apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Artwork and a decent light.

I like everything. Just get some art and a rug and you'll be set.

Art, and a rug and some contrasting throw pillows on the sofa. Your coffee table is great, but it blends in with the floor. A rug will solve that and show it off nicely.

i agree with some snazzy pillows

Agree with all of the above. I think some paint on the walls would liven up the space too.

well you certainely have a good blank slate to start with. Nice furniture. Ya just need spice: rug, artwork, lamp, a throw, pillows, something on the coffee table like some nice books or a trinket. Anything, the possibilities are endless.

i agree with the art and rug comments. they are they best way to jazz up a room. i think you have a great start so far! maybe a brightly colored throw blanket on the couch or chair and some bright pillows.

Your "bones" are strong, but you should add some colorful artwork, pillows, rug and/or coffeetable accessories to the mix. Swapping out the lighting and painting the walls would help as well. There's nothing wrong with having basic, big pieces in timeless neutrals, and then swapping the other stuff every once in a while.

I love your armchair!

in addition to prior comments,

space out your furniture a bit! pull it away from the walls and further away from eachother. I'm thinking mainly about your couches and table here. I see you don't have A LOT of room here, but usually pressing things too tightly together gives the impression of a more claustrophobic space than you are actually dealing with...

I think that the couch/chair don't quite go, in style, with the coffee table and mid-century chair. But they are so awesome. Myabe keep them together in a different par of the house?

Rug and paint and lamp are crucial for this room! Good luck! :)

Books would help.

I mean books in the room.

I love the coffee table (and the sofa and chairs). What about a nice peach color for the walls?

In order of importance:

1) A large rug (probably off-white color)
2) Artwork on the walls
3) Shelf with books, etc.
4) Floor light to the left of the couch
5) Vase or plant on the coffee table

Keep the furniture. Add a rug (light green or blue or orange), coordinating rectangular pillows, new table lamp, and wall art .

http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=595&f=4374

Move the matching armchair towards the door about 6 or 8 inches so that it doesn't feel like you're pretending to have a sectional sofa. Add a rug, get those extra pillows up off of the floor by stuffing them in a basket or some closet somewhere (same goes for the blanket on the chair), hang BIG ART, swap the little globe lamp for something taller, re-cover the throw pillows on the couch, flowers of course, and suddenly: wow, what a nice looking living room! You've already got fabulous bones there.

I agree with jussola. You'll be amazed out how much of a difference spacing out your furniture makes.

I agree with the comments about getting a rug, some pillows with prints, a larger lamp for the corner, and some art.
If you have a hard time finding big art that you like/can afford, you can always do a gallery style arrangement of smaller prints.

paint.

Since everyone has already covered the colors, the only new thing I can add to is the arrangement.

As some else mentioned you have two very different styles of furniture, one very today, and one vintage. There is nothing wrong with that, infact I prefer it to spaces filled with furniture all of the same era. Right now all the very modern pieces are on the inside part of the wall, and the vintage pieces are on the outside, making it look like more of a contrast that it really is. I am sure further accessories will soften the contrast, but it something to think about in the arrangement, and when choosing those accessories to bring in color. Choose placement and accessories that will tie both eras together, not divide them.

I like having a neutral color for the main furniture that way you can continue to change the look as needed. Colored throw pillows would be nice. If you get two sided ones then you have some options to change the room on a whim. I would also add candles, plants, and photography/artwork. I would stick to stuff that is functional and meaningful versus just buying a bunch of stuff. Check out thrift stores, craigslist, ebay, etc.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

I agree that the room is in need of art, but take the time to buy quality pieces from living artists. If you buy framed work, white frames would look great against the blue walls.

when i moved into my new apt, a friend gave me some plants. at first i was reluctant because i do not have a green thumb but somehow they've survived i love how they bring life to the place! literally and visually.

my monitor is showing the walls in a light blue? is this right or are they white in dim light? If they are a light blue I would definately make them a more contrasting and less clashing color to the gray sofas. Maybe a splash of orange, red or brown would be good here. punches of color. I like the table and chair, but the scale may be too small for the more chunky sofa/chair combo. Maybe an oversized ottoman would work good in place of the danish table?

