About the curtains vs. the heater - setting aside fire concerns, wouldn't floor length drapes block the heat from circulating properly?

The green chair looks great where you placed it. To link it to art and sofa, here's a palette for sofa pillows. These are from West Elm. It's nicet to have a painterly/watercolor effect with pillows placed below a bold art work.

Oh, I really like those pillows! I'll take a look on the website. Thanks!

Here is a view from my living room (where my sofa is) showing the dining room (and round pedestal table) on the other side of the fireplace. The table & chairs aren't as far away from the fireplace as they look here. They're about 6.5' away. (I am not currently looking for advice on the dining room as that is a work in progress as well. :) I'm just showing what the view of both sides of the fireplace looks like from the living room.)

I liked the idea of 4 chairs around a cocktail table but I can see why you wouldn't want a 'dining' table and chairs on both sides of the fireplace. Perhaps either two chairs separated by an end table (as suggested by housegal200), or a single really substantial reading chair like a chaise (a reading nook where the green chair used to be)?

I like that idea too. You guys have given me lots of great options. Thanks! I think I will first start with a rug and go from there. I hope I can find a suitable one in the right size and colors!

Id go to a good broadloom store. Find a deep charcoal sisal or wool you can cutomize size and bind,

Think deeper and moodier if the sofa stays. Texture versus color.

You dont want color overload that drowns the art.

in fact? Decide the final place for that:)

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I live in a small place and nothing like that exists here. I think there's one decent rug store on the island. ;) So I will have to purchase online like I usually do with my rugs.

Here's the thing with intense color........it CAN become overload.

Watch: Note the sofa. ....it's neutral : ) the rug has the tones of the picture

Same idea here below

Here Below ........it comes off as a bit much. Too many stars in the show : )

That's especially true with all the pink red tones as they always a.d.v.a.n.c.e

Thanks again for all the tips, Jan!

Funny you should include a pic of a light colored sofa... my last sofa was very similar to that color. It was a very light grey that almost looked white.

I wanted the art to be a statement piece which is why I had it custom made at an "oversized" size. But I will consider moving it.

I do plan to paint the fireplace trim in white. (You can probably see a little can of paint on top of it in the pics.) :)

So, if I decide to go with your ideas, I guess the best place to start would be with the sofa?

Nice job, Jan.

Or maybe start with the new art... then pick a neutral color from the art for the sofa. (Which should only take a couple of years, based on my previous art purchases! ;) )

@ Melissani

Yes, I'd start with a new sofa. Palest of pale silvery gray or a soft white. Any art will work with it, any RUG will work with it.

I mentioned "divide and conquer" earlier. That's how designers look at any room any size, anywhere. Before you can make anything wonderful, you have to first identify the thing/s that are preventing it from being wonderful. In your case? The BIG things are

Too much of a good thing in the couch and art pairing. Oversize is relative : ) You don't have soaring ceilings. the couch is only 84 inches! The couch color "cheapens" the art in color overload.

The rug, while certainly not offensive, is too small, and as everyone has said.....wimps out on the floor beneath the wall dominating art! Color.........what should that rug be?That blue is in the big art. It's well priced. It needn't BE a star in your space, you already have a star. Color is personal, it is even cultural. But it is NO lie that some will read more luxurious than others, and some are difficult to compete with. .......or they just turn up too often in discount stores and outdoor pillows: ) You use those in very tiny doses. Good example? Teal....turquoise.Hot pink. A little goes a looooong way.

Back to the pecking order. A good test? Move the art now, it's a couple nail holes. I'd have NO fear on that rug link above. Stand back, and see how the "balance" in there seems to improve. You MAY even be able to use the rug you have now, at the other end of the room/rotated!

Remember, Rome was not built in a single day. Most folks can not see and articulate the reason when a room feels "off" . I gave you some reasons...and a direction, without reaching for a hammer . Don't forget light, simple curtains. No pattern necessary no "color".

I'll add? Abstract art is sometimes "opportunity". A 45 degree turn on the wall in hanging direction, if you move it? Nobody, but you will know.: ) Now ......THAT'S A BACKDROP!! and probably equal to the bookcase in size.

