My husband and I have been inspired by everyone's posts and their colorful homes. When we moved into our condo, the first thing we wanted to do was get rid of all the colors! The basement was a disaster of color, but now, after living for months in beige-land, we're turning back to AT for suggestions as to what to do with the space. Look familiar? These photos were posted on AT because we re-vamped our basement.
Help us AT!
Andrea
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Love the cats in boxes... Maybe, since it looks like you can sew, you could start with switching out a few throw pillows or a new rug. See what colors you like with your furniture in the space. The painting near the stairs is really nice, you might be able to pull accents from that.
Depending how much you wanted to put into this... I would either reupolster or get new sofa/love seat. If that is too much, possible just a new chair (lose the recliner - those are never good no matter what color), and tie the chair color/pattern in with throw pillows on the sofa & love seat.
The space layout needs to be better too - it isn't doing anything for the large space. The rug being off-kilter doesn't make sense. I agree with the previous post, a new more colorful rug would help.
If you aren't as comfortable bringing in a lot ot new colors, start with bringing in new materials that create other colors. A metal coffee table, for instance, or an upholstered coffee table in a color/pattern.
Based on your other AT post, none of these chairs are really centered around anything - if this is a TV/bar/hang out space, then I would coordinate the set-up more around that area or idea.
Its a big room, so lots of potential, so I think you can try some different layouts and that would already be a big improvement. Good luck!
I would slip-cover the sofas, get rid of the lazy boy, add a contrasting area rug, and turn that shelf on its side so it goes up the wall.
Good suggestions. Here are some ideas:
1. Paint one wall a vibrant color.
2. Add a couple of pieces of framed art. Frames are cheap at Goodwill, use some nice glossy spray paint..there you go.
3. You have the wall space to hang a nice quilt or rug as art. It would look nice and add some texture.
make the seating more intimate with end tables and table lamps.
4. Get a simple, inexpensive bookshelf that is larger (more in scale with the room). That will give you more room for your books and media and it will have space for artsy stuff as well.
I agree w/ some colorful throw pillows and rug, toss the recliner, and flipping the bookcases. Get a large (REALLY LARGE) color piece of art or canvas and put it above the sofa- also maybe paint the "wall" of the bar a bright accent color.
Also maybe think about putting all of the media/entertainment related stuff (like the stuff on the bookshelf and the gaming system) into those built-in nooks and maybe throw some doors on some or all of those nooks?
It looks like there is some cool chrome barware hiding in there that should be displayed more proudly than DVDs and a gaming system.
This thread would be much funnier if you had submitted the Before photos to the i've got color contest.
A lot of the suggestions seem to be on the right track. But it is important to examine the experience of walking into the room, and deciding on the focal point in order to make the room feel grounded in something. Your beiges might be boring, but they are on the right track of keeping a basement space feel warm and sunny. You by no means need to buy new furniture (though the lazy boy is pretty bad).
I would focus on the bar/built-in area to unify that. The bar, built-in and wall with the sofa should be painted the same accent color to unify that space. The column could be painted a fun accent.
I might suggest re-arrainging the furniture, too. Place the sofa so it faces the bar. Turn the wall that currently has the sofa into a display for some kind of art piece - a conglomeration of smaller pieces or a few larger ones to fill the space.
I'd actually start with contrast... it's not that all your color choices are beige (though they read darker and warmer than beige, to me), it's that they are also about the same level of light/dark.
Get some darker and lighter versions of the same color family in here (the way you have somewhat started to do with the rug, but I say get a bigger rug and straighten it out), and you might not need to inject massive amounts of color (unless you want to, but you still may find the end result lacking).
Once you add some off-whites, some caramels and some chocolate browns, you may find that all you need is *maybe * color throw pillows.
If that fails, I'd look for a colorful rug and work from there.
And pull those bookcases away from the corner! :)
The carpet is very bland. Replace the carpet with a berber with some natural color variations in it, berber will wear better with spills and animals than that builder beige carpet, and it will introduce needed textural interest.
If you have the cash, a couple matching leather club chairs would be great in your media room. A bench ottoman or a coffee table would help relate the seating area.
I have a different problem. Too much wood items. Wood entertainment cart; wood credenza; I'm selling wood CD/DVD storage; wood computer cart; wood dresser. Different types of wood, but still wood.
How can I break this up with color? I bought a red sofa and it really brings the room out, and I want to buy a dark ebony wood bench from Target to store some items and a wood bookcase.