SFGate

Iyare I Thanks Teresa!!! I do not have any kids, I live by myself so thankfully, that isnt an issue. I called it a family room but its really a living room because thats where I do the majority of my entertaining so I guess because of its purpose, I think overhead lighting is acceptable. On a personal note, I love lighting so I would like to have lighting in this room

smarty88 What kind of TV are you getting? Can you hang it over the fireplace so that there is only one focal point in the room?

What do you think about big porcelin tiles rather than wood on the floor? While hard wood flooring would look gorgeous with your very light furniture and walls, it is difficult to keep it looking clean, kids or no kids. I personally like it when connecting rooms have the same exact flooring, so you could do the lighter wood, but then you'd probably need to paint the walls to get some color in there.

Also, I would try a different arrangement of furniture no matter what you decide in regards to flooring, pull everything in off the walls so that the walk-ways in the room are around the outside and not in the middle- seems like everything is very far apart. Once you have the hard surface flooring, a big area rug with the seating arranged around it would be stunning. I could give you a specific floor arrangement but I would need to know if the TV could be hung over the fireplace or not. If not, then I would move it to the wall that is across from the window (the wall that we can't really see in any of these pictures). But if you are hanging the TV on the fireplace, then the sofas/loveseats would be arranged different.

Replace the current ceiling fan with a more updated ceiling fan/light combo. There are some beautiful ones on the market these days. The room is big enough that you could do something really cool.

Iyare I Below is a picture of the wall not pictured. The size of the television will be a 60 inch flat screen so I dont think it would fit in that area. Now if I were to buy a smaller television to fit where the mirror is, what would go on the other wall? The wall is really large (tried to give you an aerial shot from the stairs leading upstairs) so what would I put over there?

Excellent idea on pulling the furniture in... I didnt even think about that... I love it!! What type of porcelin or color do you mean? Do you mean white tiled floors or black tiles? I am not really a fan of tiles because they tend to feel cold to me but Im open to whatever ideas you think would make this a great space. If possible, I dont want to do any more painting (if possible) and i completely agree about connecting rooms having the same flooring so should I then change the flooring in the kitchen to match the new living room flooring? And if hardwood is harder to keep clean, what about laminate that looks like hardwood?

smarty88 LOVE the aerial picture!! What a beautiful house you have- very open and modern so you could do a variety of things. Okay- the wall to the left of where the TV is now isn't really a wall. I wouldn't have any seating there, just a long low table (the length of the space minus a few inches) but narrow, maybe 14-15 inches deep at the most- put your lamp there with a few pictures/accessories.

If you decided to go with a smaller TV and have it installed over the fireplace, think of that wall as your focal wall and I would square everything up to that... so your sofa or loveseat could go to the left of the TV/fireplace, but pulled out on the diagonal to make a straight line from the left side of the fireplace. I'd probably put the smaller of the sofas there. And then on the wall, I would lower those pictures or get one big, more colorful picture and either use those ladder shelves or another shelving unit to display your 'stuff' and arrangement your TV components. The larger of the two sofas would create the next line, which would be directly across from your TV/fireplace... far enough back so that its perfect distance for TV viewing with a big screen TV. The chair would form the 4th line- it would be to the right of the TV but pulled in/squared so that it is across from the wall with your stuff. I'm not much of a sketch artist but I can sketch this out and scan it in if my words aren't making sense. This arrangement would show off the beauty of the window and the interesting arches that lead to the kitchen. If you kept your current area rug, line it up with the longest sofa so that it also runs parallel with the TV/fireplace.

If you decide that you really want the 60 inch TV, then it really only has one place to go and that's where your existing TV is... but I would have it hung on the wall and not have so much other stuff around it. Just the TV and its components. Then, I would leave the current rug pretty much exactly where it is, but move the larger sofa all the way up to the long end of the rug. Then, probably move the chair to the short side of the rug over by the fireplace and window, and the smaller sofa on the other short side. But I would try the smaller sofa on the fireplace side and the chair just pulled up from where it is also before I made a final decision.

