I remember the artwork and you guys did a great job - it looks fabulous!

Not crazy about the rug or the coffee table, but sometimes it's hard telling from a picture.

Nice job on the bookcase and chess table, that fabric is a little loud, but it depends on scale. Have you got a sample?

Let me know if you'd like to trade chandies - love yours! I've got a modern one hanging in my traditional foyer.

Thanks for responding, greenthumbfish.

I forgot to mention that the couch and the entry bench face each other. So, I thought the rug might bring those colors to the couch area...... I am not exactly thrilled with it either.

The scale on the print is quite big - I dont have a sample but I saw a chair upholstered in this fabric and it had one repetition of the pattern in the chair seat. Thats why I am not totally sure about it. I am having a hard time finding a fabric thats somewhat modern with a medium scale print in gray!! :(

Oh, I hate the chandies that came with my house! I would give anything to get them changed but havent been able to convince DH yet!

Mo

I love the kilm rug, but not where you've placed it, though agree putting it in the foyer would compete with your lovely artwork. I'd like to see you work in a bit more of the purple color of your chair around the room. I'm concerned the fabric you selected would compete with your artwork hanging over the bookcase. Is that a view of a fence out the side window? I'd like to see a WT that you can lower, but still let in the light. Maybe some cellulars that you can also lower from the top down? I'd keep it simple in that area since you've already got a lot going on with the bookcase decor and chess set.

Mo, I love many of the things you've done so far like the couch, purple chair, pictures over the couch, end tables. Whan I'm not feeling works well is the coffee table and the rug. I'd like to see something more modern that pulls your colors together. I hope you don't mind my saying but the lamp on the end table looks a little country but it could just be the way it photographs. I'd love to see opaque semi sheers on the windows that let the light in but blocks the view. The entry looks wonderful. I love the art you both made. Would you consider moving the mirror out of the dining area? It looks a bit crowded. Here's a site that has great modern rugs, just do a search. Good luck and keep us posted!!
http://www.homedecoratorsoutlet.com

yes the rug is nice, but doesn't work under the coffee table. Do you have any big blank wall anywhere that would look good with the rug hanging vertically?

Can you tell us a little about how you made the great artwork in the foyer?

oooh, thanks for all the feedback! And I would really apprciate any ideas on a coffee table. The one I really want is one of those lucite curved tables but they are way out of budget right now!

It looks like the consensus is to remove the rug from there.

valinsv - yes, thats the fence. We live in one of the cookie cutter neighborhoods that have houses a few feet from one another. I have some plants out there but it will take them a few years to grow up to block the view so fixing the WT is a better idea.

yayagal - Really, I have been trying to get more purple in the room without making it too girly. Purple just doesnt seem to work with many other colors! I do have another purple window seat on the other side of the couch. I went with plain purple again! Oh, and the lamp is actually quite contemporary. What you are seeing is a little cabinet on the endtable with wooden dolls inside. I have been wanting to paint that cabinet a more modern color.... purple maybe! :)

{{gwi:1812341}}

deltabreeze - The 'artwork' was pieces of fence board(!) we bought at Lowe's. I just roughly estimated the amount needed for each color and painted the boards. Then we cut up the boards into pieces and kept laying them out as you go. Glued it up to a piece of plywood. Once we glued it all onto the base, we evened out the sides with a sander and saw when necessary. Thats it. About 1 days work is all it was. My big concern was that the house would start smelling of the cedar wood but that hasnt been a problem.

Mo

I love the furniture. I don't think the lamps look 'county' at all and fit the contemporary look, but I do think that the floor lamp should come out into the room, maybe beside the chair. Get another table lamp with a beefy base for the corner. Get rid of the three legged table. Are both end tables the same? You need something more substantial in that corner and between the chair and couch where the table lamp is. Would you consider taking the coffee table apart and using the pillars? Find a round wood tray glue on top of them. Maybe paint the tray black. A more substantial coffee table will look nice too. Do you have an ottoman somewhere in the house that can be used as a coffee table? I think that the purple back pillows should be removed from the window seat. Less is more. Just have the seating cushions. I can see this room with a very posh 1930's look. Are you keeping the wallcolor or waiting until you find the right rug to paint?

