Redecorating living room and family room

last year

I’m bored of my living room colors, I feel like every is so drab. The walls are York Grey, the curtains are this gold from Pottery Barn. I got the couches on FB marketplace and they were good quality and priced right. I don’t love them though.

I also have a very underused family room with a very good quality couch that I paid full price for that no one sits on.

Here’s what I was thinking:
Underused Family Room: Paint the walls October Mist (it’s the color on my kitchen island). Move the couch and loveseat from the LR to the FR. Place the couch and loveseat on either side of the rug. Get a coffee table for the middle.

Living Room (main room): Move the couch in this room. Put it where the FB marketplace couch currently is. Get these two accent chairs off FB marketplace. Replace the rug and also the coffee table.

Please tell me what you think of this plan. I don’t think the plan does much to make my living room less drab. I also don’t love the accent chairs I found off Marketplace, but they check a lot of boxes and go with the existing underused couch.

I don’t have unlimited funds and tend to hold on to furniture forever. I’m not afraid to paint. I will hire someone to paint the FR. If I paint the LR, I will do it myself. I’d prefer to not paint it b/c it’s a big room and extends to the dining room. Also, my DH and I lived through a 6 mo kitchen diy project last year and I’m leery to do anything else disruptive for a long time.

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Comments (31)

jck910
last year
No TV in either space? Post a close up of the rugs, please. Post them as a comment. Not a new post
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
No TVs in either space. We have a TV in the downstairs playroom and a TV in the master bedroom.
Here are the rugs.
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PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Hi. First thing is always a floor plan. Selecting furniture is next. And don't buy something you don't love just to fill the space.

In order to determine floor plan, could you please answer these questions.

1) What is the purpose of the living room?

2) Do you use the living room?

3) Could you use the living room for a specific purpose? Library, office, etc?

4) What do you use the family room for or what would you like to use it for?

5) What are the items in the family room and do they need to stay? Keyboard?

Please post photos of all 4 walls of both rooms. Thanks.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
The living room is our main room. We sit in it nearly all the time. It’s the first thing you see when you open the front door.

We don’t use the family room much. My girls use it to dance around.

No one plays the keyboard as an instrument, but they like to play with it.

I actually like the armchairs now, more than when I first posted them.

Here are the pics of the FR.
arcy_gw
last year
With no TV why the awful blinds on the high windows? The lower don't seem to have their blinds lowered--even at night so one thing is think about new window treatments. Consider just removing the uppers leave them open w/o a treatment. Put proper panels on the lowers, get some color softness in the room. Your carpet is too small. If the room is mostly unused I would just remove it. Carpets are NEEDED for softness underfoot and sound absorption.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
I want to paint this room (October Mist). I think when I do, I’ll remove the blinds.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Hi. Thanks for that info.

Just a note, which you might realize: you will need to set up both to look nice, if that's what you want. Leaving the keyboard and floor pads in the family room....it will still look disjointed.

Also, wonder why you don't use the family room....might feel cold to you because of how it is not furnished.

But, going with your plan.....I think that is fine and, as far as I know (don;t know your style), the chairs you found and the sofa from the family room are fine.

In order to tell you for sure, need all 4 walls photos of living room, measurements on furniture and floor plan of living room. Thanks!
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
last modified: last year
IMO no one uses the FR because the TV mounted there would need a chiropractor after every sitting. I agree think about the use you have for the space IMO the sofas are huge but do not give great seating area they are all arms .The pics are distorting the spaces so post a to scale floor plan of both ion graph paper here in comments do not start another post.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
I’m at work, so I can’t measure.

We don’t use the FR b/c we just don’t need the space. The previous owners had 6 kids and added it at some point. It’s a pretty room (or could be), but we just don’t need the space.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
I’ll measure when I get home and post pics of the LR walls.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Thanks.

I think the rug that is currently in the family room looks good in there with the fireplace. I would configure the loveseat and sofa in the family in an L shape, as a love seat and sofa across from each other always emphasize that one is shorter than the other.

.....and since you don't watch tv in the family room, you can place the furniture in a cozier venue around the fireplace.

