Living room decorating- two very different options.....

16 years ago

Ready to move into our new house. The only room we will be buying ( significant) new furniture for is our living room. I have pretty much had in my head what I wanted for a long time. Floral area rug - almost leaning to mission style with some type of sage green in it and possibly some maroon. Dark brown leather furniture - sofa and club chair with ottoman. We have an antique coffee table. I was going to order the LL bean Ultralight leather.

We were shopping for other things and ran across a large overstuffed sofa with a "cottage" type feel. It's a combo of fabrics- floral and plaid cream colored with lots of red and some green and gold. Overstuffed floral ROCKING loveseat with red background and gold floral pattern. Very cute- very cottage. Believe it or not DH Loved it. Can't find it online or would post a pic. Not sure what rug to use with it.... Maybe a tan/wheat color with pattern? I am stilling wanting my leather but the sofa/loveseat floral are half the price!

So here's the room. There will be floor to ceiling book shelves ( white) to the left of the fireplace. Mantel wil be white. to the right are french doors to library.

Whaddya think?

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Comments (8)

redbazel
16 years ago
I think...........that eventually, you will be happier with the leather. I've always been attracted to the cottagey floral mixed prints kind of look, but I realize that I'm so fickle, that something like that would seriously impede my desire to change things out and move furniture/stuff around every couple of years.

Nice room, by the way!

Red
rucnmom
16 years ago
Nice to see a female stoneworker! She does excellent work!
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I think it's nice to mix metals when they relate to each other. Like black & pewter - but I'm biased because I have a room with black, pewter, and chrome in it :) For your situation I think you can get away with it because so much in a kitchen is always going to be silver or brushed nickel. Pots & pans are often silver on the outside, silverware is often silver colored, and if you have any stainless steel appliances they read as brushed nickel or silver. In other words - you'd be hard pressed to outfit a kitchen with everything being gold toned (even the trim on the toaster) so silver is expected there. So I think it recedes into the background & no one would expect them to match. Now ... if you have a foyer off the living room and the foyer had gold light fixtures & gold accessories & gold handles on the closet doors - but the living room was heavily accented with bright silver then that might look incongruous. But you'd need a lot of each metal for people to notice. It would probably need to be on the order of "Gold wallpaper with gold leafed table" versus "chrome tables & lamps & candlesticks everywhere" for people to see it.
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Do you have any furniture of your own that you'll be using? Are you planning on keeping the wall color (frankly hope you don't)? There aren't enough clues to know what kind of furniture or carpeting you would like, for instance. Do you have any pictures of your present decor that you could provide? The living room is a good size and will look even larger once that bulky furniture and busy rug are gone. With that expanse of tile I would suggest a much larger rug in the living room, and none of the rugs for the dining room, etc. should be the same, although of course they should harmonize. I hope you can provide more clues about your style and the colors that make you feel good.
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Valerie Noronha
16 years ago
I think your statement: "I have pretty much had in my head what I wanted for a long time" leads me to suggest you stay with your first thought. Esp. if you have a "library" leading off of this room... I'm always leary of $$ sofas with a definite pattern to them as I know my taste with change over time. I prefer something more versatile that I can change the look with cushions/throws.
User
16 years ago
Beautiful flooring, and what a cutie :-) I agree - I love florals, but feel that solid colors (leather) might be easier in the long run - esp since it sounds like you still really want leather. Could you do maybe one floral piece, and have the main sofa be leather? Or fulfill the need through floral throw pillows?
allison0704
16 years ago
I'd like to see the floral - too bad there are no pictures.

I looked up (and linked) the LLBean sofa - not convinced it's right for your room. A bit on the modern side (the lines). What does the outside of your home look like?

Beautiful room, lovely color and great FP.

Oh, fwiw, after two years in our home, the great room is nothing as I pictured before we moved in - it is better! Once we lived in the house awhile....and after one wrong sofa purchase - hello Goodwill - not to mention the rug that's now in a guest bedroom, it's perfect. Don't be in a rush!

Here is a link that might be useful: LLBean Ultratight
Kathy Bochonko
16 years ago
I have to disagree, I think the LL Bean Sofa is the perfect look for that room. Looks very nice to me. I agree with the idea that the floral sofa is too big of a commitment to the floral theme. No versatility. Personally I am leery of a leather sofa for that price. Seems too good to be true. I would investigate the construction and leather quality and be sure you won't need to replace it in 4-5 years. You want aniline leather so scratches don't show.
Sueb20
16 years ago
I agree with the others about sticking with your first idea. Not sure I'd buy a leather sofa from LL Bean, though. We had one of their "ultralight" sectionals a few years back (in fabric, not leather) and it was constantly sliding around on the carpet in our basement playroom because it was so "light." Also, a few years later -- we ended up giving it to a neighbor -- the upholstery looks terrible. I'm sure you could find a similar style leather sofa at your local furniture store.
loribee
16 years ago
Hi, I would do the leather as planned but perhaps you could add in a comfy floral/cottage chair or ottoman....That way you get the best of both worlds. That's what I sort of did in my sitting room and I'm very happy with the look.
Maybe add a nice neutral sisal or seagrass rug, too? This is going to be a beautiful room. Good luck!

Living room decorating- two very different options.....

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redbazel

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