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decoenthusiaste Match your pillows with an accent wall behind the TV. Replace the dated, formaldrapery style with simple colorful casual panels and a fabric roman shade. Add an area rug in the middle, art and a great chandy at the dining table. You may have room for a rug there too. 4' wider than your table is the rule of thumb to determine if you can use one.

Design & Decor By Shelley Judging by your photos I see competing styles in the draperies and your style of furniture. First pick the style you are wanting..if the furniture stays I agree with the previous post and change the draperies to something casual.
You seem to want to explore colour? I see greens and oranges in your cushions. Are you simply experimenting with colour?
I suggest the greens are a nice choice as accent colours similar to the cushions on the love seat.
Benjamin Moore has a nice colour called metropolis cc-546 which works quite well with greens and oranges..

eswambui @decoenthusiaste, thanks for the idea. What color should I paint the wall behind the tv? I will also be getting a rug for the dining area.
@Design & Decor, thanks. The cushions were used in another set of sofas and I just retained them, though am planning in replacing the cushion covers. As for the sofas they will remain, I could change the drapery. Problem would still be what color of drapery. I have to admit am very poor in decor, and in my country it's hard to get a good interior designer...I come from a small country in Africa.

Jayme Hobbs Have your thought of removing one sofa, getting some chairs ...the room seems closed in with all the sofas.

eswambui @jayme, that has never crossed my mind...what sort of chairs? Pics? Thanks

Design & Decor By Shelley After looking closer at your pictures, I have added a few other colour options for you..if you plan on changing the pillow covers the new and revised colours will possibly help you..
I would opt for light and airy panels for your windows in a nice neutral colour..Cream is the best option..
You need a dining room light fixture. A darker fixture to work with your dining table.

eswambui @Shelley, could you attach a larger image, the colors are not so clear. About the light fixtures, should I get similar ones as the dining and living share the same space?

Design & Decor By Shelley Here are larger samples of the same colours in my previous post. All from Benjamin Moore.

Jayme Hobbs Not recliners!! I can look around a little .....

eswambui Thanks Shelley. Apart from the pillow covers, would the colors go well with my walls? Maybe pick one or two?

Jayme Hobbs I am not necessarily saying to use these colors, but these are ideas.

eswambui @Jayme, thanks, now I get your point. Good idea, actually the room looks quite crowded...

Design & Decor By Shelley The first colour is called Castleton Mist- this is a nice wall colour.
The other colours are perfect accent colours and combine all of them.
use these colours as your base for your pillows, art work etc. Your walls need pictures possibly a nice mirror on the dining wall or a beautiful print displaying these colour examples..
All of your cushions don't have to be all solids..Work pattern and solids together to create texture.
I agree you have too many pieces of furniture in this room.

teafortwo First of all, I'm not a stager, but I would eliminate two of the couches and add twoo nice chairs under the window with a small accent table between them. Also I would install pot lights or a definite ceiling fixture and a light on the accent table. Remove the drapes and install blinds ie. Hunter Douglas silhouette.

Jayme Hobbs You are very much welcome!!!

teafortwo Be careful of the green tones previousley mentioned. If you entertain a lot, this is not a flatering colour for people to be seen in. They also will have a green tone to them.

blindsdirectcanada I would remove the window treatment and go with a Roman Shade it will fit the space alot better.

http://www.blindsdirectcanada.com/blinds-toronto/shades-toronto/roman-blinds.html

Sherri Fitzgerald Hi I am an interior decorator as well and love Shelly's color ideas. you could add one of the other colors to the wall where the tv is so it is a focal point wall and put the tv on the wall opposite the window. Use a color you like......could be the orchid or the mud color...... I agree the room is too crowded and would take out a sofa and use an accent chair instead as Jayme suggested. I did a floor plan idea for you and two wall elevation pictures for the end walls in both rooms. Click on the drawings to see the full view.

Sherri Fitzgerald mirror ideas

eswambui @Shelly, thank you for all the great ideas, can't wait to implement them.
@tearfortwo and blindsdirectcananda-the blinds idea is good, however they are mostly used in offices as opposed to homes......we are still in a third world country, where curtains is still the in thing. But let me see how I can work that out.
@Sherri...I absolutely love the floor plan...and the dining room mirror idea and also the placement of the artworks. I will start working on them.
I will definitely share the pictures when am done.

eswambui For the windows, I am thinking of eliminating the curtain boxes and replacing them with the iron rods...then get some light and airy panels as suggested by Shelly

brookiecookie77 maybe paint the walls a different color, something like a warm light blue. then match the pillows!

eswambui @brookie...you have a sample of that? Please share. Thanks

Sherri Fitzgerald Your welcome! Glad I could help....can`t wait to see the pictures when you are done!

eswambui I also can't wait to see how it will look like. I will definitely share the pics. Thanks

eswambui @sherry, I did some photoshop with the colors you suggested, they don't seem to be working soo well...

eswambui I meant Shelly

Design & Decor By Shelley Hi Eswambui, Could you tell me which walls you placed the colour? I should be able to help you further knowing which colours you chose out of the selection..

eswambui @Shelly, I have uploaded the photoshop images. They have the colors and some of the artworks I could work with. A thing to note, this is just photoshop, the house I know is still in a mess..

Design & Decor By Shelley I certainly see the problem right away..I would use the gray on the feature walls..and the castleton mist on the other walls..The mauve should be used as an accent colour ie..art work, cushions, including the darker mississipi mud. Combine all of these colours as a blend..
Try the gray with your photo shop, if possible send me the pictures..

sparksue Was reading through the comments n would like to give some suggestions
@eswambui, i think what Shelly mention about the wall colour should be Castleton Mist. As for the rest of the colours it should be fill in as accent colours. This way it will look nicely instead of two different wall colour that look so 'loud' to me. (PS version)

eswambui Thanks Shelley, now I get it. Let me try it, will share the images.
@Sparksue, I will apply both suggestions on Photoshop then we see what works.