If you don't want to paint and you like the light furniture, then I would definitely go with darker flooring. Maybe the wood or laminent flooring that has a variety of colors in it, ranging from dark to light? I can find a picture on this website if you need to see an example. And if you can afford to replace all the flooring (kitchen and living room), then that would probably be the best thing. I still think tile would look awesome with your current furniture and style, but I can see where it might feel cold. I'd go with the 20X20 laid on the diagonal to match the lines of the fireplace- and I'd do a rust or coppery swirly color on a lighter background. Check out Denver Stone for examples. A dark wood with some warm tones would be beautiful- that's really just personal perference. We have laminate flooring but that's because we have pets- if I didn't have a house full of back claws, I'd probably go with the real thing.

Would love to see pictures after you make your decisions!!! :)

bwenk I don't know about black wood flooring. If you def want to do that then I would change the kit floor. I think there are plenty of neat floors out there in other colors to go with. Also if you are spending so much in changing the whole flooring I would address the fireplace. The mantel is good but the tile inside could be changed out to update the structure. Let me think on the lightening bc it looks to be of good height so you would need something substantial but not overwhelming or eyesore for the room. Maybe one of the designers will post on here and help you out.

Iyare I I love the ideas you presented Smarty88!!! Absolutely love it. Heres my question.... When I pull my furniture in, wouldnt that throw off the placement of my lighting since its literally in the middle of the room?

Iyare I I've been looking at lighting and I havent really seen anything I like but I do kinda like these two...

What do you think?

sharleeg lyare, i love the George Kovacs light on the right! i recommended that to someone not long ago. If you truly want a black floor, be prepared for plenty of maintenance as every piece of lint will show. I see you love black as you have many black accents and decor items. Have you considered a lighter stain for floor ( carry thru into kitchen) and then use black predominantly as your accent color as you have, a larger area rug with black accents. Your furniture should sit on the rug, not on perimeter of room. Maybe mix up with some prints on pillows with some other bright accent color you like. Perhaps the walls going more gray also would help ( Ben Moore Revere Pewter is one of my current favorites), as well as changing your FP surround to something in a bit darker stone or tile.. with black or charcoal.
Enjoy!

smarty88 Pulling your furniture in will be perfect for the light that is in the center of the room. I would imagine that the light will be somewhere close to the center of your coffee table. I like both of those lights, but it depends on scale. Since the ceiling is so high, you want a down rod or a lower light. You could even have a chandelier! I was still thinking 'ceiling fan with light' and something big. Give me a minute and I'll post some pictures.

smarty88 If you go black or a very dark stained wood or laminate, you might like having black on the ceiling fan- it will definitely pop and I think they would look great with a black down rod. OR you might want to go with white so that it 'disappears' into the ceiling but you still have lights and a fan.

smarty88 sorry for the double post of the fan- not sure how that happened.

Vikrant Sharma Homez This house is Amazing.

Iyare I Thank you Vikrant!!! :)

Smarty, I love those fans and I love the idea of black or that blue with the pop of color (as long as I have blue accents as well). Where are they from? I havent seen any like them yet

smarty88 All of those are from the Lowes website... they probably have them in store as well.

Iyare I Met with two flooring companies so far and no one has black flooring.... Didnt think it'd be that hard to find.... Any recommendations? Ive been getting walnut and discouragement. I understand that it will require work to keep clean but I keep a very clean home so that doesnt intimidate me. The color in the picture is the color black Im looking for...

smarty88 I think it will look striking with the light walls and furniture. Don't give up- I'm sure there will be someone who can get that color. There's always the option of black tiles, but I think I like the planks... and you are going to do this in your kitchen as well, right?
Did you check Lowes and The Home Depot? The last time we updated flooring, we used a small local company and I was very happy... we are in Central Florida- not sure where you are.. but maybe do a google search of flooring companies in your area??

smarty88 I just copied these sampes from The Home Depot website... two are hard wood and one is engineered wood. If they have this, then a flooring store should. They have even more options with dark wood- check it out!

