You seem to have the opposite problem as me... as I am going more towards a shabby chic style. I think the tv stand could possibly be painted or something... and I would recommend getting a different (larger) chair or getting rid of it altogether. This one seems too small to be floating in the middle of nowhere all alone. :-)

http://thebluepearlgirl.wordpress.com

I think modern lamps and big abstract wall art would make even a room in Versailles look modern.

Graphic fabric throw pillows will help, as well.

To bring the beach inside, how about some driftwood? That can look sculptural and beachy all at the same time.

I kinda think the rug should go...

Have fun!

I also agree about getting rid of the rug... its beautiful but not beachy modern.

Check out my apartment (posted a few weeks ago)--it might give you some ideas on combining modern with more traditional pieces. My bedroom is very shabby chic--but I added Jonathan Adler lamps and some modern paintings. The rest of the house is more- or- less modern depending on the room. The living room has a shabby chic glass fronted cabinet (which you can't see in photo) next to the mission rocker.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/house-tours/house-call-jennifers-modern-mission-connecticut-078464

I think the chair and coffee table could go with any style actually : they match the desk by colour and bring some contrast to the room. I think the problem is from the buffet you use as a TV stand (which is a bit too small for the TV, visually speaking) and the rug. All four elements (along with the vase shaped lamp) dominate the room with a traditionnal style and the result is that the neutrally styled couch sort of melts in.
If you love the rug, maybe you just aren't that fond of "modern beach house" style? Nothing keeps you from creating your own personnal feel to the room by combining the things you like.
I would change the TV stand, with something in chrome for example (that would go with the floor lamp), maybe put some drapes with a bold black and white striped pattern, or a wallpapered accent wall, and a large modern painting.
I'd also lower the TV and invert it with the chair, and put the chair (or another one) in the corner. The TV is way too present in the room. If the chair and the coffee table are the only Shabby Chic objects in the room they would complement each other nicely. And put a large modern glass vase on the coffee table.

I feel like all this room needs to look more modern is to paint the table and tv chest a different color with no 'distressing'. Blue would look nice.

I agree to switch the chair and the tv, too. Add more modern art.

The room looks comfy!

This room has a serious case of design-schizophrenia...
...and none of it is saying "Modern Beach House".

Beach houses have Sisal, Jute or Cotton woven rugs on knotty wood floors - not black faux-orientals on beige wall-to-wall.

Beach houses have rustic furnishings in natural wood or pastel painted finishes - not black-painted faux victorian tables and french country rush-seated chairs.

Beach houses have cozy overstuffed upholstery with solid and striped linen and cotton slipcovers - not stark white Italian leather sectionals.

Beach houses most definitely do not have steel desks and chrome and leather desk chairs on plastic office mats.

Beach houses are full of color: Reds, Blues, Yellow and Greens along with some sand and linen neutrals - but very little Black.

Beach houses do have some Black and White photography, but more often it's about outdoor and seaside imagery - and they do have French Doors which you have going for you, but they also have breezy white and pale linen window coverings.

If "Modern Beach House" is really what you're going for, I'd rethink everything in that room and start from scratch - beginning with a garage sale.

Your couch is fabulous. To get a modern beach look you have to lighten the dark wood furniture and sorry - the rug is old world traditional. A lighter, modern graphic rug with color you love could be the jumping off point for the color used on the furniture and accents. I think your wall color is good, make sure your new rug works with it. (Easier to change paint) I really have trouble with angled furniture in corners unless the room is massive - which it isn't. Light, breezy fabric framing the french door would introduce a beachy, modern feel. Good luck, you are half way there with that great couch.

Hi,
It's a great start! I think for beach house though, the dark furniture needs to be toned down or removed though.
It seems awfully heavy looking on the darker rug, especially next to the light coloured furniture.
If you don't want to part with the dark furniture, then I say perhaps, add some colour? Yellows might look nice, seeing as you already have that fab lamp and framed poster.
Maybe add some nice breezy curtains to soften the door? Good luck your decorations!

It's nice room.
The only real change needed is a new coffee table. Something a lighter with a glass top.

It is just the rug for me....a modern geometric would make a huge difference!

Now this place screams "Modern Beach House"

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/inspiration/apartment-inspiration-from-the-marmara-bodrum-080735

Unless you want to redo the whole room stop calling it a "Modern Beach House" .
;)

if you really want "modern beach house" then the most effective change you can make would be to replace the rug........it's neither "beach" nor "modern"......it just screams "traditional".

the second thing to do is to replace the wood chair. I love it but it has the same problem as the rug. Replace it with a modern chair

While the coffee table and the tv stand aren't "beach modern" either, they're clearly not your biggest problems if that's the look you're going for

Away with the rug! Away! Pack it a lunch before it goes!

Thanks everyone for your comments. This is the first time I have submitted a help question and all your answers have been helpful, even the criticisms. I know this room does not scream "modern beach house" which is our problem. The rest of our house does, with sisal rugs, white flowy curtains, seaside photography, outdoor adirondack chairs, etc., which is why I needed help changing this room. The rug, which I do like, was a gift after everything else was purchased but would probably go better somewhere else, if anywhere. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will definitely follow some of them.

Okay, the rug is an old friend and you mustn't send it away. But you should still pack it a lunch.

It's your house, and you should do what you like, but there is no law that says that you must carry one theme through every room in the place. Maybe having one cozy room that is NOT "beach house" would be a pleasant change? Just a thought.

