Cat condo where your tree is.

a sisal rug, black edge (they wear like iron) - looks to be 8x11 would work. long bench as coffee table, wood legs, large tray on top to be useful, bench fabric preferably a print with your 2 dominate colors & 1 accent. the most opportune TV view are the 2 chairs- moving the couches into an 'L' shape and option? slider door drapes- a print in grey, blue to soften the room, black iron rod hung above the slider trim height, 90" drapes. your art works, but something on the mantle to balance the big black box, dark in color- iron candle sticks (3), perhaps a color glass vase opposite. large woven basket on the hearth with white birch logs. color wise, think in terms of 3. 2 complimentary + 1 accent. an accent is treated like salt to be sprinkled through out. use your orange chairs in the dining area as an accent starting point. good luck!

Thanks, kay kin! I like sisal rugs but unfortunately our cat does too lol. I'll look for a black bordered rug that she won't be as tempted to sink her claws into. Hadn't thought of using a black finish, I like the idea of carrying it through the rug and accessories. Initially the sofas were in an 'L' configuration with the chairs parallel to the slider. It looked good but the chairs ended up being moved around all the time for better tv viewing, which drove me crazy!! The current layout is comfortable and the furniture stays in place :-) The big black box, ugh, I think the same thing every time I look at that wall. Do you think we should paint the brick wall a darker color? Or at least paint it grey like the rest of the room? We didn't have a plan when painting... the bricks were dark brown and I knew I wanted to brighten the room so we just went with white. I'll start looking at rugs and drapes and mantel accessories. Should new lighting also have a black finish to coordinate with the curtain rod and candlesticks? Thanks!

I like the white brick, nice and bright with your darker furniture, How about some colorful pillows and a throw for the couches?

Wow wiseguys, I love it! The room looks alive and so much more interesting!! Thank you for providing the visual. Seeing it pulled together makes me less wary of all the color. I had been thinking of going with neutrals but I really like this, because it pulls in the color of the chairs (which really had me stuck), and I can see how the geometric pattern of the fireplace grate pulls the eye away from the tv. Quick question: my fireplace has glass doors and w/ meshed metal doors on the inside, so I'm guessing the proposed grate would be just decorative, right? I do really like its sharp clean lines... would there be another way of introducing that element if the grate is really unnecessary? By the way, I also like the tree in the front of the room! I just moved it and it's now noticeable from the kitchen, which softens the room, adds color and makes me happy to see it! It is kind of blocking the media table, but I guess that's okay, maybe I can find a more narrow/vertical media cabinet.

The artwork is gorgeous, love the size. It's a bit modern for our taste, and while the fuschia(?) looks great w/ the blue and gray, I was thinking of maybe a yellow or orange for an accent color. Do you think that would look good as well? I'll look around on art.com for some ideas and post them here. Thanks again for your help!!

CD, thanks for your feedback! I too like the white brick but was just ready to throw in the towel in defeat ;-)

Saratoga, I've been looking at cat condos/trees and am going to order one this weekend (will post ideas). The cat will get that back wall where the tree was located. Not sure if something else should go in that corner?

kay kin, you mentioned to think in three's, would grey and blue be the main colors and yellow/orange the accent? I like the idea of adding black to the mix (had been thinking of using satin nickel because it's grey) but now I can see even more so how it would work.

Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts. I'm actually feeling excited about this room now. Thank goodness there are so many creative ppl on this forum who are able to visualize things in ways I never could!! :-)

Just a thought, does your cat have a scratching post? Also, if you trim the front claws regularly (helps to have one person holding kitty and the other trimming with nail clippers) that will help a lot since the blunt claws can't hook into material very well. Instead of the fuchsia I would choose yellow in the painting and in pillows because you need some warm counterpoints to all your cool colors. Find a carpet that has yellows and grays in it. With all your solid colors you need some items with patterns and a rug would pull it all together. Maybe yellow candles if you decide to have some near the TV. Instead of blue curtains I would suggest a light color which will make the room look larger and keep you from drowning in blue, perhaps white to tie in the fireplace wall, although off-white might be less harsh and give a more layered and warmer look. Your lamps really should be the same height and these are also not large enough for a living room, although the floor lamp in the picture above looks great. Do make sure that the lamp shades are the same.

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Thanks, Ingrid! Yes, she has several sisal scratching posts that she uses regularly and are shredded to bits. We don't trim her claws... we'll try that next, and I guess we'll just have to endure it together :-)) I like the idea of introducing yellow and spent a ton of time trying to find a grey/yellow/blue rug that would work. Some greys were too warm or the blues never seemed the right shade:

It could just be my computer screen but I'm not a fan of those colors in the room.

You can't have a loveseat across from the sofa because of the different lengths, so place the loveseat 90 degrees to the sofa and the two chairs across from the sofa.

