[GardenOfDarwin]

I had posted this over on THS's Home Decorating forum, but I thought I might get some additional advice here, so here goes! (Thanks for the kick, guys!)

I recently purchased a rug on eBay (a screaming deal at only $147.50!), which of course has prompted a whole room redecoration effort in the living room. Actually, what started it was a trunk show at Costco where I finally found a reasonably priced, well-made leather sleeper sofa that I actually liked. We're expecting delivery on that and a new wingback chair in matching leather around the second week in May. New chairs need new rug needs new tables, lamps, possibly a new arrangement, right? The kids' computer desk (sorry IKEA) is too...."present" in the room and could use some camoflauge... This is how it starts, isn't it?

Anyway, take a look at my link (if you will, please, please, please) for more information on the floorplan (with dimensions), pics of the furniture (keepers and negotiables) and additional notes on our needs and desires -- scroll to the bottom for that information.

Here are the main issues (as I see them):

• I need to choose one chair or the other to reupholster (or do I?).
• I need to address the mantle as well as other artwork in the room.
• I need to look at new table, floor and ceilinglamps.
• I need to do something with the current coffee table. Stain it? Paint it? Trash it and start over? It's an IKEA table, about 7 years old, solid wood, and in decent shape, but doesn't match anything I have anymore.
• I need to relocate the kids' computer (but not out of this room) so that it's accessible, but not such a visual mess.
• I want to add some window treatments, pillows, and throws as finishing touches as well as to add some texture to the room.
• I'm also starting to wonder if the wall color should be changed to something with more yellow based on the dominating greens in the rug....?
• I want my furniture to arrive yesterday .

These are some fabrics that I like (but I'm not tied to them):



Here's a picture of the window treatment I'm considering:


London Shade or possibly:


Relaxed Roman Shade, obviously not in this fabric!

Anyone want to give it a go? Eva's already offered lots of great suggestions on the THS thread as has Paige, but I'd be perfectly thrilled to be the recipient of additional advice. You can also tell me to get over it and wait until my furniture arrives,which is probably what I should do (I think you already told me that, Eva), but since I'm a tad OCD, I can't seem to let it go...:?. Ok. Have at it!

Susan

[DesignDiva]

But can I say it again?!!

It's a process....

this will become a mantra.

[GardenOfDarwin]

Yes, a process. A process I'd like to get on with! I've been at it for 5 years (I left you all out of that part ), and I'd really like to finish up. In the first 5 years, we:

Refinished the floors
Painted the room
Had the chimney redone
Relocated the thermostat and had central heat/air put in, adding registers to the floors
Built the built-ins and filled them up
Rearranged furniture umpteen times until I came upon this arrangement, which I like.
Ordered a new sofa and chair
Bought a rug

I just need tweaking. Tweak me? Please?

Susan

[Lisa]

I'm percolating. I'll be back.

[PaigeCT]

I'll give the short version of my post on THS:

I like both chairs, but prefer the white one.

I love the oil portrait and would like to see what that looks like over the fireplace.

I really really think the relaxed roman shade would be a great fit in the room (ok, I didn't say that on THS, cause I forgot).

Love the wall color, and do we really want to start down that road at this point?! :shock:

A purty armoire or distressed antique table for the kids 'puter.

New coffee table, perhaps marble topped? Do a search for Amy SRQ's marble topped coffee table post on THS - - it is stunning.

In a hurry, will check in later . . .

[kmcg]

Ooh, fun! You have some utterly fabulous antiques, and the new sofa, chair and rug are great choices. I'm grading exams so I don't have time to give this serious obsessive thought yet, but I will watch the thread and await inspiration.

I know the big question is how to arrange stuff, and you may not want another shopping list. For now, though, a couple Ikea shoppingideas:

I think something like the Markor coffee table/tv bench ($169) would be a great substitute for your current coffee table. (It's a fine table, but too modern for your room, even if darkened.) I like the weight of this one as a complement to your sofa to be, and I think staying with the darker woods is a good idea. Plus, it kind of goes with your Stat-soapstone-cup pulls in the breakfast room. It's also got "stash space" that would come in handy for guest visits or extra kidstuff. Might allow you to remove the captains table or table between the two chairs.

Length: 35 3/8 "
Width: 25 5/8 "
Height: 20 1/2 "

I also love the Alve Bureau ($199) for a kids' computer area - mostly because it's red and would look great with the emerging color scheme. It's about the same size as the current desk. If you added the hutch unit ($100) it would add visual interest to that wall. Sailboat photo would go fine next to it. Here's a picture, but I couldn't find an on-line image in red, or with the hutch. Look in the catalog page 202 if you want the real deal:



If you got something for the kids in this bureau/secretary style, it would also be worth considering placement in the corner where the existing secretary is. It would give the kids a nice little corner of their own. Where to put the secretary, though? It's a great piece. West wall, as you suggested?

If you don't replace the computer station, would you consider moving the computer area toward the bookcase end of the room? I find it distracting from the core seating area made up by the sofa and chairs around the FP, partly because it's so non-traditional in style.

I love the sideboard and painting, but I don't think you need more furniture in the living room. Move the secretary out, perhaps? Do you really need the secretary? The sideboard is a bit cramped at its current spot in the DR, so it seems worth considering a move. The portrait, if not above the sideboard, would be fantastic over the mantle. Think of the accessory potential, playing off the red accent. Candlestick lamps? a vase of tulips?