Just some personality. You have not lived there for long, and that the stuff will come in time. All you need is some artwork that you can't live without, and some items that say something about you (photos, collectables, etc).
Overall it is really nice.

Love the sofa style, might have passed on the BIG chair and gone for unmatched chairs. Might have selected a different color too. Here's why:
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata/bhg/story/data/12354.xml

That sofa has clean lines, and can be dressed up or down, change it's attitude, with a few accessories. Your whole ROOM can change with a few accessories.

In that link, it shows the same sofa, very similar in style to yours in an off-white. Changing the rug, adding a few pillows or a throw. You could probably get away with the same lamps, but changing out ONLY the lampshade.

Notice the angling of the rug, and the angling of the pair of chairs (that do not match) keeps the room from looking too boxy in the link. And you can do the same thing in your home.

Cushions can be expensive, which is why I like IKEA. You can buy ONE inner cushion and have a wardrobe of covers for it, for example, all these will fit the same cushion:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50123112
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40079534
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60098254

Then you do not have to store extra cushions, just covers.

You could try angling the sofa in the corner. With a plant behind it, that has an uplight on the floor. That creates an overhead foliage shadow, and looks pretty neat. Ha! Palms, a large ficus, umbrella tree.

Or have a reading lamp coming over the back that can swivel or adjust.

It's hard to get a sense of how much space you have, the room looks huge. You could pull the sofa out, as others have said. I wouldn't clutter up the room with books, though. I would probably rather have sofa height bookshelves BEHIND the sofa with a walkway. The top of the bookshelves then can serve as a place to put plants or crack your head open if you lean back too fast. Uh, so maybe it's not a good idea.

While I'm at IKEA, I can see the blue-green, the dark red, or the white (which is off-white) in your room:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40121769

So, for now, that's about $200.00, for just a medium wool rug and a few pillows and covers.

There should be no rush to fill your walls, floor, etc. You want the things that are right for YOU and your lifestyle. And your climate. If you are in a cold or overcast area, you might want bright or warm colors. But if you are in a hot area, the last thing you need are reds, oranges and yellows in your living area.

Put some nice color on the wall like a pale yellow. Also some artwork would be lovely and a nice reading lamp.

rearrange the furniture until you hit an arrangement that looks good. (personally, i love the wooden chair, but i don't think it's in the optimal position as is.) get a pale-colored rug. swap out your pillows for brighter ones. get some good wall art.

All great suggestions, I would think about selling the matching chair or recovering it in a bolder color.

With those lines it would be easy to do and if you button-tufted the back it would look like this.
http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product.do?method=get&id=107019&coll=90702208&cat=91552822

I think it would serve as a transitional piece between your tastes. I'd throw up whatever you have for now. Frame some posters whatever and aquire investment peices overtime.

Am I the only one that sees a sofa and matching chair and/or loveseat in the same fabric and thinks "How disappointing"?

Move the matching armchair into another area of the room, setting it up as a secondary seating area. It's a bit blockie in it's present set up.

Other stuff:
Lighting (table lamps, floor lamps, hanging/ceiling lights)
Texture (stone, metal, straw, fabrics...in whatever items you choose for your room)
Colour (find a nice complimentary as well as a contrasting colour and build around them)
Print (bold, large, not too many colours in it)
Plants (add life, texture, and colour)
Move furniture so that it's not all pressed against the wall. (maybe moving it into the center of the room, if possible?)
Artwork (photography, wall sculpture, interesting framed mirrors)

I like the bones. Please take that blanket off the arm chair - the lines of that chair is one of the best things in the room and you are hiding it.

you need colour... you need to paint and/or wallpaper the walls... I would recover the two cushions of your side chair, as well as try to find interesting fabrics for pillow cases.

check out designer's guild for inspiration on how to pull it off -- they have amazing fabrics and great pillow ideas, as well as beautiful wallpaper:

http://www.designersguild.com/all-collections/?page=0

be bold!

as well, do change your coffee table... I think a noguchi coffee table would look better in your space
http://www.dwr.com/productdetail.cfm?id=0236

as well, you could use a standing light such as the one found here:

http://www.ralphpucci.net/pucci.html under 'lighting', 'david weeks' and then number '14'

and of course, art on the walls (not too high up), as well as a nice rug on the floor -- some kind of silky tibetan wool, in an almost solid, shimmering colour to coordinate with the designer guild fabrics and wallpaper...

