Keep posting. You will end up with pretty spaces that work for you. ( These folks are that good!)

You wants something elegant, pretty, slightly romantic. The mirror is nice - I got a similar one from Hobby Lobby on sale a while back. Candle sticks are easy. The flowers are over the top for a lived in home. :-)

I like the table in the room with the fireplace and the seating (something different later) in the front living room.

Please measure the rooms and make a layout on graph paper to help with furniture placement.

Ok. Your comments have assisted with my thoughts regarding the plans for those rooms. I’ve decided to turn the family room into the dining space. The vision is coming from the attached photo. I will pull up the carpet to expose the light wood floors. I already have a round pedestal style table that I’ll need to refinish. I can do it brown like the photo, but not sure how it will look against the light floors? I can’t have white chairs due to small kids in the home. Any initial thoughts in the new direction? I need help, so if you have ANYTHING please share.

Love the new design approach you’ve chosen. It is modern but with classic shapes and looks like it will suit your home’s style beautifully. Check out Crypton, Brisa, and Revolution fabrics: you can have white, child-proof upholstery! Also, a dark table base would look fine against light wood floors., providing a good contrast.

You could have white leather/vinyl chairs. I think I saw some like these at At Home store (used to be Garden Ridge Pottery), if you have any of those nearby.

I see the kitchen flows right into the new dining room and somebody painted it green. There's no demarcation between the two spaces so they all need to be painted the same. Consider painting the whole space white and painting the fireplace too.

You can certainly do a dark table on light wood floors. You could also do darker chairs and paint your pedestal table white.

OMG! How did you do that?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I’m painting white the walls next week. My round table and chairs will be dark brown. My floors are light wood. I’d like the accent colors to be silver/gray, brown and green to bring in the green from the kitchen.

I’m struggling with what color to paint fireplace. White too? What color rug under table? Again, I have two small kids. Lastly, the window is actually a sliding patio door. I was thinking a two rod setup for a curtain and a sheer curtain. I get a lot of natural light. Any suggestions on the color curtain? White? Or, something that brings in all the colors? I just do want to darken the room.

Looking at this for the chandelier??

Groveraxle, do you mind sharing how you completed the design of my room? I’d look to try and accomplish something similar with the new ideas I have.

following

Youngnew, I used Photoshop to empty your room and paint.

You've asked a lot of questions--color of fireplace, color of curtains--but these are decisions that can wait. Get the basics--walls and floors--done first, put your table and chairs in the room, post photos when that's done, and we'll go from there.

This looks like a fun chandelier, but don't buy it yet. Let's wait and see what direction the room takes.

Thank you! Yes, I know. I guess it’s just difficult for me to visualize it all. I’m more of a technical person, so decor work/decision can be a challenge. Thank you for your patience!

I hit a snag today while attempting to pull the carpet. I purchased the house in January. I took a look under the carpet one side of the room and assumed it was all the same. To my surprise today, I go to pull up the carpet on the other side and the wood is totally different. That caused a pause in the project for me to figure out what I’m going to do. My initial thought is just to redo the entire floor on the main level. I had to redo the kitchen floor anyway since I removed a cabinet that left a big gap. I’m thinking I’ll just do it all new with the same material throughout. This week I’m going to do some research on if this is something I can tackle myself.

Here are the two different floor types I discovered today.

Are these two different floors in the same room? Or in different rooms? They both look like they're in decent shape, and the oak looks like it might be matchable. I'd have a floor guy look and give you an estimate. If they're in different rooms, I'd consider living with the different floors till my budget allowed me to do exactly what I wanted throughout the first floor. Some cheap area rugs will cover a lot of sins.

It’s different rooms that flow together. Thanks. I’ll post to the thread when I have updates.

Walls painted, carpet removed, and cabinet down. Getting floors finished tomorrow, and new table and chairs should be done this week. I still am in search of new lighting.

Wow. You really get to it. Looking good. That floor doesn't look bad at all. Much better than the carpet. You don't have much in your ideabook, and what you do have goes from transitional to contemporary to modern, so it's hard to recommend lighting. How about you start a dining ideabook and save your favorite rooms.

Also, can you give us a shot of the kitchen? From the tiny bit I can see, it looks pretty modern, so you'll want to coordinate with that.

fill in those corners up in the top left of slider wall, with caulking and paint over it. consider doing some simple case molding around the slider and replacing the mini blinds with something else.

are you going to leave the brick as is or redo it? whatever you decide, remove the gold/brass FP screen and paint it with high heat matte black spray paint. it's easy enough to DIY

Wow - what a difference from your first pictures. Looks great please keep posting pictures as you progress. Cant wait to see finish photos. Good luck!

Grover, I really was just going off of the picture I posted previously. I know it won’t be exact, but it gave me some direction. Here is a post of my kitchen. That was my previous project. I still need to do the floors in that space as well. I’m clueless when it comes to matching the different decor styles. How do I make the rooms match in style?

Beth, I have a wood piece that was stained today that will go on the left (I hope it matches) and molding to fill in the gaps that’s painted white. That will go up this week. I hope it all matches :)

I planned on doing a double rod curtains. I sheer white (I get a lot of good natural light) and then maybe a gray thicker curtain as well. Thoughts?

I did plan on painting the brass, but a gray...no?

white sheers are fine.

nice choices...gray w/the red brick? hmmm,,have you considered painting that brick white, black or charcoal? (i'd do black on the brass if the latter).

or you could do a wash w/gray or black/white

I'd also have them do your parquet in an ashy brown stain. it will go well w/your gray kitchen flooring.

they can also custom mix some walnut colored stains w/ a bit of gray stain

maybe something like this ? (the brick in black or charcoal would look really nice against this)

or go something a little darker to tone down any red, like a darker walnut

I do like the wash gray. I saw something on Pinterest about doing that to brick. Just need to look deeper into it. As far as the floors, I did request a darker walnut finish. We’ll see how they turn out (fingers crossed). Thanks for the tips and advice. You have no idea how much you all help and guide me!