Thank you!

Yes, I was thinking that changing the art to a vertical position on the other end of the room may be an option.

May I ask why you are suggesting a very light colored sofa? Is it because the art has deeper colors and the blue rug you suggested does as well? My last sofa was a very light "silver". I could never keep it clean and couldn't wait to get rid of it. ;)

I suggested it because.............it frees you for art and "color" in other places. It's a forever/timeless color that will take any pillows/rug you want.

I can say I've had a white sofa for thirty years with no issue, and I admittedly have no kids.But it has survived red wind spills, pizza in front of the tv.and a lot of Sunday afternoon naps.

If I'm alone to sprawl/dine ? I toss a quilt down. I've never, ever used arm covers.

The way you keep any sofa looking good, in any color, any fabric is regular weekly vacuuming to remove dust, (your own shedding skin which in fact IS dust that then gets ground in by your own body oils ) , a complete flip and rotation of ALL seat and back cushions. That means every sofa, any color and no matter luxury high end or low end: )

Learn to "re seat" the cushions as well! Do what an upholstery shop does!

Lift the seat cushion six inches, give it a good strong forceful push toward the backside frame, and press down firmly on that back zippered side of the seat cushion.

Vigorously punch up, flip, rotate, all the back cushions, align seams or welt , and place atop the seats. : ) Yup.......that's weekly as well, when you vacuum all the dust, crumbs etc from the piece.

Ah, okay, thanks.

Yes, I did notice that the light colored sofa that I previously had would go great with anything. It did not hinder me when decorating. The fabric itself may have been part of the problem with keeping it clean because I found out later that that particular fabric had issues with leaving water stains, etc. (even though it was a water-safe fabric). It was a good quality sofa, made in Canada, but I guess these things are bound to happen from time to time.

Thanks so much for the extra tips! :)

What about spray painting the frame around your picture (love it!) something other than black to tone it down?

Hmm I'm not sure that would work with the painting. I had the painting custom framed. The designer and I tried several different frames against the painting, and black worked best with it. Nothing else really looked good with the colors.

I think the black frame works great with the painting and I think the black frame ties in great with the furniture. I was just trying to brainstorm something. Perhaps move it to where the bookcase is, as Jan suggested?

There is strong, and there is overwhelming.....

Yes, there is a trend to oversized art. But not everything you see on the internet or in a store setting is tasteful or great. Many things are personal: Color, art and the list goes on.

But in this room, the painting simply takes over, drowning all else. It wants a bit more room to shine.

Kill me for saying it, but even cut down to 75% of its current size, and re framed? It still needs a move to the other end of the room.....alone on a wall with a directional change in hang position. Once there? You don't add competition with a ton of color .

The master bedroom in my house has a hallway (in the bedroom itself) leading to the bed area. Maybe I should just hang the art there. :| My husband and I would still get to enjoy it daily and it wouldn't compete with anything else since I haven't even started decorating that room.

Personally, I would not want a white sofa. I have taupe leather in my living room. Every so often, I clean it with leather cleaner. I feel furniture is there to be used and enjoyed.

Move the couch to the wall by the fireplace and turn the art vertically.

@AmanadaSmith When buying my pink sofa, part of me wanted to get it in leather, in a "saddle whiskey" color. I just didn't want to spend the extra $1000 at the time since I had so much other stuff to buy. I'm wondering if that's what I should go with this time around. Leather is so classic/timeless and probably easier to keep clean that most fabrics.

You might consider white leather…easier to clean than fabric, I presume.

Yes, that's a good option as well. :)

Hey guys! I'm not sure if anyone will be checking back, but I've been doing a lot of thinking and I realized that my taste has really been changing over the past couple of years (since buying the sofa & art). Maybe it's because I'm getting older. :) I think that's partly why I feel so confused about everything now.

