I absolutely love the painting! The colors are so trendy!, it is modern and big...I would do a brown couch and buy a nice rug in a neutral tone and maitaing the walls neutral too or perhaps do a neutral color with a tint of the blue or the olive. Add some pillows with some of the colors in the art. I will not keep the two paintings together. Please post pictures once you redo your room. I can't wait for you to be inspired!

LOVE the painting!

Pick a color or two out of the painting that you want to emphasize. Then use that in the pillows or rug.

I do think because it is such bold colors, that maybe a lot of neutrals around it--in the wall, on the couch---may help balance.

If you want more of a gallery look, keep pretty much everything white. Definitely white walls, white couch if you can, soft white rug. (And I am not an "all white all the time" person.) Otherwise just pull your color palette from the paintings. Blue pillow, green pillow, get a rug or recover the couch in your favorite color from them if you're adventurous.

I think the room looks great as is, the neutrals are a sophisticated atmosphere that lets the painting be the focus.

I think the painting on the side wall, along with the sofa and the crouching animal coffee table, make a great neutral palette. Could you move the color block painting to another room or area?

I think that the more you try to "match" the focal painting (by using colors from it in the room), the less it will stand out which would be a shame for such great work. I would try using colors from the opposite side of the color wheel (reds, yellows, oranges). In moderation, course. Paint the walls a crisp white (maybe it's my computer but they look beige/gray to me here), leave the sofa as is, add a solid burnt-orange rug, some sheer yellow curtains, and whimsical patterned/printed/embellished red/orange/yellow throw pillows on the sofa or drape a colorful throw across the arm or back of it.

White walls, black sofa, and neutral or opposite colored rug.

Love both paintings, although they seem to crowd each other and are hung high. I would leave the couch a light color, and pull pillow colors from olive color in the upper right corner, with smaller/fewer pillows in the indigo blue.

Conversely, if there's another spot for this piece, move it, and put the white background painting over the couch. A really saturated color on the walls and ceiling of this little alcove would make the painting and couch really stand out. Maybe a deep orange or blue.

I'm with Tania, I'd love to see what you do - really excellent and interesting art and furniture. Your grandfather had great taste!

i would not upholster in brown as on person suggested. there are too many brown tones in the colored painting which dominates the room. in all my years of professional design experience the best choice of color for the style of upholstery and case goods that i can see in the room already is go off white walls, subtle, make sure the tone and family works with the painting and does not contrast ( no cream with a tint of orange/red, ie; complimentary colors) it will make the painting even brighter and i would re-uphoster the sofa in the same neutral tone (don't be afraid of texture)and alter the leg color to wenge or black. i would then pick a color that you can find as accessories out of the painting and have pillows made as well as a chair (swan/coconut/shell) in a color that also matches the painting that you will place across from the painting. rugs... a nice wool shag area rug to define the space and anchor the furniture... i would have pour through my catalogs to find the manufacture that makes the nicest 100% wool shag that each strand has a core color and then wrapped in a neutral, gives it a hint of color and texture as well as color. just remember the golden rule of three... but keep most all else neutral and add some black for a pop, it will work well with the black and white painting and tie it all together. lighting is also a problem... i would do some lighting to highlight the art(avoid hot spots) when you move them to their final home on the wall and you need some low light. there are some amazing modern choices online for the general public purchase. the style organic to match the feel of the painting which is tribal/organic... thats all for now... good luck!

What Vikulyad Said.

I actually like the couch... Think it goes well with the painting without being matchy-matchy. I would definitely do white walls, and move the black and white painting to another area. A grey and white rug under the front legs of the sofa to bring a neutral atmosphere around the painting (even though you have absolutely beautiful floors) OR move the black-and-white to over the sofa and move the huge painting to another area with an expanse of wall. The painting kind of dwarfs the sofa (and possibly the rest of the living room) IMO. Hope you find a great solution!

Can the spam, please. I like the color block painting but it is verging on being too large for the sofa. You could make it work with side tables/lamps on both sides of sofa. The other large painting should not be hung so close. I would keep most other things neutral and would tend toward complementary colors (orange, rust, red) for accents.

As others have said, the sofa is too small for the blue painting or is it the reverse? I think you need a bigger sofa or you should move the blue painting. Maybe switch it with the other painting. The color of the sofa is a nice neutral but a plain sofa and a plain wall makes me think 'nice waiting room'.

