SFGate

orangecamera I forgot to mention that the coffee table and end table will be refinished once the weather warms up. They're recent acquisitions.

Interiors International, Inc. You need to do a little rearranging of the furniture. The chair would be better in the corner from the perspective of the photo. Without more pictures it would be hard to say exactly where everything needs to be. But as of now it seems like an odd arrangement.

chickinvic Furniture arrangement aside, I love what you've done here. I really like the window treatments (and I don't usually like curtains too much). Great job so far, and a vast improvement from the ugly color and carpet that was there.

orangecamera Thanks for comments. Here are a few more pictures. The living room is actually 1/2 of the 'great room' which includes the dining room.

These pictures are:
1) taken from the corner where the plant is
2) also taken from the corner with the plant, but more to the right
3) the tv on a cabinet, to the right of the sliding doors

I'm open to rearranging so please give suggestions. I want to leave the sofa and tv where they are. There needs to be access to the slider (it's the right side that opens, so moving the chair into the corner is a possibility.

Interiors International, do you think I should swap the chair and the plant? Or something else?

Interiors International, Inc. You might consider placing the leather chair at the opposite end of the sofa. Then put the chair and ottoman in it's place. A round end table between them and the sofa would work nicely. This would give each seat a view of the TV. If I am reading the room correctly.

Paradise Restored Landscaping & Exterior Design Oh soooooo much better! Blue carpet ! Funny how things are in one minute and then they are "OUT!"

orangecamera Well, I don't have a particular hate of blue carpet, but this stuff was filthy and stinky. The prior owner was a heavy smoker who never (and I mean never in 20 years) opened a window. And she had cats who apparently didn't always make it to the litter box on time.

My personal preference is for hard floors and area rugs, so that's what I have now. The small area rug in the pictures is actually from my former home. My darling kitty was whining because her feet were cold, so I put it down to make her more comfortable. I'm still looking for the "right" area rug for my whole living room.

I"m still thinking about rearranging the furniture a bit. I kind of like how it is now, but I don't doubt it can benefit from a tweak here and there. My biggest projects once the weather warms up will be to refinish the coffee table and end tables. They have brass handles, and today I experimented with cleaning one of them with a mixture of lemon juice and salt. It worked pretty well.

olldroo Looks like kitty approves of the room.

I would be inclined to swap your single chairs over, the one with the ottoman just doesn't look like it quite belongs. Lot depends on how you use your room though and you have certainly made a huge difference to it. I love your curtains, took me a while to work out what the "sticks" were before I realised it was the pattern on the curtains.

Thanks for posting the photos, it does take a lot of time to pull things together, but I think half the fun is having a work in progress.

orangecamera Thanks olldroo. I've been so busy, and will be out of town for a few weeks. When I return, I'll be decorating and rearranging with a vengeance! I do enjoy "the process".

olldroo Just remember my motto, I have to keep reminding myself too, "Rome wasn't built in a day".

apple_pie_order Beautiful choice of colors and finishes. I thought it was a different room entirely.

orangecamera UPDATE! I finally got my area rug. I decided to go for bold.

The chair in the foreground is a recliner, and directly behind it is the opening to the bedroom hallway. This is really the only place I can put it and still let it recline. The far side of the sofa has an end table. To give a little perspective on the size of things, the rug is 9' x 12'.

Other changes besides the rug: Curtains are now white, and the sheers are white with twigs (same style as the brown ones, but a different color). Also I've added a turquoise pillow to the chair. I'll be re-covering the seats of my dining chairs (in the other part of this same room) with the same color. I've moved some lamps and accessories around too.

What do you think?

decoenthusiaste A nice light look for spring an summer. Looks like an orange push-up! Remember those?

orangecamera Wow, yes I do remember orange push-ups. It's been a while!

olldroo Wow, orangecamera, you've done well and the room seems so much bigger too. Love the rug. It's funny but normally I would have felt that a hot room for summer but it looks really fresh, probably the white curtains and ceiling - I always believe in lots of white with colour.

Angela Pascoe Yes, love the curtains and paint color.

orangecamera Thanks ladies. I feel like it's all really coming together now. I'm going to spend the spring and summer looking for more chairs, and some art for the walls. Still deciding what I really want. I guess I'll know it when I see it. I want only things that have meaning to me, so it might take a long time. I'm really enjoying the process.

studio10001 I enjoyed this after pic the first time I saw it, like it even better now I see the before shots -kudos!

olldroo Sadly, orange, art is something you just have to 'find' when you least expect it. You will know the minute you see it. Happy hunting.

orangecamera My mom gave me a great compliment today, after seeing the rug in place. She said "I always go for boring, but you went for "wow!" and it really works" I'm decorating my home for me (me, me!) but it's always nice when someone else, especially someone as dear to me as my mom, likes what I've done.

One thing I like about this house is all the windows, my old place was pretty dark. The living room is in the back and gets morning sun, and cools off as the sun makes its way to the front of the house. Behind the sliding doors (next to the TV) is a covered porch, so that also keeps it a bit cooler while still letting in light.

eztia You did an amazing transformation of this room.

This summer, have fun going to every arts and crafts fair "just to look around." This attitude takes any stress of "having to find some art" away from the outing. When you see art that is for you, you will know it!

Best wishes.

orangecamera eztia, you are exactly right. I "browse" etsy a few times a week!