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need help with living room/dining room combo

6 years ago

I have a living room combo that is a large space, right now both rooms are bizarre greens, i am at a loss as to whether to go neutral in both rooms or go bold. I want both rooms to flow probably with same color walls both rooms.the rooms kind of strange being that the dining area is the furthest room. I thought about making it all light colored neutrals and then updating the furniture etc.Need some help or suggestions

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Toni In ohio
Original Author

6 years ago

Hello again i made some changes based on suggestions in this post. I had the framed art work in the basement, so i changed the artwork, got rid of the area rug, put the leaf in the table, has a bit of a sag. Does it look better? Worse? I think i like it better already. Looks more simple. Here are so e photos

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Comments (17)

My3dogs ME zone 5A
6 years ago
Is it possible to get some brighter pictures? These are so dark that it's hard to see what's in them.

What are the dimensions of each area?

Is the living room with the fireplace larger?

Would you prefer to have that as your dining room?

Is there enough room in what is now the dining room to be your living room?

Do you plan to keep the wall to wall carpeting?

Is the rest of your home light colored neutral colors? I agree you could use a different paint color in those two rooms.
ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
6 years ago
I agree, the pictures are too dark. Is there any reason why the shades aren't open everywhere during the day? I think I like the color of the dining room wall with that carpet, but I would repaint the living room a cream color. More pictures would really be helpful with all the shades up.
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MJLB, Thank you for all your wonderful suggestions. I may be able to move the piano to the office but I need to check if it would fit. If so how would you lay out the furniture. I plan to get new rugs in the dining room and living room sides and new sofa,chairs, coffee table and end tables, just not sure what to get. The furniture there is old stuff from our previous family room. What other accent colors do you think might work. There is a living room I am drawn to but not sure how to link it to this but it is in Ballard under the Concorde medallion panels more views. Is that a program that allows you to edit the pictures? jterrilynn, Thank you for your suggestion. What kind of molding would you use? Not sure it would work on the living room side because the front wall goes into the foyer. I do like the drapes above the arch but not sure if I can hang a curtain rod that high with the slopping ceilings. I really dislike the short stationary drapery rods but thought they may work in this room. Gosh this room is so difficult. Moving every few years is a pain especially when your selection of houses not great. I really appreciate everyones feedback and knowledge!
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I would leave the walls white. Since you are on a budget my advice would be to edit your furnishings down and rearranging the stuff you have. If this was my space: I would move the dining room table out from the wall. It looks like you have enough space to float it in the dining room. You aren't using the woodstove at the moment right. Does the high chair fit into the space between the woodstove and wall? If so I would store the chair there. Put a pretty washable tablecloth on the table. Ebay has some great/cheap vintage ones. Then add a mason jar or large jar full of wildflowers on the table. Could you move the cabinet with the bread drawer out of the kitchen and put it in between the door and window where the dining table was? Would there be enough space? If so I would then ask dh to help me put up some basic white shelves in that space for storage. Move the garbage can back and that white rectangle (is that a fridge?) underneath. Reorganizing and decluttering the kitchen would really open that space up making it more functional. You could store the pantry type items in the cabinets and move your dishes out where they could be seen on the shelves for a clean modern country look. Where does that door lead in the living room? Is there anyplace you could move that wonderful china cabinet. I would move it to another room or upstair's and use it in a new way. Storing linen in a hallway or craft/office supplies in a rooom, etc. Store the china in the cabinet in the hutch that used to be in the kitchen that is now in the dining room. I think the idea of using quilts is a brillant one and I would put it in the area where the china cabinet was. Take the frames off the walls and repurpose the small bookcase and table in the middle of the room into other rooms. Again not sure of proportions but I would move the couch where the love seat is and the love seat where the recliner is and the recliner by the window where the couch was. Adding lots of large basics for toys and clutter. You have a lovely home. Can't wait to see what you do.
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Thank you all for your suggestions! @Enduring I definitely can push the TV back on the stand. I don't think I have enough room to allow the back of the sofa to be a walk way. @Immcnitt I like the idea of a console table. I'll see about playing around with the layout over the next few days. I agree with the chair in the corner, it is a bit odd. I do think the layout is TOO open now and makes the table look far to small. Hmm. @Jamie Our ceilings are too high, would the new lighting need to be shorter? @Jamie I would love a new rug in the living room for sure. I hadn't thought about a rug in the dining room, maybe that would make that space feel so open now.
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I would create a "foyer" by floating a 3-seat sofa or a reversible chaise sofa facing the two windows with a flat screen TV on a low credenza. Hang the clock on the wall opposite its present location. Flank the large front window with a pair of fabric armchairs, a new side table and a table lamp. A new rug should be at least 2 feet wider than the new sofa. For proper installation of a dining chandelier, your table will need to sit under the current fixture. Try doing that to see what you can achieve. Do you want to hire an electrician to remedy the offset? You can probably find a paired semi-flush and a pendant or chandy for both your ceiling lights and maybe the kitchen too. Once you find the seating and rug, we can find a new, brighter paint color to really bring this room out of the shade!
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Toni In ohio
Original Author
6 years ago
Those photos were pretty bad i have added a few more. Both rooms are 15x15. Yes the carpet will be replaced most likely with the same light color. Some of my other attached rooms are light greys and my family room is all brick and wood.
User
6 years ago
Is the kitchen through the living room? Where is the entry to the house?
Toni In ohio
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes kitchen is thru the living room the front door is in the kitchen. The house was built in the 1850’s and has a strange layout
chispa
6 years ago
Do you even use the dining room all the way back there? How often?