fife2 Boy are you getting a LOT of great advice here! You are going to end up with a true designer home. I am thinking the flooring shown in the picture you like, is more than likely stained hardwood, done by a professional finisher. I would like to add this about the BLACK flooring. I remember reading a while ago, that Brad Pitt, had BLACK floors put into the home he had with Jennifer Anniston. I do remember the interview and she commented on how hard it was, because every single piece of lint and dust showed., along with every single shoe print. What about black marble tile squares? I know you mentioned the cold feeling but, then you can have a lovely rug or carpeting cut and made to fit in the middle of the room when you bring your furniture in off the walls. Regardless of the flooring, rule of thumb to make your room look unified and un-chopped - the furniture should fit onto the rug and be grouped around it. Your coffee table should be accessible by your guests, since you like to entertain, so they have a place to sit drinks or plates. This is certainly a great space and we do hope you share finished pictures.

Iyare I Okay, after a lot of searching and speaking to various companies, I think I found my floors...

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=202746667&R=202746667#.UDglZ45o1UQ

Man, it is really hard searching for black hardwood that doesn't cost an arm and a leg and you might as well forget laminate. I love the look with this and the price is great. I have no knowledge or engineered hardwood so Im just doing my research, educating myself before I take the plunge.

smarty88 That is beautiful.. how much per sq ft, installed, if you don't mind me asking? I personally cannot wait to see the finished product!!! :)

smarty88 I also wanted to add that I've had carpet and tile installed by contractors who work for The Home Depot and they were the nicest, neatest guys... they even cleaned and vacuumed the sub-floor. I went with a small local company for our bedroom floor update, but it wasn't because I was unhappy with the installation from The Home Depot. :)

Iyare I It's $2.97 per square and its engineered hardwood. The price was $220 per case but that was slashed to about $60. Im super excited and cant wait for the finished product. After I redo my floors and change my set up, I will be purchasing a new television and im still undecided on my lighting and/or fan.

Iyare I Found my fan/lighting off lowes. It's a fan but it is covered. Got great reviews, isnt costly, and is a nice size.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=198677-88854-LP8075LBN&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3576600&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Iyare I **UPDATES**

DISCLAIMERS:

I wanted the painting over the fireplace initially but it ended up being too big for the space above the fireplace so the television had to go there.

The wires.... There is no space behind that wall (well except my bedroom) so I couldnt hide the wires behind the wall without affecting the wall in my bedroom and I didnt want to do. Eventually, I will have someone come in and splice the wires on my speakers and mount them on the walls because my house is prewired for surround sound. Unfortunately, the budget ran out so we had to prioritize.

Iyare I MORE PICS:

laurencrobbins Good job! The space is much more cohesive! Bright for my taste, but it looks great!

decoenthusiaste Black floors are lots of work. so I'd rethink them. You've come a long way from the '80's look at the top. My only issues are that the art is hung too high, the ladder shelves are screaming "Kirklands," and the corner shelf beside the FP is totally too "weenie" for the job. But your colors are fun and I see you're not afraid to splash them around. Keep tweaking!

bwenk Lyare1 I like that fan!

Iyare I Decoenthusiaste, I went back to look at the art and u dont think if i lower it, itll be too close to someone's head being that its not that far away from the top of the couch? Its a really huge painting (60x48). Also, the corner shelf is my temporary $20 solution for my cable boxes, blu ray, bose system. I actually dont know what to do to store those items. i'd be open to whatever solution you have. I'd also take any alternatives u have to the ladder shelves

kellifawn TV above fireplace. Furniture away from walls and arrange it to closer to the fire place and tv area. Try putting the coffee table a couple of feet from the fireplace and arrange your sofa & love seat accordingly. Any extra chair just set back in a corner and create a reading nook. I would definitely match the floor with the kitchen. Black sounds pretty, but I'd make sure I stayed with the style of the house. You have a lot of white and cream. Soft gray walls would add some color without the drama of color.

Iyare I Did some tweaking. Installed my new lighting. Also, I managed to dig out these sculptures that I bought from a local artist a few months ago. Decided to put them flanking my bar stools.

Iyare I More pics

I will probably get rid of the console and picture in the hallway eventually.

Iyare I And last but not least....