I think I would like to have a fairly neutral room with some small pops of deep blue (eg. cushions & maybe lamps). I would like the space to look more sophisticated. So, I'm going to start over and work on it gradually. I will focus on the living room first. I want to *eventually* replace:

-the sofa

-green chair

-rocking chair

-rug

-drapes

-lamps (if they're too big)

-possibly the artwork

So, I'll basically keep the coffee and end tables and the tv stand. I'll decide on the cabinet, bookcase and small table later. I will use the ideas you guys gave me for the layout.

So, taking all this into consideration, do you guys feel that I should start with a sofa? Or something else? I think a new sofa would have the biggest impact, but I'm not sure if that's where I should start if starting over. If getting a sofa first, I would see how the painting looks above the new sofa, and if it still doesn't work, I would try it on the other end of the room. If it doesn't work there, I would move it to my bedroom hallway. I went to the furniture store that I usually deal with and picked out a sofa and I took some fabric samples home. Let me know if I should share the sofa options here and start there, or if I should now start elsewhere.

Thanks! :)

Show the sofa, show the fabrics.....

I will add.....

I realize you bought the art because you loved it. Make a decision on it as to location, which at this point seems to be BEST in the primary bedroom.

Nobody here can select your art. But the pinks and orange reds in combination with the size of that piece, are going to completely dominate the total space, no matter your sofa, no matter the fabric on that sofa : )

Yes, I think you're right about it dominating the space. It will probably end up in the bedroom.

Here is the sofa I have picked out. It's 90" long, so slightly longer than my current one. This is also the fabric that I am leaning towards ("Hot Grey"):

Here is the swatch in my living room:

I'm also considering leather. I think it would add some sophistication to the room and would be easy to clean. This is one leather that I'm considering ("Saddle Whiskey"), shown on the sofa style that I have selected. It shows more yellow undertone here than in person. I'm not sure about the "texture" in it. But the other brown leathers didn't look as rich or were too dark or too yellow, etc.

Here is the swatch in my living room, which is more accurate. It has a tiny bit more of an orange undertone in person than shown here:

Here is another leather color that I like ("Dash Stone") shown on a DIFFERENT SOFA style. (I would get this leather on the sofa style shown above.) It has a brown undertone, which I find warms it up. I like that it doesn't have the texture like the brown leather shown above. And it's sooo soft!

Here is the swatch in my living room:

So, that's all the samples that I have taken home so far. Any thoughts? I think the brown leather would probably limit my accent color and I may have to go with all neutrals, but I think it would add some warmth to the room. I really like the grey (in the fabric and leather), and they would look great with blue accents, but I'm not sure if they would look as rich as the brown. Or should I consider another color? I don't think I want white leather because I think it would feel too "cold".

I love the brown leather couch! I don’t care for the complicated styling or the oversized arms on the other. Have you thought about using two couches facing each other on the middle of the room? The rich brown color of the leather would give the room soul and character, which you could play up with lots of white pops of blue.

@ffpalms Thanks for your feedback!

The grey leather sofa shown above is the LEATHER COLOR that I am interested in. Not the sofa itself, which I mentioned above the photo. I would get that grey leather in the sofa style shown in the brown leather photo (as well as the grey fabric sofa shown. That's the same sofa style.). Unfortunately there is no photo of the sofa that I have selected with the grey leather, so I just showed that one (in another sofa style) to give you guys an idea of what the leather is like. :)

Two sofas facing each other wouldn't work in this room because of the bump-out on the other wall and because this is where we relax by watching tv. :)

I did misread your post - thanks for the clarification. It’ a handsome sofa no matter the upholstery selection.

Would anyone else like to chime in? I'm *this close* to pulling the trigger on the brown leather sofa! But I don't want to make another big, expensive mistake! :) Where did @JAN MOYER go? :)

I can't pick your couch: )

What you have to do, is take that couch and make yourself a mood board.

What would the chairs be? The rug....and all the rest in the space.

You start here............

And then you say NOW WHAT?

"I'll probably get rid of the green chair......" Why? It's a great color with that couch. It's better than " a Pop of blue" , actually. It's a warm color, it's a natural pairing with that leather.....