Love your rooms! And the foyer artwork especially. I have been looking at the lucite coffee tables, too. Did you know CB2 has one that is pretty affordable?

Here is a link that might be useful: waterfall table

This thread is a perfect example of why, when asking advice about a room's decor, it is necessary to post pictures of the WHOLE room, not just the part you are concerned about. That window seat makes all the difference in the world!

Definitely move the rug to another room. I'd also say move the little yellow cabinet rather than paint it. It just doesn't work in that space.

Okay, guys. I tried some of the suggestions last night and I moved some of the things around... removed the rug and tried different things for the coffee table. And I moved the mirror to next to the door. The other place I could think of was to put the mirror on the left side of the couch behind a lamp and table. I will have to try that tonight. What do you guys think - does the mirror work there at all? DH thinks the 'coffee table' screams 'IKEA' which it actually does. :)

{{gwi:1812343}}

{{gwi:1812345}}
Let me know what you think.

Dilly dally - great suggestions. Thanks for the thought you are putting into this. I was thinking of getting an ottoman for that spot but I am worried it will look like too much heavy furniture. You are seeing the entire width of the room in the window seat pic - maybe one more foot than is shown there.

Amy, Thanks so much for the link! Thats exactly the table I was talking about. I cannot buy a new table right now but I am going to bookmark that for when I can buy one.

Greenthumbfish, I actually did replace the cabinet last night with this silverware organiser that has been hanging around unused because it doesnt fit in the drawers in my house. Hopefully, it doesnt look too much like an organiser! :)

Mo

I'm glad you tried my suggestions and are happy with the results. What I was also going to suggest was putting the two end tables together so they look like an hourglass from above. Then put the rectangle glass top on them. I did not know if you actually had two of those, three-legged tables. I could not see one between the couch/chair. Try the tables shifted that way with the glass top. It should fill the area without being bulky. I did not think the ottoman was the 'best' solution since they are solid and bulky, but ottomans are rather medium sized and would leave room to walk around ro push out of the way depending on when you need to use them.

I like the pillars in the corners even without a top added. I think a wider top will look better though. I think this new arrangement give a better impression that the two pillars in front of the sofa. It looked to much like a 'sacrificial altar' before - too symmetrical.

I do think that the dressing room mirror should really be placed - in a bedroom dressing room. That is unless you have a "coat closet" in your foyer there. Then it becomes useful. I would switch it with the wall shelves in the hall. Put the mirror in the corner next to the bench. Put the colorful shelves on the wall space where the mirror now sits. This way you do not loose any valuable floor space like the mirror does now where it is. It just seems uninviting to have to look at the back of the mirror when you walk in and have to shimmy around it to get from the front door into the LR. The footprint the mirror requires makes it a better fit for the hall corner. Putting the shelving on that LR wall by the door will help transition color into the room too.

You have a very difficult space to design around with all the contingencies and you've done well for the space.

The artwork in the hall is really cool and the best part is you can say you did it yourself! The colorful shelves detract from the art. The shelves are great but should be moved away from the art. Having the mirror in the foyer will pick up some of the rustic brown in the art and the juxtaposition of the modern art with the quaintness of the mirror will give an eclectic look.

The plants will look better if you group them. Slide the purple one over to the left a bit, and place the planter from the window on the right next to it. Move the planter in the left window to the right just a tiny bit so it is not centered in the window.

The white shadowbox would look better on a wall. Maybe it can be grouped with the color shelves near the door, if you try that new arrangement? No matter what, it is too big for the pillar. The red cradle looks out of place. If you wish to add more color to the new coffee table arrangement, try adding something like cut-out designs under the glass top when you place it on top of the triangle tables in the hourglass shape. Don't go too wild though. You already have a lot of patterns going on in the room. Do you have enough material from left over from making your new curtains to cut out and place under the glass on the tables? Cut two triangles and lightly place some glue at the corners. You don't want to slop glue on the entire thing. Just enough to keep it from slipping. Doing this might link the LR and DR and maybe your DH won't think it looks Ikea if it had a fabric top under the glass? It might be even better to take the extra yardage from the curtains and give it a dye bath of deep purple. A dye bath of deep purple, will only really color the white part and the gray will still look gray. The pattern is still there but more subtle and still matches the new dining room curtains and brings it all together. Have you ever done purple dye using onion skins?