Nice job on the kitchen.

I grayed your floor but didn't darken it, painted the fireplace the same as the walls and the fire doors black.

I’m starting to think that my original vision for this room may be taking a drastic change. I knew the room wouldn’t look exactly like my vision picture, but I’m not sure if it’ll be in the same ballpark. I’m actually ok with it not looking like the picture (posted it again here), but I just want the room to look nice and updated. I don’t want it to look randomly put together. I also post a picture of the room today after the finish. The pedestal table I have is brown with a white base and brown matching chairs. I’ll continue to post as additional progress is made.

floors look great.

Young, if your table and chairs aren't too dowdy, you can probably get pretty close to your inspiration room. And if they are dowdy, that might be remedied with a little paint. Post a photo when you get the table and chairs in the room and we'll work on lighting and decor.

Budget friendly consoles, when you get to the point. I have seen piences like these on occasion at HomeGoods / Marshalls, etc.

Well, not sure what to do next. I’m a tad lost at this point. I do know that I am not liking the curtains. I know I will eventually need four panels.
Any thoughts at this point? How can I continue with this room?

Its really starting to come together nicely. Add a tall plant to the left corner and I think a side board next to the fireplace - just be careful of size. Love the print over the fireplace

I like the elephant art. Agree with you on the curtains. I will put together something in a minute with your table and your art. But first, a very simple thing: move your chairs around the table 45° so they face the corners instead of directly facing the walls and windows.

Yes, four curtain panels for sure. I'd say go for texture instead of pattern here, get longer ones, and hang them higher.

can't you move the table back into that space a bit? agree about curtains.

you can spray your ceiling fan a matte black (all of the metal part. just take off the fan blades) and find some replacement glass globes. (or get a new fan,,up to you).

while your at it, remove the brass fireplace screen and paint w/HighHeat matte black spray paint. plenty of tutorials online

love the elephant pic. I still say painting the brick would look better.

Thanks. I was thinking the room was a lost cause, but it sounds like there may be hope. I’m just not seeing it yet. I do plan on doing the fireplace a stained/painted gray. Not sure when I will get to that. I’ll do something with that brass too. Honestly, I’m nervous to do black in the room. I don’t want to darken it. I’ll try the other suggestions as well. If I do a solid color for the curtains, what color? Light gray? White? Should I look into a round rug? I do plan on getting new lighting, but not sure what style. I guess I could go with something like in my inspiration picture.

Your elephant led me in a bit of an ethnic/industrial direction. I started with drop cloth curtains, cheap, no sew, sturdy...

...which led me to this industrial pendant from cb2......and then I found some adorable African candle holders (which are apparently only available wholesale, but I'm sure you can find something just as unique). And your room didn't end up anywhere close to glam like your inspiration, but between the fireplace and that elephant, this looked like a better fit.

Lost cause? No way. I do think trying to do anything glam in here would be an exercise in futility, but if you're willing to go a little rustic or industrial or eclectic, we've got it covered.

P.S. I wouldn't do a rug in here at all. I'm not big on rugs in dining areas unless they really need them. Your room doesn't. Easier to clean without a rug and a rug tends to shrink the room.

instead of the drop cloth curtains, can we do something a little lighter? I like the idea of the high rod,, but maybe something less heavy on the material? between the beam, the brick, stone tile, wood floor,,,,it's all very heavy.

I’m not happy with the color of the table/chairs. I don’t think it working with the room now. I’m thinking about painting it again either gray or a rustic gray. If I do that and the fireplace, the room may start to make sense to me.

Did you remove that cabinet hanging on the wall near the patio doors? That was probably someone's idea of a "hutch" for a china cabinet and the dining area was likely by the patio doors. If you put your dining table there and could open the wall between the living and family room, you'd end up with an "L" living/dining room combination.

Is it a load bearing wall or can you remove part or all of the wall between the living room and family room?

Paint the fireplace before you paint the table and chairs. Then reevaluate.

I found some curtains that I like, finally. Thoughts? I went with a lighter color, but the material is thermal/blackout. That is something I think I need for all my windows right now.

Anyway, I plan on doing a double rod for the shears and curtains and getting two more panels of each. My question is, can this room really benefit from the higher 95” panels? Will it be worth it?

I think longer curtains almost always enhance a room. You be the judge.

yes,,,raise up the rod! I think it looks better w/the higher one. Nice pick though!

I love all the work you have been doing to make your new house a home. Can you move the dining table away from the fireplace? The room is so empty except for those two things, and they are squeezed together, competing for space. That last photo shows us that the table is not centered under the fan/light. Move the table to where it is under the light, please. Or do as someone requested above, and move it closer to the sliding doors. You must at least try it under the light so you will know if you need to move the light fixture when you do find the one you want.

I attempted to whitewash my fireplace, but not happy with the way it turned out. My brick isn’t solid so the red is still very much present. Just not sure it goes with the room. Thoughts?

I don't think it's bad. you could do more of a solid white, or even black if you want.

maybe consider doing a thicker wood mantel?

or paint the one you have, white?

I like it. I think it looks good with your table and chairs.

The fireplace looks good on my monitor, but if you're not happy with it, try another coat of whitewash. You can wash it as many times as you like till you get it where you want it, or till it ends up totally white. I do like the black firescreen. That is a definite improvement.