Before you randomly replace , you pick the direction, and the FEEL of the space. MAYBE IT'S WARMER

Or maybe it is with blue. Maybe you recover the chair.......

You have to get YOUR feel, because it is your home.

And you go back to your floor plan, of how you will arrange.....the what, and the where, what size. You get on that laptop or ipad, and you pin up all the lovely rooms that really appeal to you and ask yourself WHAT do you love? The why of the space. Most of them won't have three accent tables in a perfect match: )

Yeah, I was thinking that if I go with the brown leather, then it would probably look best with green. And if I go with the grey fabric (I've decided against the grey leather), it would look good with blue.

I was just mostly asking if anyone feels that the brown would hinder me in any way, or if it may be too dark for the space/walls, not go well with my flooring, etc. And I thought that's why you said for me to go ahead and post the sofa and upholstery. I realize I ultimately have to decide which one to get. I do have mood boards done on my laptop with the two sofa options. I just wanted some opinions on whether one may be better for my room that the other. I'm torn as to which direction to take. It's a huge change.

Welllllllllllllll? Then you show your mood boards? But nobody can say how you want the room to feel. Warm or cool being one of your first decisions. You have "cool" right now.

Personally? I think you are overly in a wad as to "keeping" things clean. I will add that you can NOT flip over cushions on a leather sofa. The back side....is not all leather as leather must breathe.

Okay, here are my two mood boards. (Just quick picks for now. Obviously, my final pieces will vary from what's here, except for the sofa.)

Here is the brown leather sofa mood board, which reminds me of the forest. :)

And the grey fabric sofa mood board, which reminds me of the beach. :)

Obviously two very different looks, and I love them both! The forest and the beach are two of my favorite places to be! So it's tough to pick one! ;)

Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

I prefer the top mood board, probably because I always find grey so cold -- even when it is called Hot Gray. Also, my experience has been that blue is more difficult color to work with in reality in interior decor than I ever expect. I've noticed in these forums that when people are undediced about how to redecorate, and photos are suggested to them, the blue interiors are the ones people end up choosing -- but I wonder if people are going to be able to carry it off in a real room at home. It's a tricky color.

I also prefer the top one - I love that green chair! I like the texture in Jan Moyer’s mood board. I added blue/gray pillows to complement the art.

@mytwo cents Oh, really? Interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.:) I also find grey cold, which is why I am considering the brown leather. But I just don't know how difficult a brown sofa is to work with as I've never had one. :)

(Side note: the "hot" in the "Hot Grey" color is just the fabric line. It has Hot Grey, Hot White, Hot Navy, etc. It's just the fabric name.) :)

That brown leather is light and attractive. One thing about a brown leather sofa or chair is that it always looks "right" and natural, like a found treasure. I mean, you expect a leather seat to be brown. It's not your choice. it's timeless. So it's a great neutral and it will go with other thngs quite well -- including ocean blue, as you can see in your other mood board. About the only limitation I've ever had with leather seating is that they don't take throw pillows easily (slippery) but throws warm them up.

@mytwo cents Good points... thank you!

@ffpalms Thanks for your input! A lot of people seem to like my green chair. Everyone who visits compliments it. :) (I've had exactly ZERO compliments on my pink sofa. lol) ;)

I am sick to death of gray sofas!!!.....and it need not be one or the other........with leather. You are leaving out the va va voom of texture. Too wimpy: )

Even a beach has more texture. Woven shades , some crunch to off set the smooth..... a bit bolder rug or a great jute!

.

Or green... either way it's a mood

Thanks, @JAN MOYER! I love those mood boards! :) I agree that I need more texture in mine.

By "bolder rug" do you mean the pattern? I feel like I should go with a subtle pattern because it will be so big. You don't think a bold pattern would overwhelm the room and (future) art?

Bolder in texture...... that rug on your board fades away : ) I'd decide the darn couch first.

I always love a jute or sisal for their crunch and neutrality.

Or........is this rug not suggestive of all else on the board,? The one in the lower right corner?

just a good?

Below. It's a texture, not a "color". It's warmth mixed with those cooler colors

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification. :)