apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would also consider swapping the sofa and settee. Put the sofa at the end of the room; pull it away from the wall, and place lamps or even a sofa table behind it. At present, all of your furniture is against the walls. There's no mystery and the lines are boxy. Placing the sofa at the end of the room and putting something behind it will define your sitting area and create the illusion of more space.

You have great pieces! Just needs some arranging.

Also: For the TV, I would recomend something with height. Something with shelves (maybe about six feet wide?) for books and other loved objects. This will add height and architectural interest to the room.

Blessings!

I vote for something in a brick red tone, but not a solid color. Maybe a kilim would be nice here? I would then switch out your lampshade to one that coordinates with the color of the rug. But I disagree with Maxwell on the size; I think your rug needs to be larger. That size isn't really doing a great job of grounding the room.

I really like your sofa, but get a more colorful mix of pillows and put something on those walls.

TURQUOISE!!!

Oooh oooh... a REALLY big white/cream (maybe even a textured sisal) "base layer" rug that is almost wall to wall, and then tossed on top several smaller rugs of a similar palatte... I say muted blues/greens, but whatever you like...

The large light base layer will help seperate all the wood/brown furniture from the floor and eachother and give you a clean simple are aon which to work. Then several different sized/color rugs on top will create texture and break the heavy rectangular feel of the room... even a round rug on the white would be boss. (yeah I wrote boss...wanna make something of it!)

;)

i think maxwell's advice is really good. a few things i'd add.

remember that neutrals, including woods, ARE colors. and that any shade you pick should pop nicely off all that wood. you might want to bring a copy of this photo (or even better, the same angle, rugless) with you when you go rug shopping.

also, rather than get a bigger rug, i'd work on bringing some of your furniture off the walls and onto the rug. the two chairs at the bottom of the photo are good candidates for that. i also think you could probably get rid of that corner table thingie and push the couches together to make an interesting sectional combo.

Size seems right, but tuck it under the front legs of the sofa and settee at least, so sofa/setttee/rug/corner table all read as one unit. It will diminsh the visual clutter in the room.

Go lighter (cream). Or darker (chocolate).

West Elm has several options on their (great!) Fall line that will work really nicely... most notably, their "Totem" rug in chocolate and brick.

I definitely agree with a rug that brings some red into the room, either a brick color, or something matching the pillow in back. Maybe some modern shapes on the rug (big circles or something like that).

In line with opoponax's idea, I'd grab a handful of paint chips and find a dead match for your wood/leather and for the red pillows (if that's a color you want to run with). Then you don't have to worry about the accuracy of a color printout. Match the red in your rug and make sure it pops against the tan.

If the rug is a kilim per ocgrl, you gain other colors to use on pillows, plus you just get a nice variety of shades so things don't look *too* matchy-matchy.

I don't think the issue is so much with the rug as with the furniture arrangment. Everything looks like it's floating separately right now. I think you need to rearrange so that some furniture is on the carpet (at least the front legs) and you need a small coffee table.

I agree with everyone else that if you do get a new red, something that picks up on the red would be very nice.

I vote a chocolate and turquoise rug, tucked under the sofa legs as P2 suggested. I like the idea of brick, but I think a turquoise would go well with that corner table (same era?) and would bring some light into the room.

Mayb some chocolate and turquoise in the pillows or on the lamp shade.

Wow. I've never commented on the site before, but this is the problem I faced with my apartment.

Pick a main color you really love, plus two coordinating colors, then do what OCgirl suggested & get a kilim with those colors. I used colors from a giant movie poster I'd been given. Definitely go for a larger wall arrangement into which you can put your TV, electronics, books, DVDs and CDs and mix in statues, photos.

I agree with the others to group the seating so people can have a conversation, as well as watch TV. Working off those same colors, get some prints or (if you're remotely artistic) get a few canvases and go for your own individualized artwork! Lastly, add some throw pillows. You'll be amazed what adding color to the floors and walls will do to brighten and liven it up!

