The first western decor I have seen on this forum. I'm doing a western decor too! Have you seen the leather shags? I have the brown tan. Here is a link!

Here is a link that might be useful: Leather Shag

I like that and hadn't thought of going that route. With a solid color rug, that would leave open my color options. Can you tell me about cleaning this rug? I get a lot of traffic and have to vacuum that area frequently.

Also, I'd love to hear more about how you are decorating. There is very little out there that isn't childish or on the tacky side. I'm trying to do more of an elegant western decor.

Thanks,
Robbi

The Shaker Beige is showing white on my screen.

My gut feeling is that having the two focal points on the same wall (fireplace and TV) and trying to divide the seating areas between them isn't a good idea. I know TV wiring is a pain to deal with, but it may be worth it to get the right flow of furniture in the room.

In the lower right corner of your drawing, you are showing a wall behind the pillars, but the photo seems to show that as open area. Also, is that a stairwell in the upper left corner, or is it a door to the outside?

Could you possibly put the TV on the (currently) brown paneled wall, placed to the right of the window? It may have to partially sit in front of the window.

Then have the sofa face the fireplace and two chairs facing the TV. That would leave the Shaker Beige end of the room without much going on, but maybe you could turn the corner (where the floor vase is) into a reading nook and the rest would be the entryway into the living area.

I realize you are going for a rustic look, and a cowskin rug can work with that look. But, in my opinion, it should be a piece unto itself. There is not another rug that will match it, except another cowskin, and two are one too many.

graywings, than you for the ideas. Yes, the area behind the pillars is open. It leads into the eating area and kitchen. And the stairwell leads to the second story.

I really like the TV where it is, also because I can see it from the kitchen. At one time, I had that section of the living room separated from the fireplace area and the traffic flow was really odd. Plus, the wall across from the fireplace isn't long enough for a couch. I had it there last year when I had the Christmas tree up. The wall is offset from the fireplace so the couch looked odd there as well.

Maybe I need to move the rug to where the couch will sit and not have anything under the chairs? That could work, I hadn't thought of that.

This is really an odd and hard room to arrange. Thank you for all your suggestions!!

Robbi

That really is a difficult room!

The HomeSolutions layout is deceiving because I can't make out the doors, windows and openings. Opposite the fireplace, is that a door, window, or doorway into another room? Does the fireplace really jut into the room as it appears in the drawing?

How about this: place the two chocolate brown chairs and the cowskin in front of the fireplace. Then run an L-shaped sectional along the wall to the right of the TV (the white wall with window), with the short end facing the TV.

This would reduce the number of furniture pieces in the room and would make it more cohesive. Finding the right size sectional would be key. Because this is an entryway, the side against the wall could only go as far as the center of the window, and the short side of the L couldn't extend far into the room.

This is what I am try to say - obviously nothing is to scale.

The leather shag I have is about 3X5 and I don't vacuum it I shake it. It is very heavy. I don't think I would put it in a high traffic area. Right now it is in my DH's office. We are building a house and I have been searching ideas. You are right, everything is cartoon cowboy and I am looking more cowboy chic. Problem with that as you probably already know is anything tasteful comes with a big price tag. I can't wait to see what you do with your room. That said, I agree with graywings that the cowhide will compete with anything else you put on the floor. I think the only thing that would work would be a solid brown in the same brown as the cowhide. Best of luck, Patti

greywings..where do you get the graphs to do the furniture arrangement, somewhere online or do you have to buy a program, it is great...

greywings,

The opening facing the fireplace is to the front entry of the house. It kind of divides the fireplace in half. I hadn't thought of putting the chairs in front of the fireplace. And my dh would love to put an sectional where you are suggesting. He's suggested that a few times. It would have to be a fairly small one since that is not a few big area. Here is a picture looking at the fireplace from the foyer. (Please ignore that ugly green paint that I've since painted over!)

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And another older one looking more directly where the two recliners are now. (Sorry it's so blurry)

{{gwi:1544617}}

Also, what would you put in the corner to the left behind the recliners? Since that's looking into the room from the entrance, would looking at the back of the recliners looks good? I could put a table between them, but a lamp would be difficult without using a rug behind them to reach the outlet.

Thanks for the help. I've been struggling with the shape of this room for some time. I've even tossed up the idea of closing in that opening that leads from the foyer, but it would be strange to walk into the house and directly towards the kitchen area. (of course, everyone always heads that way anyhow!)

Robbi

It is a free program that you can find on line at BHG.com.

It can be hard to find if you go directly to the BHG site; I can only find it by doing a google.com search with the words: arrange a room bhg.

There is a learning curve with this program. If your room is not an exact rectangle, it is best to pretend the area is larger than the room and add walls, versus trying to bump out areas of the room after you draw it.

WARNING: Do not take your husband shopping with you for a sectional. Men are drawn to big ugly sectionals with the cushy pillows.

You might want to spend some time getting a good diagram of the room and then posting all the photos in a new thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: BHG arrange a room

If the backs of the recliners look odd facing the fireplace, keep turning them around until it looks cozy without having the backs completely to the front door.

OR, have you thought about turning the area in front of the fireplace into a dining room? Table and four chairs in the middle, a server in the corner. Even if you don't eat there, it's not a bad place to have the kids playing. And a living/dining combo area makes sense.

I meant to say, if the backs of the recliners look odd from the foyer . . .

That room used to be a living room/dining room before we put the addition on the house. That's probably why this is such a problem. The foyer used to be the car port and that entrance from the foyer was a solid wall. What do you think about closing off that entrance from the foyer? Now, when you walk into the foyer, you have a choice to go left into the living room or to the right into the kitchen/sitting area (the sitting area was supposed to be a dining room, but we have our table in the other location you saw in the pictures). Maybe I need to take a few more pictures. I will take some more this afternoon and start a new thread on possible furniture arrangements.

Thanks!!

Robbi

I remember well your original post. A big job for sure.

Thought you might like to see some paint on the panelling.

Shaker Beige(looks pink here)

Henderson Buff

Princeton Gold

Please excuse the sloppy edges....I never could color inside the lines..lol.

Looking forward to seeing the end result.

WOW, Chris! I can see that paint is going to make a major difference. You can actually see the furniture! I like that Princeton Gold. Thank you for doing that. I'm going to start another thread asking for opinions on a furniture arrangement. I'm thinking I'll use the cow hide as the only rug in the room, so I can concentrate more on fabrics and narrow the paint selection from there. I'm leaning towards the golds with some red accents. Off to the new thread.

Thanks again for the visual, it really helps.

Robbi