What do you do when you are in the living room. Chat? Play games? Something else?
kandrewspa
last year
If you remove the blinds in the family room, be sure you have either windows that are coated to block UV, or a tint applied because direct sun will bleach everything in the room in short order. I have tinting and still have sheer cellular blinds because the afternoon sun is blinding. If you're used to having blinds on those windows you may surprised by how much light you will get if they're not there anymore. You need motorized shades on the high windows so you can raise and lower the blinds without getting out a ladder.

The rug you have in the family room looks too small for that room. If you don't like the one in the living room anymore, get rid of it and put the one that is currently in the family room in the living room. Draw up a floor plan for both rooms on graph paper so everyone knows exactly what the dimensions are. Show where there are windows or baseboard heating (which prevent furniture being up against the wall). Then people will be able to give you better advice for furniture placement. How wide are the sofas?
PRO
Sabrina Alfin Interiors
last year
I think the October Mist idea is too dark given your very orange-y floors. I'd lighten everything up. Paint the walls Simply White or Chantilly Lace. Then you can use your rugs to guide you in terms of color selections for your furniture and accessories.

I'd also take a look at your recessed lights. They seem to be throwing a very yellow light. Can't tell if they are LED or not, but if they aren't LED, have them retrofitted for LED cans and go with lamping that is anywhere from 3500 to 4000K with a 90+ CRI.

Look how much fresher everything looks in these examples:

Mountain Hill Home-- Family Room · More Info

Minneapolis Charmer · More Info

Hawkins Home · More Info

Note the long sheer drapery panels in the last photo. Simple, casual, but still elegant.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
Thanks! I’ll measure and draw up everything when I get home.

I’m not really interested in fixing up the FR too much with my limited funds.

No one really goes in there.

We use the LR to hang out, play games, etc
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
You don't have to do a lot in the family room. Just make it look decent. Removing the miscellaneous items will be a good start. Add love seat and sofa and maybe a couple of pillows.
Susan Davis
last year
My daughter painted her room October mist but only as an accent wall. It is a fairly dark color....you might want to consider lightening the color, or not. Just a suggestion.
chispa
last year
If you don't use the family room for sitting, then get a pool table (with ping pong top) or turn it into a home gym!
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
My house has 11 rooms (two basement rooms). I have a home gym! We truly don’t need the FR. My girls just dance around in there.

I just got home from work and I decided to move the furniture and then see how it looks. Then I’ll decide to get the FB marketplace chairs.

I’ll send pics!
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
Okay, this was not easy and a messed up a corner of the wall, but I switched the couches.

Here’s the Lv with the “new” couch. Here are the walls too
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
The LV is approx. 21’5” X 12’
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
It hooks around to the DR, which is pretty small, basically just room for a DR table and chairs.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Without knowing exact dimensions, I recommend moving the buffet to the right of the fireplace, the chairs into the dining room and placing the sofa on the opposite end of the room.

Is the living room slightly sunken?

Seems like with such a large house, there might be a better place to hang the coats?
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
I love all of these suggestions! I promise to measure tonight when I get home from work!
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
The LR is not sunken.
Unfortunately no better place for the coats. The front door opens to this.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
You are welcome! I see a large closet there. Can't the coats go there?
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
The closet is pretty well organized with winter coats, boots. Gloves. Etc. My kids struggle to not leave shoes in front of the door, so I think hooks and a bench is the only way to go for now.

I’m home and measured the LR.

The hallway is tile and the LR is hardwood. There’s a transition strip between them. The hall is 6’ wide. The LR is approx 22’x13, I’m not counting the hall in any of my measurements.

I measured the space between the bay window from the beginning of the transition strip. There is 7’ of wall space to the left of the window and 6’ to the right.

The opening for the DR is 9’. The fireplace, next to the opening is 5’ and the wall from the end of the fireplace to the hall is 8’.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
The fireplace and bay window do not line up in real life. We also do not use the fireplace.
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Here is what I would do.
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
I’ll do that tonight. How big a rug?
PRO
CDR Design, LLC
last year
Eacn square is one foot. So, a 9x12 rug. Even though you don't use the fireplace, it makes visual sense to gather the arrangement around a fireplace.

You need a larger coffee table to play games. The one I show is 60 x 20
Meredith K
Original Author
last year
Okay, I’m really happy with the chairs.

My current rug is too small and crazy colors.

Not sure if I should remove the dining room chairs as it’s chairs in front of chairs.

Any other advice is welcome!

Do I need pillows on the arm chairs? What color rug?