Maybe switch the rooms?
Kathryn Dendinger
6 years ago
I think you need to go with lighter/brighter colors! I also think that maybe painting both rooms the same color and adding different pops of color in each room might be the way to go to give it a uniform feel. It doesn't necessarily have to be a light neutral, it could be a light color such as the soft green color in this room redo (https://highlightsalongtheway.com/bathroom-makeover/) -- which is folly by behr, or a soft blue color. I also am a fan of "griege" colors in spaces (a grey/beige) and then you can add rugs/pillows/curtains/artwork to bring out the colors you love!
Kathryn Dendinger
6 years ago
I agree with potentially switching the rooms as well
PRO
Abracadabra Painting
6 years ago
you could do alot with these 2 rooms the question is are you stuck with keeping your furniture if so let's try to make it flow with that, because the colors you have now does not like the furniture, I like the colors and I like your furniture but has to be completed with a combo of flow. what are the other colors in your living space?
lovemrmewey
6 years ago
Love the living room color, with lamps lighting.
armchairshopper
6 years ago
Go to Sherwin Williams and pick up some of their color brochures. They have colorways designed to flow between rooms, and to be used interchangeably.
amykath
6 years ago
The first thing I noticed was that the table looks small in the dining room which is so large. I think having a larger table would make the space seem more separate from the living room. I love your green color in the living room. I would leave it and find a complimentary color for the dining room. You have a lovely home!
Toni In ohio
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for all these suggestions. It gets my mind going in the right direction. We only use the dining room at Thanksgiving, and quite honestly i dont think we would use it any more often if i switched the rooms.we are mostly a casual kind of family and usually gather in the kitchen or the family room, and that one time a year we sit at the dining room table. At one time i thought about swapping but then i have that chandelier i would have to move, which isnt a big deal, but i just didnt think it was a worth. When I painted the dining room i loved it, but now i think you all are right either find something to go with that green for the living room or possibly go with the griege colors Kathryn spoke of. I really could do away with the dining room but then what would i do with that space.
DYH
6 years ago
Your rooms have such great architectural elements! When I read through the post and realized the age of the house, it makes so much sense. Really wonderful dimensions, too.

Seeing the extra chairs in your dining room, have you considered extending the leaves in the table to better balance the space?

I notice the furniture is the same tones and/or wood? If so, do you have pieces in other colors/textures (perhaps from other rooms) that would provide more variety? You have good pieces with which to work.

I'm sorry to say this, but it's the wall-to-wall carpet with the rugs that is distracting to me. Do you have larger area rugs to layer, or remove those area rugs altogether and see how it looks?

I also like the living room wall color. For the dining room, how about two shades lighter from the living room color from the same paint strip?

Your dog looks so sweet! What a cutie!
chispa
6 years ago
Much better, but that table/console on the left looks too wide for that space ... it looks more like a small table than a console. Do you have a narrower piece you could use there?
Toni In ohio
Original Author
6 years ago
Ok one more time rearranged turned the table added some things took away others.

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