Not going to happen with those asofas as they are . Sometimes it is best to wait and just say no thnaks to hand me downs.By the time you try to make these work you could have saved the money and time and got what you love.

Agree, not with those sofas. I would either say no to the free items, or just start buying the end/coffee tables you want and be prepared to replace the sofas in the not too distant future. Sell the inherited pieces (alone or together) and use that money towards the new sofa.

The problem with 'gifts' from in laws is that once you take them, how do you ever get rid of them without hurting someone's feelings. Honestly, I'd get IKEA off Craigslist before I put myself in that bind.

i'd cover them with sheets the color you want your new couches to be, go on from there. when you can afford the right couches, these couches get returned to the inlaws with a bouquet of flowers and a sincere thank you for the loan.

You already know what I'm going to say. There's no way to disguise what they are. Save your money. Buy what you want. Thank your in-laws profusely and offer to return them.

I mean, I'm not expecting perfection here, just an improvement over the current situation. I don't necessarily mind the couches so much as the whole "set" (the coffee table is a rectangular monstrosity in dark wood with heavy drawers, the side tables are the same, and it all came with a lovely set of tarnished brass lamps...) , I was just hoping for some suggestions on how to use just the couches in a more "transitional" setting, and if there was any way of "lightening" them up. I was hoping that the collective creativity on here would see something I may have been overlooking; I guess not?

Thanks anyway guys (and also thank you for the laughs... :))!

Edited to add: I don't foresee being able to change these out in the next 2-3 years, so was REALLY hoping to figure something out to make them a little less of an eye sore!

I guess you could try painting them, the wood and the fabric. I've never personally tried it but I have seen it on blogs and I believe a couple people here on Houzz have tried it.

I think you can add fabric medium to regular latex paint, or you may look into fabric paint.

they aren't a style you could use slipcovers with really and I don't see many other options that aren't costly (ie: recovering).

Then don't use (or bring home) her tables or lamps. You've posted tables you want to purchase, so start with those. 2-3 years will fly by.

Yours is a true dilemma! I’m just not sure if it’s completely design based. Are you unable to say “no, thank you” to your in-laws or are you just not willing to live with an unfurnished room for a while? Take the money you would have spent on coffee/end tables, lamps, cushions, etc and...wait...for a sale, IKEA, something other than an “inheritance“ of furniture you dont really like or want. Polish up your diplomatic skills!

Maybe you could try a flat weave rug such as a Dhurrie and pillows in a more contemporary pattern. The tables you show are just too much of a contrast. What color scheme did you have in mind with the wall color? Are the couches a caramel color? It's hard to tell from the picture.

Is there another child/cousin/relative of some sort who is in dire need of furnishings? Every room doesn't need to be filled immediately.

I'm generally in agreement with the save the effort crowd above,, but if you really have to live with them for a bit, a couple of suggestions. First, break up the set. Use the couch, put the loveseat elsewhere. Same with the end tables. If you use them at all, use 1 not the whole set. Shop for used furniture that makes for a more eclectic mix for the time being. Consider painting the wood and getting really colorful pillows, rugs, etc., to break up the brown.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/living-room-phvw-vp~133971324

i understand why you need to work with the sofas, try something like this.

modern art, colors, take the focus off the sofa

the entire picture didn't come through, all items in the picture can be bought on houzz.

Creative slipcovers.

Once I had a large dining table I didn't like the finish of and I wrapped the table in black faux leather and used leather strips on the legs to add an artistic element.

See the boots below with lacings added. That's how the table looked.

Or maybe you could create a deconstructed slipcover like you see below from muslin, drop cloths or old doilies. You could mix that with your new tables.

If you are sure you want to take them then I suggest you aim towards what some call Hollywood Regency style. That way you could begin to gather pieces that fit into your future scheme.

I just hope your MIL is not going to try to decorate your home for you.

Doing any kind of slipcover or similar is going to cost MORE money than just buying cheap new couches. And yes, cheap new couches are not ideal. But i would assume those cheap new couches will be as good or better quality than *used*, hand me down, queen ann style couches -- which in my experience, are almost always super low end or 40 years old. Because no expensive furniture manufacturers make queen ann sofas anymore. They are solely the providence of cheap stores like Rooms To Go and Macys where people think if they buy something similar to what a queen used to use 250 years ago, that it will make their house look fancier. Point is, you can buy two cheap new couches for $1000 total. Or spend more than than that and be stuck with two couches that you don't like that probably aren't good quality.

PS I expect you will respond that "no no, these are actually really good quality sofas. My in-laws saw they spent a lot of money on them." In my experience, 60-year old in-laws who bought queen ann style couches 20+ years ago have very little relative concept of what "a lot of money" is for a couch, and almost always over estimate the quality/fanciness of their purchases.

I hope Irena comes back because this is the kind of challenge that a few of us can really get behind!

Save your money and when the time comes donate Queen Ann and get what you really want. You're wasting time and money to try to "fix" these pieces.

And don't forget in-laws didn't want it either. That's how you ended up with it.

Majestic Mauve ?

I would get solid no pattern throw pillows and drapes.

I will bite, although as a non-professional many may disagree. If you do not mind the style but want to mix it up, look for tables that are distinctly different. Think something like an ottoman instead of a coffee table, a drum table or an acrylic coffee table. A leggy modern table will clash with a leggy traditional couch. Then add some color in the way of pillows and accents that will contrast the brown. An area rug is another place to bring in pattern or color.

susanbbw's Ideas · More Info

Mixing Modern and Traditional Furniture Styles in Every Room · More Info

Transitional Living Room · More Info

Use a light coloured rug and a glass coffee table.