In addition to all of the above, you need to vary the heights of things in the room - visually, everything is on the same level. Keep this in mind when you buy the large art and replace the globe lamp.

And I don't agree on a noguchi table - I think they're WAY over-exposed. I feel sort of the same way about a light colored rug - too safe.

If you think of what you have as well designed BACKGROUND, you should now spend as much time as it takes to find layers of interesting objects which become the foreground. There's nothing wrong with that.

I have to agree, you need some fun color, an area rug, art and throw pillows would really snazz it up. You could do a small display shelf or two with some colorful glass as well

Art Work:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1400&f=22699

Pillow:

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1274&f=26159
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1271&f=27006

Lamp:
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1220&f=4454

Have fun!

it's a great start...

I agree with everyone's suggestions, but hope you take your sweet time finding and buying things that are dear and special to you and speak to your interests and quirks, rather than rush off to buy stuff that will make your place look like anyother a catalog.

good luck...

A nice blue maybe with a touch of green in it for the walls... Keep the chair and coffee table, maybe just add a sisal rug or something similar.

II don't think that you'll even need to have anything on the wall though, if you add some color (and a rug).If you must though, instead of a mass produced wall hanging, how about a personal photo that you've had enlarged and framed.

The matching chair probably isn't returnable, bepsf.

I don't know why copy and paste isn't working right now, but there is a post about The Sofa Company on AT LA dated Feb 13, 2008 from Gregory. The comments seem to point to a problem with customer service after the fact.

I think you've got a great base, but it's obviously missing personality. Without knowing your passions, here's what I think..

the mid century chair, though wonderful, sits too low for the space. I say keep the matching chair! Everyone has been mixing it up so much these days... Why not "mix it up" by keeping it. If you define the rest of the space well enough, it will simply be your blank canvas! And, it obviously works!

I would invest in a good rug! Wool, maybe with some silk... if you can afford it. I think it would be stunning. Obviously, add art work. Keep it clean. Add interest with rectangular shaped accent pillows. Develope with a wonderful lamp. I would change the coffee table to something more substantial, as previously posted.

I think you could make it very classic. Not transitional..(ugh) Not traditional, modern, or the ever-too popular mid-century...

Good luck!

Doesn't need much at all to punch it up. I'd stick with the color palette you've already got going in, but introduce some slightly-bolder graphic pattern into the mix.

A rug like West Elm's Taksim Tile Rug (flat-weave in grey): http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODr513&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E&parentId=WE-SH1RUGRUG&retainNav=true&cmsrc=WE-SH1RUGRUG

A pillow similar to Jonathan Adler's Pop collection: http://www.jonathanadler.com/shop/home.php?cat=346
(A little expensive, but you should be able to find a similar look cheaper.)

And a great vintage lamp: simple teak Danish Modern lamp with fabric drum shade that echoes the lines of the arm chair and coffee table. So much good stuff to be found flea-marketing or on ebay.

Art is always a tough decision; so you should take your time and find something you love above the couch. You could also put up an interesting, nontraditionally-shaped mirror (that adds graphic punch) above the grey chair: http://www.brocadehome.com/bh/catalog/product/product_detail.jsp?productId=bh_prod112240&link=leftnav&navAction=jump&navCount=4

Silver accents would look cool in the space too. Maybe a silver lacquer tray on the coffee table? 2 or 3 coffee table books that you may already on?

My immediate thoughts were art and a rug, like many other readers! Reupholstering that gorgeous chair in something fun would also add a lot to the space.

Whatever you do, don't rush it. It's harder to take things out than build the room up. Take your time and think it over carefully. You've got some very good pieces there. I agree with everyone else. Add some artwork and some nice, warm light. Give the pieces some breathing room. You're off to a much better start than most.

The pieces look great! So glad we at The Sofa Company could help you.

Come back in and we'll get you some colorful throw pillows for the set.

Btw, maybe reup that chair.
Its beautiful! However it could use a slash of color.

Maybe a Marimekko fabric:
http://www.kiitosmarimekko.com/marfab.html

or something from Osbourne & Little:
http://www.osborneandlittle.com/

We could reupholster it for you too if you'd like.

-The Sofa Company