If you're going to reupholster just one chair, I would do the white one. Good lines! The wood arms on the pinkish one seem a bit too prissy in comparison to the chunky sofa and leather chair. It can be just as expensive to reupholster as getting a new chair, though, so don't rule out new. If you could sew a custom slipcover, you could do that inexpensively.

I can see your point about a slightly yellower paint. My living room is a sort of green and rust color pallette, and I'm really happy with the very faint celery paint I used. But your existing color is beautiful, and you don't really need to decide yet. The garden calls, right?

Well, I look forward to seeing this evolve! I bet they've gone crazy with it over on THS!

Kathy

[GardenOfDarwin]

Ok, thank you for all your thoughtful replies (and percolation) . Several people have so far voted for the white chair and noone has reccommended commuting the sentence of the swan chair. I will take that to heart. I will probably take the Swan chair up to my room, but I'll take that to heart. I do think the rolled arms look better with the impending furniture.

Thanks for your opinion on the wall color Paige. I think I'm getting used to the wall color (more bluey green) and the rug (more yellowy green, but has that same bluey green in it as well) together. At night, the rug looks more olivey/brown, but that's ok too. I'm not willing to go on a paint chip ride consisting of a 100 paint chips leading right back to where I am, so I'll let that go. I do like Eva's suggestion (on the first THS thread?) of trying to work a raspberry paint color in as an accent, but I'd have to be careful with it as I'd like to be able to switch color schemes winter and spring. I think it was also Eva who suggested perhaps paneling the wall above and around the fireplace. This is a nice idea, but I can't help but think if I did that, it would have to be white, like the rest of the woodwork. Right?

kmcg -- you're onto something with the storage in the coffeetable. The one I have now has NO storage (although for years we had some of the IKEA wicker baskets on the lower rack, filled with junk we never took out) and I'd like to be able to store Mum's linens (pillow, extra blanket) there if possible. I'm pretty convinced that the Captain's table has to go -- to where, I do not know. The table between the chairs serves a purpose that I'm loathe to let go -- it's a good drink spot, and it hides the remotes. Isn't there some rule about having an end table by each seating area?

I will try to get pictures of the sailboat picture and the portrait over the mantle, or photoshop them at the very least. I think I've always known that the wedding portrait wasn't the right scale for the spot, but didn't want to admit it. Having it in a spot where people can actually read the signatures is a good idea.

I think I got a rather cool reception on the THS decorating forum, partly because I'm not a regular there, and partly because I wasn't asking a simple question that only asked for a quick and dirty answer. Too much information, maybe? I don't know...I'd hoped to get some well thought out feedback regarding fabrics, furniture styles, etc., but I think I was hoping for too much. Oh, well!

I'll have to sleep on the other suggestions. Starting to get a headache, and this flu bug has still got a hold of me. Ack! Cough! Blech!

Susan

[DesignDiva]

Yes, I suggested building out an overmantel and incorporating the sconces into it, for a more built in look and more flexibility in what you display there. It would be considered trim, and painted out in the trim color. Possibly you could paint the center panel in a different color, but that is not the typical style of an overmantel. It would set off the sailboat art nicely, though.

Raspberry can be winter or summer, you would simply have to change the greens that go with it, a more olive shade for winter and a more grassy shade for summer. You could do that by changing out drapes, throw pillows and maybe some of the accessories on the bookcases. I'd love to see the backs of the bookcases painted raspberry, it just seems like it would so perfectly suit your family's personality!

There is a rule about tables and seats, and it is that every seat should have a convenient place close by to set a drink on. That doesn't mean an end or side table, though, it could be convenient to use the coffee table for all the sofa seats if the coffee table was long enough, and you could use an ottoman with a tray slightly in front of a pair of side chairs rather than a table between them. Just as long as it is within leaning distance, and flat enough to hold a glass of liquid.

Feel better! And dream of a beautiful living room!

[Ginger]

One more person chanting: I love your wall color & hope you aren't going to change it.

A single lovely thing over the fireplace would be good. I made a wreath over mine with a 22" twig base and a couple bags of different mosses stuffed in it, I'm thinking the greens would be just right for your room.

That reminds me: Once I saw on Martha Stewart that you can make wall art with sheets of moss. I called a florist & he said, "Um, lady? You know you'll have to water it to keep the color & then the water & dirt will run down your wall & it'll be a mess, right?"

Ginger

[GardenOfDarwin]

Ok, I'm back to this. Stopped by Hancock Fabrics yesterday and picked up some fabric samples. Tigger was kind enough to actually consider the selections and make appropriate commentary (not just noises). At this point, for sentimental reasons, I just can't bear to let go of either one of the chairs (I might change my mind after getting an estimate!), so here's what I'm thinking:

This chair:



In this fabric:



With a cushion/pillow in this fabric:



For spring/summer. It will live up in our bedroom during the winter months, quite possibly slipcovered to keep it clean(er).

The other chair:



In a darker fabric, like this:


This will take the place of the swan chair in the winter time.

I'm hoping that using the lighter rose/scarlet color in the summer/spring will keep the room from being too heavy with the leather. I also have picked out a couple of other coordinating fabrics.

Here's the one I think I like for window treatments:


(It's hard to see in this picture, but there are some of the same greens from the rug in this fabric. Some of those stripes are greenish, and some are goldish.)

Tigger vetoed this similar, but darker one:



There is also one plaid that I like, but Tigger doesn't care for plaid, so that's out. I would like to find something with a lighter base for additional fabric pieces (windowseat cushion, other pillows/bolsters, a skirt for the table - if it stays. Maybe the same as the window treatment fabric?

Thoughts?

Susan