apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Oh, Liz -- I'm so sorry about the flood! It's hard to tell because the photo is a bit small, but my first instinct would be to get the couch off the wall and use it lengthwise to break up the space; that looks like a big long hall right now. Good luck!

Sorry to hear about the flood!

And I don't mind where the couch is...but have you thought about painting the walls? A larger area rug. And maybe one of those bookshelves from IKEA used as a room divider between the livingroom/dining room areas. Where are the chairs to your dining room table? I would move it out from being against wall and put the chairs around it. And hang an inexpensive pendant lamp over it.

I usually hate the ikea bookshelf room divider thing but I have to agree with Nevis this time. I think it would work really well here if you kept the things in/on it spare and clean.

Ugh, a flood... that's horrible! I'm glad you're jumping into re-decorating your new place, though. The windows at the end are great, but you need to be careful to avoid the bowling-alley effect.

The first thing I would do is move the TV into the back left corner (well, the back left of this photo). If you turn the sofa perpendicular to where it is now (facing the window & against the right wall), and put a chair (or two) where the desk is now, add a coffee table, and you'll create a good conversation area and the TV will still be visible. The dining table could be placed lengthwise against the back of the sofa (like a big sofa table), with two dining chairs also facing the window. If that works, the desk could go where the dining table is now.

As far as accessories, I would anchor the room with a larger area rug and get double-width curtains. Hang them as wide and high as you possibly can on that end wall... it will fill the empty space on the wall with color, like painting (but with no commitment).

I agree, send the tv to the window wall, face the sofa to it and abut a divider or the dining table or both to the sofa... the larger expedit now accomodates a table add-on.

I really like the expedit as divider, if you're renting and living w/white walls a white expedit would look built in if it abutted against one wall.

For earthyness... your sofa is very low what about some pouf seating/ottomans? Don't really know what it means to you but you could get mismtached wooden chairs and paint them saturated colors for dining chairs.

Art is so personal.... tough, any photos survive the flood? travel? have something blown up?

Thanks so much for the awesome suggestions. I like the idea of the shelf divider as well, surprisingly. I also like kakatie's ideas including the curtains. I assume kakaties idea is sans bookshelf divider? Also, What colors would work well with my orange sofa ( It's the Ikea Allerum) which isn't made anymore but I love it enough for it to be my 3rd! Rug color, curtains , and I will get a larger rug by the way. I don't have the chairs for the table, those were ruined in the flood. Should I just get a new table & chairs set or find chairs for this table?

You guys are great! Thanks again..It's great to move past the flood and dive in ( pun intended) into decorating my new place.

Liz

Thanks again! I am renting but I am free to paint the walls or a wall if I like. Sadly, almost all of my photos were lost in the flood :( I have some pieces for the walls in mind, just want to make sure the colors work. I have some art (mask) from Thailand I may re-use as well.

Thanks !

Liz

A bookcase divider would be great. You'll have to play around with the floor plan since we're just going off a photo. Since you already have a dining table, you can hold off on replacing it until you find one that you're crazy about.

I suggest finding a rug you LOVE first. Then pull a color out of that for the curtains... unless you find a solid rug, of course! What colors are you usually drawn to? For "earthy" but colorful, I would either play off of orange, reds, and yellows like this (sorry about the huge links):

http://www.westelm.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?partNumber=WE-PRODr565&parent_category_rn=&retainNav=true&parentId=WE-SH1TREZIN&cmsrc=WE-SH1TREZIN&storeId=17001&langId=-1&catalogId=17002&viewSetCode=E

or go with variations on green, leaving the sofa as a singular orange accent:
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp;jsessionid=628CD2D976983712E879540893581E73.app11-node1?itemdescription=true&itemCount=60&id=13925680&parentid=A_FURN_WINDOW&sortProperties=&navCount=49&navAction=poppushpush&color=

Whatever you go with, keep the color palette tight... no more than 3 colors will keep it from looking cluttered.

I've been drawn to the greens actually..and the idea of the sofa as the only orange color in the room. I really appreciate the links :)

Liz

I agree with all the possibilities mentioned. For the chairs, I think you should look for chairs you love, and if those chairs come with a table you love more than yours, and you like the relationship those chairs have to that table, then go for that.

But if you keep your own table, you might consider buying one chair at a time and have each one be slightly different.

I think that fairly neutral sagey green will be nice, even for the landlord's next tentant, although it's great that you're free to paint whatever. The white feels pretty cold for now. Use some Benjamin Moore Aura paint, because it's pretty low VOC's and it's a top-coat-and-primer-in-one and it really does cover in two coats or less. Plus, even if you get it in flat, it's scrubbable, which most flat paints are certainly not.

Please post pictures as this develops!

I certainly will although I may have limited myself to ideas by using the word earthy...I'm open to anything that will make this room not look drab. I know it's not much to work with, but I just want a funkier place and I plan to start incorporating some of the ideas..I am still wondering if I should paint A wall or all walls. I also was thinking about the bookcase as my dog may knock it over? Just a thought..love the breaking up the room idea though.

Liz

Hi Liz...Such a nice space. Late to the party, but if it were mine, I'd ... put couch under the windows, cut down dining table and convert into a large cocktail table (painted silver with mirror top or something similarly cool), and create some HUGE pieces of abstract art to take up the left and right walls from near floor to ceiling. And then I'd place the tv between living room and dining(?) area; maybe with a bookshelf facing dining area to break the tv's backside.

If you don't absolutely need computer under livingroom windows, would help streamline this room. Until permanent window treatments are determined, check out Home Depot's temporary paper blinds -- cut to size with an exacto knife. They're extremely neat looking; almost permanent.

I'd keep the main rooms mega contemporary and sparse of fussy small items. Anything in that room would be there for aesthetic impact. Tuck small can lights behind things for drama. This place will be so lovely. Enjoy!

Do you really need a dining room talbe and chairs? I'm sure you could entertain nicely at the cocktail table until you fnd something you really love.

It's never too late..I will check this daily for the next few weeks as I start...

I like your mega contemporary suggestion but just worry about a large bookshelf ( as also suggested by others) and my clumsy dog.