My daughter has the very same arranged family room kitchen eating area etc...do you live in Hillsboro, OR. lol......she also has BeverlyFLADsziner's floor plan and they put their wide TV on the wall between the two chairs and it works beautifully....the w pieces of art work is now over the Fireplace and the sofa...and I love the fuschia color that was shown and suggested by 2wiseguys4u. Everyone is doing orange or yellow, too ubiquitous, do the fuschia, it will lift your spirits and you will be seen as daring and bold in your design choices....just my opinion.....or......I think the room would be beautiful in all shades of blue and white;

Would no do white chairs but rather a deeper blue for dirt control.

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Regarding kitty - claw trimming is much easier if you sneak up on them while they are sleepy. Fortunately, they are good nappers so this is not difficult!

DD has 3 cats and has had cats since they moved into their house 19 years ago. They have seagrass rugs in their LR and DR and the cats could't care less and can't hurt them. They still look very good 19 yrs and now 2 teenage boys (and the cats!) all these years later!

i do not like the idea of matching your artwork to your furnishings. that implies that your artwork has little value. the artwork is what should be important, like wearing your emerald with pink. it is your jewelry, the colors do not have to go.

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I really like the first yellow and gray rug a lot. It doesn't have to have blue in it. That soft yellow will also go well with the cream curtains. You can have gray or yellow pillows on the blue chairs or a pattern that includes both, or even including blue if you can find that. It's true that paintings don't have to "match" the furniture, but if you can find something you love that has one of the colors that you see in the furniture that won't hurt anything. The most important thing is to find art that you really love, and I would suggest getting several pieces for this room to give it a warm and personal look. Art, and books too, give a very warm and personal look to a room. So do plants, but I notice you have your shoved in a corner where I'm afraid it may not get enough light.

So wondering all these years when I buy art work i try to work the room around it so that is coordinates...does that devalue my art or my design choices? And how can you tell? Not that I even have art work; I collect prints from our vacations and frame them and put them in our home for our art.....but prints are pretty easy to come by.....art is way beyond my budget.

I like the color combo in the OP's second photo (gray sofas, blue chairs, red metal chairs). I'd like to see another photo with blue chairs rendered the actual aqua color, so rugs can be tried against the true colors.

Would either of these work? I prefer the first one because it blends with the wood flooring. The second one has more of a modern feel.

I agree with Beverly that sofa wall calls for larger artwork. Your existing could easily be hung vertically on either the wall near the tree, or on the short kitchen wall. Not sure I have the scale correct, but I do think the vertical orientation would look great.

Happy Monday! Thank you SO MUCH for all the thoughtful comments and pics!! We ordered a cat condo; it will be placed on the wall where the money tree was located. The tree has already been moved to the left of the fireplace. It does well in our family room as it likes indirect sun. Also, we trimmed our cat's claws and she didn't mind it a bit! I was more nervous than she was haha!! Thank you, ingrid and shari, for that recommendation. The right words at the right time can make all the difference :-) Anglo, I do like seagrass rugs and maybe now we can consider looped rugs after all.

Beverly - your suggested layout would def be my preference, and we did try to make it work. But the z-chairs - which we really like and I couldn't find any swivel chairs that I liked as much - kept getting moved around for better tv viewing. And since the tv over the fireplace was most functional for us, we had to find a furniture arrangement to accommodate it. The interrelationship of all these factors has me spinning in circles! As I find items that are appropriately sized, I would greatly appreciate your assistance in making them all work together.

Susan and havingfun - I love love love the rugs and bird/owl/gingko pillows you've posted and am hoping we can create a layered cohesive look.

Initially I started this process by looking for a rug, but now I'm thinking I'll look for the artwork and design around that. l agree with everyone who posted about finding art that resonates. The three prints currently hanging are special to me - they depict Inferno, Purgatory & Paradise as imagined by Salvador Dali in his watercolor series of Dante's Inferno. We saw the collection on our honeymoon, and my husband gave me the first print (Inferno hehe) on our first wedding anniversary. We've going to move these prints to the master bedroom. If you have any suggestions for reasonably priced interesting artwork sites, please share! Thank you!

mjlb - I'm going to try to get a better pic of the chairs' true color. Also, fyi that the hardwood floors are going to be refinished with a medium brown stain. Thank you for all your suggestions.

Thanks, everyone, for all your great feedback. I so appreciate it!! I tend to tackle home projects in a piecemeal fashion, then get stuck because I don't really know what I'm working towards. Thanks again! :-)

Look at Etsy for lots of original prints that can be downloaded and printed to whatever size you want. Then they can be framed and matted to your liking.

susan, your art is fine. What i try to state is that art work should be something you love. if you just buy to go with furniture, then buy the cheapest, because prints often cost over $400 and are nothing but glorified poster. there are many artists that have originals for under $400. many buy these prints from big box design stores. if you buy from etsy or saatchiart and you like but can not afford, pay for the online print save your email - use that as proof it is an artist print, then pay to print in size and way you like.

none of these apply to things you collect through your life or travels.

We really think the suggestion of putting the chairs across from the sofa will help the layout a lot. Also a rug with some blue in it will be really nice to see.

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