I would consider what other colors you have in the other rooms of your home. I love when rooms have a flowing color palette. They can have different colors, but still have some congruence to them. So if you could let us know what other colors you're working with, it would help me, at least. :)

I would leave the walls & couch neutral & bring in more color with accessories. I think blues & greens can actually work as "neutrals," so I think just about any color would match. HOWEVER, make sure the other colors you use in accessories are of the same tone to ensure more of a flowing color scheme (if that's what you want).

Also, I would move the two paintings away from each other. I think they should be hung apart so they can each stand out.

I think the pertinent point here is that you only just inherited these lovely pictures. Before you start redecorating your apartment around them, give them a chance to sink in. Once the novelty wears off, and you absorb more of their charms, you'll be able to make more informed decisions about how to work them with the rest of your decor.

Personally I think the neutral sofa looks great under the colourful canvas. But I'd be tempted to try hanging the black and white picture next to the colourful one rather than adjacent - the contrast in colours and textures would make for an interesting effect.

The paintings look great against the white walls, and I would also leave the couch as is. You could add warmth to the room with a rug, cushions and throw that have the mustard/olive/dark grey shades from the picture, but it doesn't really matter what colour you choose as the walls and floor are neutral. The painting above the couch seems to dominate because of its size - could you perhaps move the couch away from the wall, and hang the painting lower, or on a larger wall?

These are lovely pieces - lucky you.

In a previous job, part of my role was curating a rather eclectic collection of modern art, some of which was donated by the organisations members, some of which had been purchased over a number of years, with crazy mixtures of styles and colours hanging together. We found that a delicate shade of creamy pearl grey worked best, as the art really shone against it.

As others have said, I woiuld swap the two pieces over - the monochrome piece appears to be behind glass, so won't be damaged by people's heads rubbing against it, and you will be able to hang the colourful piece a little lower on the wall.

I really don't think you need to decorate around this art. You already have a neutral couch and white walls. Just hang the art appropriately and enjoy! (I might also consider moving the black and white painting to the same wall as the color block to create a more gallery-style look. As someone else said, I would hang it slightly lower so that your eye falls into the center of the painting.)

Blue (Navy-ish) and Kelly green are a great, fresh colour combination that would work well with both paintings. Check out this blog for an example of the colours

http://www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/my-new-office.html

There's a T-Shirt out there that says "You don't buy art to match the sofa!" and I tend to agree with that view.

For me, the bigger picture issue (excuse the pun!) is how do your art choices fit in with your broader design style and what is their most appropriate placement, given their size.

Your sofa, with it squared style and wooden legs, has an MCM flavor and this art certainly fits that style. However, for me, the size of the larger piece does not work behind the sofa. The ceiling height makes it look crammed in and anybody leaning back when sitting on the sofa could accidentally touch it.

Moving it to another wall will provide more white space around it. Even just changing it with the other piece will address that problem. That option also puts a black and white piece behind the sofa, taking any pressure off to try and "match" them in some way.

I would paint the walls a cool gray color, for some contrast.
Just pick up the colors from the paintings in throw pillows, drapery or soemwhere.

Yout home doesn't need to be matchy-matchy, so don't try to match everything, but things that GO together are nice.

Lots of great comments - Vikulyad and Yellow Coffee Cup to name a few. Great artwork (I would try to make sure they are centered at eye-level). Here's what I would do, assuming you wish to keep the big block painting as a focal point:

Walls: White.
They appear cream in color now. I'd do a bright(er) white.

Sofa:
I like the neutral currently. Would also consider black.

Floor:
I'm intrigued by one suggestion of red/orange for a rug, but that could really make the room quite busy. I would throw in a (white) cowhide. This would provide organic shapes and curves against the clean lines of the art and sofa and balance the white walls.

I'd like to know what you do and see the final product!

You have fabulous lighting and your furniture goes well with the art. Why complicate things when everything you have can stand on it's own the way it is? Just put some color on the walls. Non-white, real color. It'll tie everything together.

majority of above comments make sense. each of these pieces is a focal point & probably s/b hung separately. would move sofa a few inches to the right & add 2 unobtrusive end tables, which may mean putting the b/w pic over the sofa instead, then 2 bright or black pillows to draw the eye to the sofa, also a light neutral or same-as-pillows or black rug of same width as sofa should do it.

switch the paintings. The colour one can stand on its own, and the black and white balances with the sofa. Do a rich colour (one from the coloured painting that draws you) for an oval or round area rug.