Now I hope you do not get offended but I really think that the back cushions should come off of the window seats. The are too purple, too shiny and too big and puffy for that dainty window seat. They make the window seat look like a 'purple people eater'. Maybe you can pile the pillows on the floor somewhere like next to the plant against the wall for extra, casual seating or for when children visit and there isn't enough room for everyone to be seated. Just having the purple seat cushions brings enough purple color into the room for balance. I think the window will look more open and airy without the back cushions.

The purple chair is so gorgeous. I just love it. It has a textured pattern to it and I think a plain light colored pillow with dark piping would look good and not detract from the beautiful 3-D texture the chair has. The print pillow detracts from the beauty of the chair texture. Put the little print pillow on the couch. Put the large print pillow on the window seat. Add a plain purple pillow to the couch - something with fabric of a different texture than the couch like velvet. Add a light colored, medium sized pillow to the window seat - something light and airy.

I have to say that seeing the entire room made a difference. It's amazing how far you've come since this morning. With the help you get from these people you'll be ready for Rate My Space. Keep it up. I learn so much from the people on this forum.

Dilly Dally, Wow...thats a lot of thought into this. Let me try and get all those points you have listed. I really like the idea of moving the plants together.

I put the shadow box on the table to get some height there. All my 'artsy' stuff are quite short and I am always struggling to get them taller. Moving the shelves in the foyer - um, I will have to wait until thanksgiving break to get DH to put in even a couple of screws. And all the pottery in those shelves are handmade so I dont want to come up with a hack to put them up (which is what I do usually :)) But I can remove the shelves and see how the mirror looks in that spot. The window seat - I was going for a couch like feeling there, thats why the big cushions. And it doesnt look shiny in real life. We tend to sit sideways on the bench to read books and such with our feet up and so like the effect of the cushions. Def something to try - with throw pillows, I could add more patterned fabric. Yay!

And I started out with a plain white pillow on the purple chair and a plain purple pillow on the couch - it looked kind of bland. There were some suggestions here to add more patterns and I think I like this better than the plain.

And I have not bought that fabric for the window panels yet - still considering it. I am now leaning towards a purple colored sheer panel, maybe?

DH was suggesting I make a small modern looking triangle quilt for the black tables. I was going to try that this weekend. I removed the glass altogether from that space. I dont think it needs the glass and I never really liked that big expanse of glass just asking for someone to come bang into it!

Yayagal - Definitely a great place and so much information here.

Mo

All good points. It sounds like you really use the window seating and need the back pillows. Always, the most important thing is to have your space function for your needs and not be a museum or copycat of a magazine photo. I guess I assumed most people never actually use the window seating. The window seat does look comfortable. Maybe add a throw to break up the big expanse of purple. It could be useful there too when you use the window and want to curl up with a book and wrap yourself in it.

The pillow I suggested for the purple chair would have piping on it not be a plain blob. Do you still have the one you bought? You sound artistic and talented. Maybe you could add your own unique handiwork to the pillow? Piping? Big purple buttons? A silkscreened monogram? A giant flower applicate?

I know what yous mean about banging into a glass table. I have a frameless glass end table and guests are always banging their shins into it. I don't. I know its there.

I'm not feeling the purple sheers for the room. Right now the beautiful purple chair is the star of the room and too much more purple will take away from that. You do need some more small touches of purple through out the space though to unify it. Could you do purple shades with deep neutral drapes? Look for grayed out purples for the space to balance out the tones in the carpeting. Deep indigo purples look very nice too. What room does the dining room open up to? I would assume a kitchen but it looks more like there is a hallway there.

I love the idea that you are using you own artwork in the home. Things like that are what makes a house a true home, with good vibes and memories.

Thanks for listening to my ideas for the room. I know everything is not going to work for everyone, but I hope my thoughts give inspiration and new ways of looking at a decorating scheme.