apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think painting over the yellow with an elegant brownish grey (to partner with the wood) would be a help. Also, some low wood or white bookshelves along one of the short walls would give some architectural detail that would make it feel more like a living room. And, an oriental carpet would add a nice pattern and hominess to everything. A carpet with a lot of red would even tie into your current throw pillows. Of course, once you get it all classy looking, you're going to want to recover or slipcover the chair-ottoman pair.

Group the matching sofa/chair together, swap the pillows out for a vibrant pattern that incorporates the wall's color scheme with your existing furniture, reupholster your danish armchair and ottoman in a complimentary color or pattern (not the same exact color of your existing set), Continue the paint color of the walls onto the ceiling to give the rooma little more height visually, get a rug.

Have you considered maybe using wall sconces and getting rid of the lamps to free up some space and add a warmer feel to the room? And I'd definately get some nice drapes to hang in the window as well. It's very cute and cozy looking, and has a lot of potential.

I like your furniture ensemble! can you mix it up a little, so it's not *all* MCM?

1. I like the green -- but I can't quite tell what your palette is. Start with the green and build a palette around it. I like the idea of whites, off whites, greys, and beiges given that the wood and green are fairly dark. Then toss in a splash of bright contrasting color. I'd consider saffron or turquoise.

2. Please carry the color up the wall to the ceiling. The color break makes the ceiling look lower. [I feel stooped over just looking at it now.] I would not do a busy wall paper in this space. But I would consider one wall and maybe a print with elongated visual lines. A light color will help open it up.

3. Mirrors! mirros always help a small space feel larger.

P.S. Wallpaper idea: http://www.designpublic.com/shop/graham-and-brown/13045

Before i did the jump I was thinking "remove the door" but you indicated you are adverse to that. I think thats what makes it feel bedroomy tho.

You say the room is big so maybe try floating the furniture off the walls a bit. Shelves lining the short walls would be great but would probably be hard to find ones that fit right and expensive to buy a lot of them to fill 2 walls. What might be a cheap solution would be to put 2 long simple bracket shelves along each short wall with a rod under the edge, then sew simple short panels of fabric to hang down. Not only would this give you some really enviable storage space and surfaces for more decor, but make the room seem a bit more cozy. You could use a cool fabric as well to add more interest and pattern to the room.

Welcome to my world. My entire house has sloped ceilings (I live in Europe). What I find is that rooms with sloped ceilings that are just plaster and painted white tend to be boring. I prefer to have white wooden slats covering the ceiling. It adds a bit more texture and seems to suit houses with sloped ceilings.

Start by changing the wall colours. I think something really cute could come from this room but the paint is definitely a 'before photo' colour.
The green chair is cute but the other one and the footrest could be upholstered. Perhaps in a contrasting fabric to the green.
It feels like there's too much furniture in the room. One of the armchairs could be moved to another room and the remaining furniture rearranged (to anything but 'just furniture against the wall').
Will be interesting to see the final result. There's a lot of potential here. Good luck!

Oooh! Thanks, guys!

I'm didn't mean that I was adverse to removing the door, Adamwa -- I meant that I'm going to do so. In fact, it's already done: the door is now under my bed.

I agree on the lack of a colour scheme: the 'all green' was really accidental, although I do love it. I need to think it through -- and I'm not obliged to keep the yellow, although I can't go crazy, since my very nice landlords are going to have to approve the colour.

Thanks for the feedback on the ceiling paint: the white will go ASAP! And yes, I am considering bracket shelves....I'd just have to get someone to install them (old, plaster walls, so they need to be well anchored).

Oh, and I love my lamps, so I'm afraid they stay....

I know I'm coming in late - but you could go a grey tone on the walls. It wouldn't be too hard to paint over when you leave as long as you don't go too dark. Maybe one or two nice area rugs (maybe you could hide some cords under - you really need to get those out of sight if you don't want to do sconces). The second chair with ottoman needs at least a slipcover to tie in with the other pieces.

I know you love your lamps - but none of them match up at all. If you must keep them, try putting the sofa at an angle and hide the big one behind it. I really think if you lose the one between the chairs for one a little more like the small white one, it will look much better. The wall of shelves seems like a good idea...could incorporate a space there for a television or stereo for the room.

The coffee table and end tables pretty much are the same shade as the floor - a large area rug would be great maybe in a red or brown.

I think painting all of the walls/"ceilings" would make a big difference.
It looks like you want to keep your lamps, but my first suggestion was going to be get rid of the floor lamp - the scale might not work with the low ceilings.
Some sort of bookcase that is low enough to fit along the wall would look cozy. And a big area rug would be nice too.

My house has a finished attic just like this. It's hard to work with.

Honestly, now at a second look, the lamps really need to be replaced - all three. You really either do sconces or three lamps the same size on end tables - maybe lamps just a little bigger than your current white one. Go with something simple and do the colors with a rug, the walls, throw pillows, etc. If possible, maybe replace the chair with ottaman with one long ottoman if you can afford it. You could get one cheap and use a throw blanket that ties in better over it to keep with the homey feel.