As part of tonight's Meetup with Amy Helfland, Maxwell and the crowd will be contributing suggestions to help one member from the group solve his or her design challenge. If you can't make it tonight, here is your chance to contribute! Tonight's challenge comes from Paula…
Name: Paula
Location: Stuyvesant Town,NYC
Room: Living room
Size: 12' x 18'
Years lived in: 5 months
Problem: I need this room to have a more cohesive look. I find the use of color, lighting, artwork and accessories the most challenging. I'd like to add some sparkle and glamour. Should I paint an accent wall? Or change the room color all-together? I am also interested in adding more depth and interest with a rug and/or patterned fabrics. If I showed you the swatches of fabric I am considering, you might fall asleep on the spot (zzz). I just want to finish the room in a way that is interesting and stylish!
The furniture is not really to scale and the layout of the room is a bit more cramped than it appears on the floor plan. Here are the dimensions of the furniture:
Daybed: 78" wide by 29"
Coffee table: 49" x 32"
2 chairs: 23" square
Favorite chair: 30" square
TV cabinet: 45" wide x 16½" deep
Credenza: 89" wide by 19" deep
2 ottomans: 24" square
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the side table with the black tablet on it, looks like an old iPod...
One thing I like in the inspiration, is how the daybed dominates the yellow stool/table. The thing that strikes me as a bit "off" in your room right now is the coffee table. It seems too big, too square for the smallish golden chair and the daybed--all I saw was white table at first. Changing out that table would be a good start I think.
The coffee table doesn't work for me, it seems like a departure from the style of everything else. I think that a table with a glass top and metal frame might be more in keeping with your style. A rug would be a good idea to bring these pieces together, so would drapes, a new cover and pillows for the daybed. It seems like you need more light in this room you could try a pair of end tables and lamps, or maybe once you get that mirror hung a pair of sconces. The art that is on the wall next to the tv seems too small of a grouping and I wonder why it's all over in that corner.
I don't know if you want to move the daybed since it seems to be concealing a heating unit.
A rug for sure would tie the furniture elements together. I would look at all the tones in your furniture (golds and yellows, I think) and pick a slightly darker color to paint the walls. To get to your inspiration you need to add some blues whic can be done through cushions, drapes, rugs and blankets.
I think also that you want to center the TV and cabinet on the wall it's on, move the daybed to opposite the TV and bring your single chairs in more to have them all work together. the coffee table looks a bit too big and also too opaque - either paint it, cover it with decoupage or similar or get rid of it.
I also wouldn;t be against putting the daybed/TV axis on the diagonal, going lower left (daybed) to upper right (TV) in that main seating space centered on a rug.
Swap the credenza with the TV cabinet. Paint both. Move the daybed to where two chairs are. Recover bolster pillows and mattress. Paint the two chairs white and recover in white fabric with nail head trim. Position them together like a love seat and place under window. Have floor to ceiling drapes hung wider than the window in complementary fabric to daybed. Recover and paint the gold chair with same fabric as the two chairs, also trim with nailheads, have pillow made out of same fabric as daybed. Put the mirror that is in the dining room over the daybed. You could wallpaper the wall behind the daybed. Recover the ottomans and use together as a coffee table (this may look too bulky for the daybed, if so use existing coffee table). A rug similar to the discontinued moorish tile in yellow by pottery barn would help anchor the room.
This place needs a makeover, not just some furniture rearrangement. Some lighting is a good first step. Imo this place could be very, very cute. I love the floors so I'd give them a good scrub and a coat of mop-on poly protectant (I use Minwax). If you paint an accent wall I'd make it a very bold color (pick something you like, for me I'd begin thinking along the lines of a rich turquoise or a sunny yellow). But I like the idea of painting all the walls a white or very light cream color and using fabric and art to add color. Maybe this is just me but if you paint the walls anything too dark you'll end up making the floors look dingy.
Daybed stays and add a tiger striped cover to match chairs maybe gold curtains behind.
Black chairs face window
rug under all - gold oriental would be my first choice.
gold chair across from the tv
Mirror over the gold chair
This will give you 3 dark sides and one gold side with a gold center "stripe"
The credenza and ottomans can be in their own little world. maybe add a rug in front of the credenza, make both doors match, hang the large painting centered over the credenza.
Maybe it's the lighting in the photos, but those walls are looking very "apartment-y" white! I don't mind white walls, but these are scary.
Before you paint, try an area rug under the coffee table and some nice curtain panels on the big window. I would say those are must-haves.
The coffee table might have to go bye-bye, unless it can disappear on a bright/light rug.
Don't be shy about adding something dark, or more of a statement to the wall by the TV. Right now it looks a little off balance.
see:
http://articles.ivillage.com/2005-12-13/Home/21648496_1_laurie-smith-trading-spaces-decorating
and
http://articles.ivillage.com/2003-08-19/Home/21648459_1_focal-sofa-furniture