I am SO tired of everyone just PITCHING perfectly good furnishings just because the "shabby chic" look is no longer "chic". What an unbelievable waste! And these are the same people buying Priuses to try to convince us that they have some kind of connection to the eco world. Get a life. If your furniture is clean and serviceable, just LIVE with it! (OR you could go with what our previous president wanted us to do which was was to BUY, BUY, BUY with no regard to anything, whatsoever)! Americans are absolutely THE most WASTEFUL animals on this planet--go to Darfur, live there for a week, THEN figure out how to re-furnish your domicile! Wake UP America! Would you at least LISTEN to our new president? Geez..Louise!!

I agree wholeheartedly with SherryBinNH that there is no law that says you can't have one room in your house with a different theme. IMO-this is a really cozy and comfortable room, and with a few small changes, a traditional/eclectic theme emerges that I really would love to have in my own home. Just place the chair at an angle in the corner where the TV stand now sits; replace the TV stand with a long(er) and lower console-type piece or media stand with the same type black finish centered against the wall (where the chair now sits) so that the TV itself doesn't overwhelm its stand and dominate the wall. You would have to make slight adjustments in the photo layout on that wall-- but the end result would be a more comfortable, relaxing room that highlights your traditional rug while allowing it to embrace your beautiful modern sofa and desk. Have a glass cut to fit the coffee table and display one or two glass pieces on it (to reflect light and color)-- and-- la viola!

And as for the desk, I really love it! Can you tell me where you got it? I would love to have one. And the same goes for your couch!

Good luck!

The couch is from Ethan Allen and the desk is from Crate & Barrel (but they no longer carry it). I have already switched the TV and chair around and am now looking around my house for a piece of furniture I could swap out and use as a lower longer stand for the TV. JD2002, what do you suggest for the photo arrangement on the wall? I was hoping to keep adding to it which is why it's in a random formation.

After removing the rug, I suggest moving the tv to where the chair is, painting the tv stand (maybe turquoise or french blue), adding lots of green plants (on both sides of the french doors), some glass end tables with funky glass lamps at either end of the sofa, and then adding a big silver tray on the coffee table with thick white candles.
I have a traditional beachy living room and it gets lots of compliments - key colors are light blue walls, bright white trim, matchstick wooden shades, frosted sea glass/metal coffee table, endless plants, and shell accessories.

I would say get rid of the rug. Paint the coffee table and the tv stand to white and sand it to give it a worn in look. Add a rug that is more colorful, like a orange, green or blue. Artwork is a must, black and white photos of beaches would be pretty. But I defenitly think that taking the rug out will help you out.

First of all, get rid of the rug.

Furniture Arrangement
-Sofa goes to the opposite wall, under where the black frames are hung.
-Repurpose the TV table as a sidetable. Put it on the left of sofa.
-Buy a new wider credenza for TV. Put it where the sofa is right now.
-Black chair should be placed diagonally, between to the tv credenza and the french doors.
I really like the lamp you have on your desk. I think you should bring in more of that color into the room. Use similar orange and mustard colors for your cushions etc. Also add white flowy curtains with orange borders maybe?

I think your table and your tv table are fine as-is, but if you really feel uneasy about them, you could always repaint them.

@ maz -- er. uhm. Your comment above opens with:

I am SO tired of everyone just PITCHING perfectly good furnishings just because the "shabby chic" look is no longer "chic". What an unbelievable waste!

Your comment to another post immediately preceding this one opens with:

Ditch the mirror.

Hi, Pot! Meet Kettle. :D

Thanks for the info about the sofa and desk, Organized (although I am really sad to hear that C&B no longer carries this item)! Do let me know if you ever get tired of yours!! :)

About the photo arrangement...random is good -- in fact, I think it an excellent choice here. What I mean is that the photo arrangement can be added to or subtracted from depending on your choice of (size/height) of whatever credenza/stand/console piece which will hold the TV and its placement along that wall.

Note that Alexis9 takes the whole idea a step further by having you consider the same arrangement but switching the sofa to the opposite wall (which will also complement random photo arrangements) and placing TV on different credenza/stand/console piece on (the now) sofa wall. I'm not so sure, however, that using the current TV stand as a side table will work with this placement, but if you want to reuse the stand this way in the room, I'd certainly try it with the sofa where it is now and see if it would work by turning the stand with its back to the sofa, making it convenient for additional storage for the work/study area. Although my instinct says that using the stand as a side table might work better on the right (shorter) side of the sofa.

But trust your instinct...and see what's most comfortable for you...after all...whose house is it anyway??? :)

If the furniture was white, the rug might look less traditional in the space. Can you paint the furniture? Glossy white to match the couch?

Whoa! You say you have outdoor adirondack chairs elsewhere? I can't get a good sense of size/space from your picks, but I'm thinking a pair of them opposite the couch in this room. Painted or stained white! One in the corner where the TV was, one on the other side of the TV? I kinda wish that great desk wasn't pushed into the corner the way it is. (What if you put it on the wall under the little window/by the sofa, and then the lamp would work like an end table lamp as well?) Just thoughts--I'm mentally pushing furniture around. . . . Sisal or jute rug, definitely---

I cringed when I saw that 600$ flat screen sitting on that tiny table. If I were you I would get a new TV stand. Flat screens really aren't very stable unless you set them on something that is at LEAST as long as the TV itself.
If you are going for more modern you might consider hanging it (maybe move a few of your B&W photos). I think wall mounted TV's look more modern anyway.

I agree--basically the room is nice. A bold graphic tan-and-white pillows for the sofa would be a good start. Add a few shots of orange.

Firstly, your table looks too high for your sectional. I am sure you can find a suitable coffee table to complete the look you are after at http://www.vertui.com

Your coffee table looks too high for your sofa. I am sure you can find a more suitable table to complete the look you want at http://www.vertui.com