Hi All-
This is my living room, so, thanks for all of the great advice! The suggestions for turquoise have hit the nail on the head, I think. What you guys don't know is that on the other side of this room I have a desk and chair and the chair is a turquoise molded fiberglass Eames-ish thing, so maybe a second dose of that color would work. And art is coming for the walls, I promise. -GA

Would you consider FLOR tiles? Their ready-made red tonal poem package might look great, as might any of their patterned series with oranges and reds...

HI There

Here is my two cents - I agree with Julian, a lighter color - large and cushy "Oooh oooh... a REALLY big white/cream"-

This has a way of adding elegance and substance- I would angle the tv in the corner where the floor lamp is, and perhaps place the two chairs in the bottom of photo,opposite couch for converstaion.

Then perhaps a round coffee table with colorful accents in middle would anchor and soften room.. too much.. who me opinionated??? Have fun!

I third Julians idea of turquoise accents. I think pillows like these from CB2 (as featured on the AT LA site) would pop nicely against your camel colored leather sofa. http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=1260&f=3108

I also think some shade of Red would bring your room to life, and then you can use accent pillows with that color in them as well as wall decor. The size of your rug is probably okay unless you just want to go larger. I know a wonderful Discount Furniture Store online where you can order a great new TV Stand or Entertainment Center which would add nicely to your room. There is a large selection of styles to choose from. Just visit http://www.ilikefurniture.com/entertainment.html

I have orange/mediterranean coloured tiles in my living room with eggshell walls. The skirting (is this right?) is a green that takes the edge off the yellow and orange (or so ive convinved myself).

Readers here have commented with some great ideas regarding floors - any help for me? Its a rental so I dont want to spend a lot as I will only be there for another 6 months.

The room is 20 feet by 15 feet so I was thinking of buying a piece of carpet and just covering the whole floor with it. Then taking it with me when I move and cutting it into a rug or something.

Any ideas? I havent started a post due to lack of picture as im currently renovating my wardrobes and the place is a mess with construction materials.

Start with the shell of the room. Lovely floors exist. Interesting, but poorly arranged furniture. Take some time and find some color for those walls. Your efforts will be in vain otherwise. Once you bring your new, large rug home, arrange the intimate setting closer and tighter, creating flow and a sense of space in the room. Others have provided sound feedback regarding storage, rug color, furniture arrangement. but you have to fix the shell first or you'll never be pleased. Good luck.

...on second glance, i see that you are using a separated sectional. Bring it back together; delete one of your prized chairs too. You have too much interesting, but conflicting pieces. Joining the sectional and bringing everything away from the walls will amend this by creating an intimate grouping. Less really is more. Be judicious when finishing everything off with art, lighting, and maybe a single large plant suited to the natural light you get. My place is tiny, but feels grand. I had to delete a LeCourbusier chaise just to add more breathing space and it was the best thing I did!

you are all missing the obvious solution. stain the floor dark. you won't need to do anything else.... as far as the wall color goes, change it if you want. and change the rug for reason of the pattern. the pattern is not so great but the color is good. re: coffee table, i think this is a good idea also.... you will cover most of the pattern with the coffee table, so perhaps you won't need to change this in the end... all providing you change the floor color to a dark stain.

Um, when someone says "Help me find a rug" and the suggestion is "Stain the floors", that's a little like saying "What color lipstick should I use? and the answer is "Get a facelift."

not true. the question this person is really asking is how do i make this apartment look and function better with the minimum of effort and cost.. he thinks the problem with his room and its underwhelming ambience is the rug. its not.

staining floors will give you more bang for the design buck than anything else. its a no brainer. value is always a part of what a client wants, and this is the most potent solution i can think of.

i would lay off introducing anything red also, unless you want to re establish connections to the ottoman empire, which i am sure you don't. pick up the cool umber tones in your rug and bring that into the stain for the floor. you would probably choose a walnut-like stain.