Thanks. Esther

eswambui @Sherri, does the mirror at the dining work?

Janet Perry The sofas and large chairs seem to overshadow the other furniture pieces. My suggestion would be to reduce the number of sofas and replace with two smaller chairs to match the red/orange pillows. This should help to open up your space. This would afford the room to handle a warmer muted-tone color on the walls. You have some pod space to work with, which gives you many placement options.

eswambui @Janet, I agree with you, the room is quite overcrowded, I will remove some of the sofas.

Sherri Fitzgerald Hi Again! Yes the dining mirror works well in the photoshopped picture. I noticed in your origional photos that there is some wiring and a switchplate in the middle of the wall. Thats why I had two long mirrors in my drawing. But this works well if you can work around those items. The artwork on the wall above the tv is not a good scale though. you would need something larger. Another tip to keep in mind when you actually hang your pieces is that the CENTER of your pictures,mirrors or even a collage of photos should be at eye level ....between 5-6 feet up from the floor
here are a few pictures with wall color ideas if you are not into the odchid color....Don,t know if you like a modern wall paper print but that makes a great feature wall as well...

Genevieve I like all the colours that are posted on here so you could go with those ,if you can , get a bigger TV you have a lot of space for one hang it on the wall above the cabinet and one wall will be taken care of , get different curtains too.

http://cdn.freshome.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/plasma-tv-screen-living-room-inspiration-idea.jpg


for the wall where the table is I would do something like this

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Sherri Fitzgerald Some wall colors that I like... you would need to see the swatch yourself at a paint store before you purchase it to be sure its what you want.

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Sherri Fitzgerald So what I have given you above with the paint colors is...... 1 color for your main room......a 2nd color for the focal wall and........ a 3rd color for the accents in the room like pillows art etc...sometimes a forth color for accents as well

eswambui @Sherri, wow,I don't know how to thank you, you have really given me great ideas on what colors to pick, I am even lost for choice. I love the Yale town loft, if done well, my room would look exactly like this as the dimensions and the windows of this room have similar characteristics with mine, though my sofas are too bulky. All the colors you have suggested would work great. I have also taken note on how to hang the artworks and also the size. Wall paper would be good, it's not so popular here, only few people have the expertise to mount it well hence can be expensive.
@Genevieve, I will be getting a bigger TV next month, so at least one wall will be taken care of, the image you posted for the plasma tv wall has really inspired me. I am also changing the curtains too....

Sherri Fitzgerald I'm so glad I could help! If you notice in the yaletown loft they picked up the color of the dark funiture with dark picture frames. The violet puple colors of the artwork are picked up in the cushions on the couch. The green from the walls is in the curtains. These are very good examples of how to use color. Tasteful dashes of it here and there without overpowering everything. Please post pictures when you are done! I can't wait to see what colors you choose!

eswambui Thanks Sherri. Taking your point above, I have put together the colors I am thinking of working with, plus the artworks I currently have. See the image I have posted.

Sherri Fitzgerald You have so many nice colors to work with in that group of accessories!!! I would play a little more with the photo shop and try some of the bolder colors on the feature walls on the ends of the room like the red or bright green.....the other walls could be a beigeor grey.....Here is a hint for when I shop for a client....I go to a paint store with a decorative cushion from their couch and their artwork ..... I pick out a paint chip for every color... I cut the colors from the paint swatch and lay them out like a hand of cards and staple them. You now have a little color fan with every color in your living room! Keep it in your wallet when you shop.. it sure helps when shopping for items for the room like artwork. vases, and accessories. Even picking furniture or a paint color for yourself.

solichin you simply visit http://inhomeinterior.com to more inspiration living - dining room decoration

eswambui Sherri, I am soo inspired by all your ideas. Thanks for that tip, it's an eye opener. Let me try the red or green on the feature wall. Will post the images.

Sherri Fitzgerald Looking forward to seeing more pictures!! Have fun!

eswambui Hello, it's been a while. These are the current pictures, the House is still work in progress. I will be posting more pictures as soon as its complete. Thank you all for your input.

eswambui I did change the drapes, removed the curtain boxes and replaced with curtain rods, some work was done on the ceiling. I also bought a new tv, a bigger one. What is pending now are the light fixtures and an area rug. I will also be returning the scatter cushions and put up a mirror/an artwork at the dining area. I will be posting more pictures soon.

Sherri Fitzgerald What a difference a bit of color makes!! You have the beginnings of a beautiful room! I want to give you another idea that may help as time goes by. Sometimes a piece of art can look too small for an area. Like the one between the drapes. It looks lonely... Usually you would put two pictures one above the other in a tall narrow space.- Excuse the poor art program I have- Sometimes I tape out a piece of the wall and use an accent color to make the area for the art to tie in better. Because your room has so much color already I used a dark neutral that would act like a frame. You can use this idea with any picture or unframed wall. other times I use a paint technique in the center to make it art of all its own.
Another neat way to fill a wall space and make it personal is to create a mixture of art and your favorite photos. Mark out a square or rectangle shape with painters tape and hang your art within the area using the edges of the pictures to form the shape

eswambui @Sherrri, that's a good idea. I will be visiting some stores tomorrow and see if I can get an almost similar artwork. I do agree the artwork does look lonely. I have another wall, where I can put up all our family pictures...take a look

Sherri Fitzgerald Thats a great spot for pictures!! Put them in a rectagle that goes all the way to the floor. Simular to this one. Only stay a little further from the edge of the door and wall end. Keep in mind you dont need something on every wall in the house. Use walls that you see as you enter a room or hallway as the feature wall for that space and make it look nice.