Living and dining- bold and beautiful
I want to redecorate my outdated living + dining room. Its one large room which serves as a living room and dining room. The room is relatively long but not wide. The living room will fit 3 + 2 sofas or a 3-seat sofa and 2 armchairs. I prefer the second option (I now have 3 + 2). I love a velvet furniture but not sure if I should go for a velvet sofa, armchairs or both. The pictures below are just the examples of things I like. I am not sure if to ho for bright dinner chairs, sofa and armchairs won’t be "too much”. Should I go for some neutral items in like grey for example? The dining room chairs should go well with living room furniture as it’s in the same room.
I just want something brighter as the family room + kitchen decorated in neutral whites and greys and only the pillows and pictures are bright. I wanted my living dining room to be bolder and brighter (if I am brave enough).
Thanks so much for the advice!
Comments (32)
ilikefriday
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Dining (table) between kitchen & living or separate dining area?
Comments (14)Wow! Lots of questions! Haha! Let's see. We live in New Orleans and are a very casual, fun, energetic family. DH and I are in our mid 30's and have a 9 year old and a 6 year old. Both kids are active outside of school. TV is a big part of our lives because of sports, movies, kids, etc. But Mike's Den is where lots of the sports programming will take place. :) We are planning to offset the TV and put it to the side of the fireplace for two reasons....1) Now that the kitchen is further over, if someone is in there, it will be more centered to the room as a whole and 2) it can be a bit lower and more at eye-level if it's not above the fireplace. We can make the built-ins accommodate the TV at a level more comfortable for viewing. There will also be a playroom/media room upstairs for the kids. So the Living Room TV will be the group/family TV I suppose. We take turns cooking but both work. So we aren't gourmet cooks but we enjoy cooking meals. We enjoy conversations from the kitchen, thus wanting the open plan. I'd say that because of kids' evening activities, we probably cook 3-4 days a week maybe? Other nights we grill or get take out, pick something up or go out to eat on the way home. The porch. The house (again, in New Orleans...flooding) must be elevated a bit). This porch is elevated with the house. I know we will also have lower space for a table and chairs and the grill, that we haven't laid out yet. We actually did talk about widening the porch. How wide would you suggest? My dad suggested 1-3 feet wider. What do you think? The front door...you see the stairs to the right of the kitchen? And the open pass-through there under the stairs in the drawing? If you go through that pass through...actually straight from the back door, you'd pass the turned stairs above you and a guest room above, master below (in the drawing) and the front door is that way. It's a narrow, New Orleans lot...50x122, which has made things interesting to lay out! :) Thanks again guys! Your feedback is great! Oh, and again, the furniture placement and the kitchen appliances, etc. is just there in the drawings as a guide. It's not fixed or anything. It's just a visual thing for reference....See Morepainting living and dining room in very small bungalow
Comments (11)I totally agree with RL Relocation. A light color (doesn't have to be white or off white) will highlight the great woodwork and floors, which are a signature feature of your bungalow. There are lots of blues and greens out there that would work - and you don't have to limit yourself to those two - if you happen to love lavender for example. You have already looked at a blue similar (but darker) to the blue in the lampshade - so that is a starting point. Also the green on that throw pillow. I suggest this a lot, but if it were my house I would also be looking for a nice complimentary color to put on the ceilings. Ceiling white is so boring and often really doesn't look good with the rest of the room. For example - my kitchen walls are a pale green-blue, with whitish trim, and on the ceiling I used Valspar Transparent (which doesn't look IRL anything like the color shown online, unless they have changed it since 2013). In the can it looks pale blue, but in my north facing room kitchen it is a soft warm greenish off white. There are lots of examples of rooms with colored ceilings on line-- take a look....See MoreLiving and Dining Room both Van Deusen Blue??
Comments (5)I understand where you're coming from because I have a similar issue although my living and dining rooms are next to each other, not across the foyer from each other. One has a large south facing window and the other has only a north facing window. I haven't decided what to do yet, I just got paint samples today. That is a very dark blue that you have chosen, so I guess if I were you I would paint the bright room first and see if you really like the color before doing the other room. I hope it turns out the way you're hoping and not cavelike. Please update this post after painting to let us know how it turns out. I would be really interested to see new pictures....See MoreHow to set up living/dining with angled wall and narrowed dining?
Comments (15)Here is my advice. I hope the dining table you purchased has a leaf that can be removed or added when necessary It's important to get the table confined to the space assigned as dining. Everyone has events that require a table to expand into another space to accommodate a large crowd. Putting the table on an angle looks ridiculous. Your space is basically rectangular except for the one angled feature wall. I would not place two small chairs against such an important wall. I see you have highlighted the wall with wallpaper and that's a good start. Now select a sideboard with either art or a mirror placed above to really draw attention to the wall. There's hardly enough space to begin with, and placing the sofas on angles just reduces the available space by about 20% or so. With the arrangement below your dining table can expand into the living room area when necessary. Get an area rug to anchor the seating area....See More
freedomplace1
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI like your ideas. Love that light blue sofa.
Here’s an inspiration pic
freedomplace1
3 years ago
Cheryl Hannebauer
3 years ago
njmomma
3 years ago
PRODesign Interior South
3 years agoIf you want bold saturated color then go for it! I would keep your large pieces neutral (sofa, dining table, coffee table and let it rip with your accent pieces and art. Think about doing the back wall of the dining room or the ceiling in a great wallpaper.
Victoria Brodsky
3 years ago
PROFlo Mangan
3 years ago- PRO
Design Interior South
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoVictoria, you can do wood.
or black
The one I proposed was a marble top
here is white
- PRO
Design Interior South
3 years agoIf you don't want to use white upholstery you could easily switch it out for a neutral color like a dove gray.
- PRO
Flo Mangan
3 years ago btydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agoVictoria Brodsky
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThank you for great ideas! a few questions:
1) Dining table - wood does look more heavy and traditional. dining table- better to go with white or glass? I feel that with my dark floor glass table will look better.
2) I would like either chairs or sofa to be velvet blue. My concern that if I go with blue chairs, pink armchairs and white/light grey sofa- won’t it be too many colors?
3) if I go for pink armchairs, should my sofa be in velvet blue or light grey ( not velvet)?
thank you!
btydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agoVictoria Brodsky
3 years agoGcubed
3 years ago- PRO
Flo Mangan
3 years ago Victoria Brodsky
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agofreedomplace1
3 years agofreedomplace1
3 years ago
Colleen Kirk
3 years agoGcubed
3 years ago
Flo Mangan