Here's a photo from the other end of the room. I should add...there's another window on the west wall behind the couch.

This post was edited by pommy_girl on Tue, Jan 15, 13 at 19:09

I like your rug. It looks fun!
I would use that as your inspiration. Paint color, curtains, throw pillows, etc

It looks like you have ceiling tiles, I would see if those could be taken down. When budget allows, I would update the ceiling fan.
Good luck!

I agree about the rug being a great jumping off point. I love it! What about a really sheer gray blue that's not too intense. Perhaps BM's Gray Wisp or Beach Glass if they look good with the rug. Maybe some others can give opinions as to some colors. Even though I steer towards darker hues, I don't think I would go dark. And you want your furniture to pop against whatever color that you choose. I wouldn't do any greens though.

Try to color match to the socks of the person in the pic. Looks great with the rug!

I actually think it looks pretty good as is so far as the rug and wall color goes!

If your husband is out of work, maybe it would be better to work with what you have for now. I think decluttering the room (maybe take away 1-2 pieces of furniture) will go a long way. Especially the bookshelves by the window, the smaller table in front of the TV, and the stuff on top of the chest in front of the window.

Convert the current curtains to ring tops (you can buy the clip on rings, Ikea has them for example).

I would move the large armchair to near the window, and remove the blue stool or paint it to match one of the rug colors.

Move the rocking chair to where the arm chair is now (it has a more open look).

Pull the chest out from the window so the curtains can fall properly.

I don't like the bookshelf near the kitchen on an angle it makes the room smaller. I'd put it up against the wall.

Get some nice baskets or decorative storage boxes for all the binders and other businesslike clutter on the bookshelves. Add a few little decorative accessories on the shelves to dress them up - right now they look like utilitarian storage and take away from the idea of this as a relaxing space.

kitch4me: The rug is fun, but I was worried it was too dark. The ceiling tiles will have to stay for now, but we will be replacing the fan with a new light fixture as soon as I can find one that doesn't hang too low.

sis2two: Thanks for the color suggestions, I'll take a look at those.

LOL olychick. I told my husband people would laugh at his sock, flipflop combination...he just laughed. His socks look like blue in the pic, but they are actually grey.

tinan: My husband is out of work, but there is some budget for this. We have no mortgage or debt, and have some savings, so we're okay, just don't want to go crazy (I'm not much of a spender anyway) I should have said, the room is cluttered right now, and has things in it that shouldn't be there. The table in front of the TV is actually a stool we've been standing on for doing the sheetrock, so won't be staying. The bench in front of the window is actually the over the fridge cabinet from the kitchen! It won't be staying either. I actually don't like a lot of clutter, although I have to admit, I'm not an overly tidy person either :) I have ordered some white curtains from Ikea, they should be here next week.

The angled bookcase was originally in our dining room. When we moved the bookcase to the living room we just threw some binders on. I have the books all piled up in the sunroom ready to go on after painting the room. My dh is pretty adamant that bookshelves have books, not decorative items on them! I agree mostly, though I do like a little variation. My wonderful dh actually finds the shelf full of binders very relaxing! We are both avid readers, don't have many visitors, and our home is where we spend most of our time.

We have been thinking about putting in a window seat on the north window. We have to redo that entire wall as it is covered in ugly diagonal paneling!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
The only things that need to stay are: the couch (it's a small 2 seater),the arm chair, the rocking chair, the bookcases (by the window),the tv stand, and some sort of coffee or end table.

From what I see, it seems like your space is a bit cluttered. Maybe if some of your furniture was placed differently, it would create more space. I found a great blog about designing rooms in your home... You should check it out

Here is a link that might be useful: Tips on Designing Your Home