Add pillows in a transitional print that incorporates an accent colour, then add that accent colour in other areas of the room.

Arrange the furniture in a less-formal layout.

Then ignore the sofa and loveseat for 2-3 years. They will pass very quickly.

Here is

5 Resurrected Old-World Interior Design Trends

by designer Emily Henderson.

I hope this could help.

I love how old world sofa looks now. To achieve this look you need slipcover.

Here is color trends that work with your walls. Bring it in accents.

Photo © Sherwin-Williams

Eclectic. The sofa is white though.

Thanks guys. To give this a little bit more context, my in-laws bought a new house at the same time as we bought our new house and due to various shenanigans, they had to store their stuff in our house for a week. After their house became available, they moved all the furniture they thought they wanted and left whatever they didn't because "You have 3300sqft to furnish" (#firstworldproblems). I have absolutely no qualms about getting rid of any of this stuff, but it is nice to have the extra furniture, especially when we host (which is fairly often). I was just a little bummed about this being literally one of the first rooms you see when you walk into the house and it being so far from my aesthetic and was hoping for a "quick fix" to have it looking a little better by Christmas (once again, hosting! :)).

Anyway, I am going to start with putting some artwork on the walls, getting a neutral rug in there (currently trying to convince my better half that area rugs are good, even if they do cover up our very nice, freshly re-done hardwood floors...), and getting new table lamps (seriously, I cannot overstate how truly awful those 30+ year old tarnished brass lamps are...); will try to take it from there. :) Will post pictures as they become available!

PS. Yes, BM Majestic Mauve... I know that it's an "unusual" choice but that color works really well in almost all of the rooms of our first floor and because of the lighting in the house, it most often looks like grey or taupe with purple undertones and not like the picture above...

Also, to H2O2's point, the "set" was not inexpensive, but I wouldn't call it "expensive" or quality made" - I'm pretty sure my in-laws seriously overpaid (I was around when they bought them and told my husband (boyfriend at the time) as much,..!).

The rugs don't cover the hardwood floors, they protect your investment. Or that's what you tell hubby.

First,I'd figure out how many and which of those pillow have to be on the couches for comfort. Then I'd go to etsy and find inexpensive covers for them. https://www.etsy.com/shop/motion52?ref=l2-shopheader-name&section_id=20385208 Something fresh & informal. I'd have to see a pic of the couches in the room to be more specific. Neutral and natural fiber rug. Add a Christmas tree and some rumballs and it will all be fabulous!

Suggest you go with an eclectic look. Get covers fir the pillows, bring in animal prints and bright colors. Your table choices will look fine.

Since you are replacing these in 2-3 years, a gorgeous rug you love and new table lamps you love will be money well spent. A couple pillow covers may also be worth the money at $40 each. Don't bother with slipcovers.

Try a British Colonial look with rich accent colors such as this one:

British Colonial in Pasadena · More Info

It's hard to see the furniture in your original pictures, but it looks like the seat is one fabric and the back another. And what fabric are the pillows? I'd like to see close ups of the fabric.

If these are truly your to do with as you please, maybe you could go a bit eclectic and change up the pillows to something fresh and new. I keep thinking about this website which uses mixtures of fabrics to great effect. For example, keep the seat fabric as it is, paint the back fabric black, and recover the pillows with animal print. fabric chair paint

www.wildchairy.com

Do not attempt to decorate around them. Do not buy anything to try and make them look better. Basically, ignore them. If you have room in another, lesser-used room move them there. Or sell/give them away and buy inexpensive pieces, maybe on CL, that can be temporary but more comfortable. (I always think those things worked best in Jane Austen's day when everyone wore corsets so tight they couldn't possibly sit anyway but straight up.)

When you do spend money, choose the items you LOVE and that you want to have permanently. Just make do with that temporary sitting and build your other items that meet your dreams. But under no circumstances cater to those things.

When you retell the story of how they came to be yours, it seems that you had more of an option to reject them than you originally related.

I suggest that you exercise that option.

I had one such sofa for many years that was bequeathed to me via my parents who got it from some antique dealer. It was a real old one with horsehair in the cushions. I even paid to have it reupholstered. I always hated it and finally got rid of it.

I tell my kids to just tell me when they don't want something.

Actually, I am extremely mindful of passing anything down to them. They have their own stuff. If they want it, they can have it when I am gone.

I'll bet that even Queen Ann, herself, would not like these overly ornate and supremely uncomfortable seats. I'll bet that even she would get rid of it and have what she wanted. LOL!!

Have the inlaws gone on to a more modern style while leaving their old one for you? That might make some sense if you are just starting off in life, but you seem to indicate that you are not still standing on the starting line.

You are not going to get where you want to go via their aesthetics. And, as others have advised, don't build it in.

Here is an easy suggestion. Over the backs of the seating, place a throw or blanket in a pattern that you like. Just throw it over the back. It should go with the seat color. Try to get something with a bit of a brushed, furry finish, a cut velour or velvet. Very comfortable feeling fabric which is always nice. As I suggested earlier, an animal print (cheetah was a good idea too in a earlier post).

If you want to keep the pillows, line them up under the throw, along the lower back, tightly packed.