Y’all, this formal living room is driving me crazy. I am having a serious love-hate relationship with the thing. All I know is this current furniture layout has just got to go.
(Please ignore the clutter around the piano…this room is also serving as inventory storage until the garage is fixed!)
The main problem? No more money. So we are basically working with what we have. But I’m up for the challenge!
This is the basic layout of the room: (thanks to Haverty’s Room Planner)
As you can see, we have a large bay window in the front of the house, and one window along the side. There are two doors and a fireplace on the wall adjacent to the foyer, and one door on the wall adjacent to the mud room. The room is approximately 17 feet long by 13 feet wide.
This is how we have it arranged now:
It is more of a “throw everything in there” style than anything else, and I kind of hate it. I love the piano because of the sentimental value, but it is really ruining this room for me. But it can’t really go anywhere else in the house, and I cringe to think about how hard it would be to move it further than a few feet. (Plus, when I think about what the guys did to get the piano in the house, I feel like a total jerk.)
The things I love in the room:
- The pale pink color of the walls with the bright white trim
- The fireplace
- The pink sofa
- The rug (It’s not a forever rug, but it fills the space nicely right now. Plus it was a steal!)
- My grandmother’s framed scarf
My goal is to pull the colors from the scarf to use throughout the room: teal, navy, white, gold, and pink.
The things that need to go:
- The piano
- The green wingback chairs
My dad generously gave us the wingback chairs from his office that are in perfect condition. I have plans to recover them, but that’s not in the cards right now and the green just isn’t working in here. Up to the office they go!
So what am I looking for? Well first, let’s talk about the general feel of the room. I want it to feel soft, sweet, feminine, and traditional with a hint of modern. These rooms capture what I’m going for. (Click on images for source.)
Now, for the layout. I really think the best option is to stick a coffee table or ottoman in the center of the room, and then set two sofas or a sofa and set of chairs on either side. When it comes down to it, I’m a Type A, right angles kind of girl, and I know I’ll be happier with that set up. From there, I just have to decide which way to turn everything.
We don’t have two chairs that would fit into the scheme of the room (without reupholstering — aka $$$), but we do have access to a very traditional pale blue couch that might be a nice touch.
The only problem with all this floating furniture is that I still need things to fill some wall space. But I think I would be happier living with a few bare walls than I am with random pieces just thrown haphazardly into a room.
What do you think? How would you arrange this room?
PS- Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! :)
I think you need to pull and turn the rug to center the room with the fireplace as the focal point. The pink and blue sofas could face each other perpendicular to the fire place with the white and gold ottoman in the center (not a fan of the coffee table, but the round tray would look great on the ottoman). You should keep the pink and blue garden stool for yourself to use in this room to tie the two sofa colors. If it will fit, the piano might look nice in the left corner opposite the fire place. At first I felt the need to fill the space of the bay window, but I think the windows will seem more glorious if you can walk up and look out them instead of being blocked by furniture.
Since you asked….please get rid of the green chairs! If you want a two tiered table in front of the bay window off set with a blue and pink big wing back chair look no further than home:)
Sarah, if you research it online, there is information about painting (yes, painting!) fabric chairs. There is special you can use. So you could paint your chairs a different color and go from there. I will forward you on e-mail the info I saved about it because I am considering doing it too. The article shows a beautiful soft grey chair that used to be ugly gold….no joke!
I second the suggestion about painting the chairs! As far as layout, could you flip the couch and chairs from where they are now and not push the chairs back against the window? i.e. make two sides of a square or rectangle instead of parallel sides?
As far as the piano goes, I don’t know what your entryway has in it or looks like on paper but there was absolutely no room for a piano in the living room of the house in which I grew up (wall of built ins plus wall of floor to ceiling windows plus open floor plan leaves no wall, once you put seating in a living room!) so it went into the entryway under the front staircase. It was always so nice to hear the piano being played through the entire house. Is there a wall where the piano could go out there? In a central location and whatnot but not driving you nuts in a living room where it just will not play nicely with others? Maybe in a spot where it could be seen from the living room but not be technically IN the living room?
Get chair covers ( surefit.com) and place the wing chairs on either side if the fireplace. Place sofa diagonal of the FP.
I agree to leave the space in front of the bay open. Put armchairs on either side of the fireplace. Couch across from fireplace. Put the piano cocked of that wall instead of straight on. Be careful of too much permanent seating. If the love seat is yours, consider it as a daybed in your master, near a window for reading?
Thanks for joining Merry Mondays!
First of all, this is so fun! I love that you are in your house … and you are making for real decisions, long run. Very cool!
Thoughts. I want to first just sigh with you, b/c it would be much easier if your fireplace could just be a focal point with chairs, etc, but b/c of all the doors, that won’t work. It is beautiful though!
Ok, so my main suggestion has to do with the rug. I think b/c it is so modern, you need to up your other modern items. You have some … the tray on the coffee table, the bench between the two green chairs. I typically am not a fan of purchasing small items to make short-term solutions … but maybe some more modern looking lampshades on your two crystal lights?
Or you could add some height somewhere. Ikea has metal shelves that people are painting gold (or teal) … that could be kind of fun. Not sure how much they are originally and probably not a forever solution, but short term, the height added would be nice.
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2012/07/versatile-vittsjo-more-ikea-hack-ideas/
You could use that white bench as your coffee table b/c it has a more modern look than the wooden one.
If you want to keep the chairs, a throw folded over the back would mute them a bit.
I don’t know. Haha, just some thoughts. Keep or ignore as you will!!!!
I like the two wings chairs, they just need to be slip-covered in more of a creamy white or linen color. I am not sure about putting the sofa in front of the windows even though it would be nice to be facing the fireplace when you sit on it. I probably would put it where the piano is.