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Need help decorating living room

4 years ago

Hi everyone! I've been a lurker here on Houzz for a while, and this is my first post. I would like to give our living room a makeover. I'm from Cape Town, so I can't buy from all of the normal shopping sites that is listed on here. I will post photos of the room as it is now in the comments, and also concept photos of what I would like to do.

What can change:

Rug, scatter cushions, curtains and curtain railing. I would like to get a natural fibre rug (e.g. jute or sisal). I am going to re-cover the bucket chairs in a brownish-charcoal colour, but would be open to other fabric/colour suggestions.

What to add:

Artwork, side tables, task lighting, plants. I would like to frame some of our vacation photos in a black frame with white matting. I would like to create some art pieces similar to what is shown in the concept pictures, also black frame and white matting. I would like to pull the bright green and dark turquoise colours from the ethnic bowl on the coffee table and from the art and get scatter cushions in those colours.

What should stay:

Paint, existing furniture, tiles and general layout, preferably. I like the neutral colours and furniture (the red chairs will be recovered in neutral colour), that I have currently, and would like to work with that. I like the current furniture layout, but am open to suggestions; it might seem a bit crowded to other people but I am able to live with it. Seating is of high priority, since we have family gatherings often.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Am I on the right track? What would you change from the concept? My style I would describe as contemporary, but less formal with lots of natural elements.

Photos to follow.

Comments (5)

enidnouveau
Original Author
4 years ago
Here is the room as it is currently:
enidnouveau
Original Author
4 years ago
Here is my concept photos:
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PRO
OnePlan
4 years ago
Hi and welcome Enid,
Looks fab in your concept images ( none to shabby in the photos either !) if you are covering the red chairs - you could, at the same time, cover an 8’x4’ ( or to ceiling height of greater ) sheet of MDF in the same fabric, that you can then cut a hole for your tv cables, to go behind the actual tv when you mount it on the board. This will neaten up the tv cables and give a focus point on the tv wall run. Obvs it will need to be fitted securely to the wall for safety - but this would be less intrusive than trying to chase in the cables into the wall, and will give a link to the chairs aswell.

Alternatively chase in the cables and replace your tv for one like ‘The frame’ from Samsung - that looks like a painting/picture in a frame when it’s switched off.

On a side note - I’m sure lots of people would love to know, what software are you using ??? It’s very crisp !!
enidnouveau
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks OnePlan for the suggestion of the MDF behind the TV, I'll definitely keep that in mind.

Thanks for the compliment! I used Homestyler for the concept photos. It's a free online software, very easy to use with lots of furniture and decor elements to choose from, but can be a bit slow at times.
enidnouveau
Original Author
3 years ago
Hi all! I though I thought I would show you the progress on our living room. South Africa went into Covid lock-down just as I planned to start working on the room, so I had to wait a bit until some of the industries started up again.

We re-covered the two bucket chairs in a dark gray colour. It came out a little bit lighter than I wanted, but it still looks good to me. I also bought a jute rug to replace the red one, I really think it makes the coffee table stand out better. I also put up some of my framed paintings and vacation pictures.

This is pretty much how things will stay for a while. Future plans include: It's my husband's job to tidy up/hide all the wiring and remove some of the tech stuff in the corner, he promised it will look much better once he's done. I am hinting at buying/inheriting a vintage hospital standing lamp from my dad to place next to the leather couch, maybe I'll paint it black to match the picture frames. Some time in the future I will find some side tables and a table lamp to go next to the chairs and the wood framed couch. Another painting will also go above the couch where the newspaper placeholder is currently.

Since these pictures were taken I have swapped the positions of the chairs and the wood framed couch, and to me both configurations look good, I have no preference.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome!

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