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Remodeling Design Dilemma living room

Help me with my formal living room please

2 years ago

We are moving into a new home that we are currently renovating. It has a large formal family room when you first enter the home. With two young boys, I’m not sure how much this will be used. We do love to entertain, have friends over for cookouts and game nights and to watch sporting events. I also don’t have a formal office space in this house which would be helpful, but it seems odd to put it right here in this beautiful open area. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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Comments (8)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I am confused as to what this space is . IMO not many formal family rooms around. Where is this in the house layout. Usually family rooms are the most used space in a home so I need more context. I need a floor paln showianf all the main floor What are you renovating ? We nned info and lots of it.
Kayci Prince
Original Author
2 years ago
This is the formal living room when you first walk into the house. It’s to the right of the door and the main staircase. I do not have a floor plan to share. I can share more photos. We are repainting the entire house, walls, trim, built-ins, extending the hardwoods through the entire first floor and having the current hardwoods scraped and refinished. We are renovating the kitchen and bathrooms.
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Comments (15)
-I would get rid of the tv, stand, and the other kids stuff. -Rearrange your furniture so it is more inviting. I think at least one peice of seating needs to be at angle in the room. I'm not sure how this would look, but you might even pull the the couch over to the side so it is under the stairs. The chair might look better if it were angled into the corner where you are walking into the dining room. I think furniture looks better in groups of three. Do you have another chair or loveseat, you could put in the room? A small table by the chair might look nice. I'd move stuff around in the room until it looks right. It might not be the most comfortable for living, but sometimes you have to do what you need to do to get it sold.-I think you need more height in the room to add interest. -I would put the dried twig arrangement on a plant stand and maybe adding s few pieces with color into the arrangement. -I like your fern, but I think it needs to be moved so it is in the line of sight where you first glance into the room. I might add a couple of other nice size plants with a little bit of height into the room too. -I don't think your picture has enough presence on the wall. You need something bigger and with color. -I think you need some colorful accents like pillows. -I like your curtains. I think they add appeal to the room.
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I need help with my formal living room. Please....
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Comments (12)
Congratulations on your new house! It looks lovely and we're all going to have such fun watching you decorate it. I'm with the others here... I'd get a big rug and put the front feet of your sofa and stuffed chairs on it, pulling them out away from walls. This will give you a nice conversational space in front of the fireplace. I also think your current rug is way too light for your furniture. Maybe it can go in your kitchen or a bedroom? I don't know your budget, but I got my huge rug for $50 through Craigslist, by watching it like a hawk and replying to the ad about 10 minutes after it was posted (he got tons of responses at that price but luckily mine was first). The rug turned out to be perfect and in brand new shape except it just needed a shampooing, which I gave it the minute I got home. I think if you have animals or a young family you might not want to put too much $$ into a rug you have to worry over constantly. That's how I feel about it, anyway. But if you've got lots of dough to burn I'm sure you'll be able to find something that makes your heart swoon. When it comes to accessorizing that big space with the tall ceilings, I'd look at inspiration pictures. The Living Rooms thread in our Gallery contains several hundred beautiful pictures. I like to browse it with a specific question on my mind, such as "what should I put on my coffee table?" or "what's a good way to arrange pictures on the wall?" I will get good ideas and know just what to do in 5-10 minutes of browsing the pictures for ideas. We've got threads for just about any kind of room in the Gallery. Close this thread and click on the Gallery links... one is top-ish right, and one is at the bottom. If you see pictures you love, you can save copies to your computer.
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Comments (7)
I agree with Cawaps. Your choices are lovely and would look good, but I wouldn't call it a "farmhouse" style at all. Most of the farmhouses I have been to, (I live in a rural area) have huge old overstuffed furniture, emphasis "colonial." Comfy but hardly chic. But that is purely semantics, I love your choices so go for it. However, I too have a tiny living room and I don't have a center coffee table, and do not miss it. One of my chairs has an ottoman which I could put a tray on, but never do. I keep my books in a basket next to the chair and my magazines in a basketweave tray with sides under the couch. I have some collapseable TV trays I could set up if I ever wanted to serve any food in there, but since my living room is next to the dining room, that's not likely. I have side tables for the inevitable cup of tea or wine. Get a gorgeous rug to "tie the room together" and use the side tables and get some kind of ottoman for the chair. You can get ones that open up for storage too, they are great!
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Comments (23)
That table could work.I like it better with the blue Oushak than the red Heriz, though. You're asking for a casual look in a room with fairly ornate furniture, a crystal chandelier, a great big fireplace with a Moroccan mirror, traditional lamps and bookcases down the hall. I'm not sure it's possible without starting over. Besides, I don't find traditional tribal rugs particularly formal.
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kandrewspa
2 years ago
Does this house have a living room and family room, or one "Great Room" - the room pictured? Do you have a spare bedroom or room in the basement for a home office? I'm not sure whether a home office that doesn't have a door would be very useful unless you just need room to pay bills occasionally and maybe store a little bit of paper.
Kayci Prince
Original Author
2 years ago
Yes we also have a family room in addition to the rooms shown here. I could use the game room or guest room upstairs for an office as well.
kandrewspa
2 years ago
It sounds like for the type of entertaining you do you will probably end up in the family room. Especially when you have young children who still need some supervision. This room may not be useful for you until the kids are older. At some point they will not want to be in the same room with the adults, and the adults may want to be able to sit somewhere quieter to have a conversation. If it doesn't bother you to leave it empty you could leave it empty for a while. Or furnish it with minimal basics for a "show" room. Focus on spending your money on the rooms you're going to use the most. If you're doing the whole house it seems like you could really benefit from engaging a designer.
Katy M
2 years ago
This is the place for a huge round table with gorgeous floral display to welcome you. Also, if you had a baby grand piano, plunk it here
PRO
Margery Wedderburn Interiors
last year
It looks like a lovely, large space. What do you need other than an office? Do you have an other area which might be able to be an office? Here are some of our living room designs below. Perhaps looking at them will help you decide what you want your living room area to look like.
Contemporary Home: Living Room · More Info

French Modern Style · More Info
ffpalms
last year
last modified: last year
I can picture this look in front of the windows. It can double as an office space when needed, with supplies stored in the cabinets aside the fireplace. There appears to be an electrical outlet on the floor, which would be a wonderful spot for reading chairs.

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