once you turn off the Chandelier lights in the illustration above and put on the angled Standard lamp, or lamps on side table for instance, using the warm white bulbs, the yellows will become warmer and cosier looking....See MorePlease help, living room layout advice - new start!
Comments (28)Carolina, thank you, you give so much time to thas - it has given us loads to think about. We really would need to get used to the room being divided by the sofa though. We have had it that way but it made the room very small and squashed,feeling we were all sitting so close to the fire and the rest of the room unused. I have also had two 3 seater sofas coming out from the fireplace, facing each other, with a table between. I liked that as it opened the room up and it felt 'social', my partner liked it less because of difficulty viewing the tv. At the minute Ring the sofas form more of an L shape, on the wall to the left and the wall facing the windows. With the TV between the windows we can all watch TV and see the fire, without sitting behind each other. The open space is great. The downside of this layout is that if as a family we are sitting on both sofas some people can't see each other so conversation is difficult. Another thought for me was 2 of the Harrington chaise sofas - as one would fit in front of the window and stretch into the alcove beside the fire, the other would sit facing the TV and wouldn't stick out beyond the wall where the door is. This would be great for seeing each other and talking. There would still be space for 2 chairs or a sofa on the left hand wall. Unfortunately for good family time, the compromise might have to be 'looks'....See More
tonyscomp
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3 years agoGillian Mcmill
3 years agominnie101
3 years ago
PROStrazzia.com
3 years agoverdigrisjane
3 years ago
PROYasmin Chopin Interior Design
3 years ago
Carolina
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoHi,
It's a lovely room. The fireplace fits in so well, I think it would be a shame to change it. And I also think that it would be a shame to mount the TV above it. As others have said, it would be up too high and added to that I don't think it will look nice.
I would change the mirror though. This one is lovely, but too glamorous and modern for the style of the room and furniture. I would put the TV table with the TV on it against the wall, but that's mainly because I'm not a fan of furniture at angles :-)
How about something like this?
Do you want to keep the curtains? I was thinking that the chair would be lovely in front of the window, but I'm not sure the colours work together? Hard to judge from the photos though. Might be worth a try? That would free up the cupboard door.
Oh, and you could pick a couple of your favourite photos from the frame and enlarge them to a good size. Have them printed on canvas, or frame them and hang them above the sofa(s)
Some inspiration:
Formal Sitting Room · More Info
Chiswick Townhouse · More Info
South Kensington Apartment · More Info
Heather
3 years ago
PROcolourhappy
3 years ago
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