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Paint Home Decorating living room

Please help! Coastal Farmhouse Living Room??

5 years ago

Hello!

My husband and I just bought our first house and I'm looking forward to painting and decorating our living room - except I have no idea where to start! I'm looking for a coastal farmhouse themed living room. As you can see below (although please ignore the mess!), the walls are currently a pale yellow and the hardwood floors are a darker gunstock stain (bit of a reddish undertone depending on the light) - the front door is a dark brown. The couch is what is really giving me trouble as depending on the light, the couch can look taupe/slightly olive/or even gray at times. There's also a fireplace I'm looking to either paint, whitewash, etc. I just have no idea where to start and all the paint swatches are making me dizzy! What color should I put on the walls? I'm looking for any suggestions please! This is the first room that guests will walk into. Coastal farmhouse w/ keeping these floors and this couch. Thank you! :)

(^^^not the actual floor but similar to color)

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Comments (3)

beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years ago
What do you think of when you say "coastal farmhouse"? Do you have any inspiration pictures you could post here?

Are there any windows in the living room? If so, what directions do they face?

Also, I'm hoping by "theme" you really mean style : ) . What is the style, or what style do you want, in the rest of the house, especially on the same floor as your living room?

And how handy are you and/or your husband?
Nicole Gia
Original Author
5 years ago

Here's a picture of the other side of the room :). Three windows, facing the front of the house. The house is all one level - the living room opens into the hallway in which you can turn left for the bedrooms or turn right for the kitchen. You're right - I should have said "style." :) We live near the water so I'm hoping for a very serene and casual look - (balanced and in between contemporary and traditional). I love neutrals!

I wouldn't say we're very handy; however, I'm crafty and willing to try DIY projects. Both my dad and my father-in-law are handy though! :) Thank you for asking these additional questions - I would have never thought to include this info.

Here's some coastal farmhouse inspo:
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Anything with lots of nooks and crannies and wide grout lines will be hard to clean, whatever it's coated in. BUT - that depends on how you cook. For my mother, who does lots of things in the oven and is the maven of steam and boil - not an issue. For my husband, who is always pan frying, searing, sauteing, etc... it would require a power sprayer. I won't have beadboard anywhere near a kitchen he cooks in, either. I have nothing against beadboard - I actually like it and it's cottage feel. But I've been around the block with HIM enough to know that I'll never keep the grooves clean. (Tomato sauce that gets slopped down the side of the cabinet... and into the grooves. Been there!) So, when you get opinions, see if they jive with your lifestyle, too. A lot of the kitchens we saw in upper level houses at the local parade of homes last weekend are clearly for show and have no relationship to a working room. Think about the way YOU cook and they way YOU live when you pick both your finishes and your layout. Not just IF you cook, but HOW you cook. The hubs was incensed at one kitchen that had the double wall oven around a corner from the range. Because he likes to sear things on the stove and finish them in the oven. For people who never do such a thing, that might not be a problem. For him - huge safety issue. If you don't like subway tiles, give some thought to arabesque tiles. Or maybe a pretty porcelain? It think the reaction you got has more to do with things not meaning the same thing to different people. Pinterest-based trend words aren't really accurate style descriptors. I find it frustrating, too, from the other side of the coin. When I search for "farmhouse" I don't mean JoAnna Gaines-esque, I mean actual farmhouse. But that's not what I get.
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very nice room. The rug and that chair work, the sofa in the white is meh. (definite no in that gray color). but I think you can do better. I would have gone w/crisper whites and blacks and warmer grays. Maybe that PB rug is nicer in person, but in the photo the color looks really muddy. I like the ones in this pic,,,deep charcoal, whites, grays, touch of light aqua.. and this table For rug, I'd do a coloring like this one, or some of the others in the pics I love your floors and thing you should bring in some wood in your sofa, even if it is on the modern side. Like this: A walnut, style sofa like this, in a navy, charcoal, very light gray,,,would be perfect more blacks/charcoal, crisp whites, some texture, don't know what the plans are for the sides of the fireplace, but here are some ideas
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I like the fireplace as is, and a warm white on the walls would enhance fireplace and all of the wood.. I would go warmer than this. Benjamin Moore’s Ballet White or Swiss Coffee could be possibilities. I like BM’s Natura Line. As far as furniture placement, I think 2 seating areas. One option, instead of sofa, etc. could be a center cocktail table or ottoman with four chairs. Or if you would rather have a sofa arrangement. I would put a small scaled sofa on the wall facing windows. Small scaled sofa would go where black marker is in this view. w/ rug: https://www.roomvo.com/share/o0am4r And sofa could possibly be larger; it is difficult to estimate available space there. so I am saying small scaled to be on the safe side. And if there is to be a tv in the space, I would place it on long, low console in front of windows. Additional seating by fireplace, but I have not yet figured out what would be best there. A chair or two, I think. Perhaps a chaise.
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Kelly, I went through your idea book to get a feel for what inspires you. Pick out one or two of those that you especially like and would like to possibly incorporate into your home. Post them here for us to see. You are never stuck with incorrect furniture. Most decent furniture can be sold for a little loss, but if it’s new and just isn’t working it might surprise you that someone would rather save some money and get gently used furniture. I have to agree that it’s not the right pieces, but they can be worked around if you must keep it. Show us a few pictures of what you’re trying to achieve and I am sure you’ll get some help to guide you.
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beckysharp Reinstate SW Unconditionally
5 years ago
Nicole, what direction do the windows face -- north, south, east, west?

I think your third inspiration picture is lovely and also the easiest to follow. The wall color, white fireplace, and adding crown molding are all fairly easy changes; the paint color in that photo is SW Agreeable Gray. Of course, it depends how much light your living room gets, because that inspiration room looks as if it gets lots of natural light, in part because it has windows on at least two different walls.

What's harder is your sofa. Have you noticed that the sofas in your inspiration pics all have white slipcovers or are a very very light tan/beige? So if you're committed to keeping the couch, you're already losing a major element and there's a good chance the style will be off from the start.

I'm not sure if you know, but that inspiration picture is from this IG,

https://www.instagram.com/bluebarnandcottage/

More on the house here,

http://www.homebunch.com/beautiful-homes-of-instagram-50/

The blog post has lots of details for the living room, from paint colors to sources for the rugs to how they did the fireplace.

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