SFGate

Aja Mazin Red curtains.

nukiegirl I think the plain drapes are the downfall of the whole room. Just not very interesting. I think if you had some bold drapes with red,gold and cream stripes it would give it some pazaz! Cheaper and easier than painting the whole room.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Your color palette is too all golden and red. It feel very middle valued and nothing color wise steps out. I would lightne it up a lot, In fact I would paint the walls the color of the background of the area rug. The lightest part. Match it exactly and then go a tad (a very small amount deeper.) Your furnishings and everything will come alive and feel fresh.

All the furnishings need to be pulled out of the corners and off of the walls and toward the coffee table. As it is now, no one could have a conversation without shouting across the room. It does not look cozy and inviting.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Also the window treatments need to be updated. A simple single pleat linen drape on a simple bronze rod. The fabric color should be lightest part of the rug and it will stand out subtley against the paint which which are a little deeper than the lighest part of the rug. Sorry to be redundant, just want to make sure you follow.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Sorry for writing this in snippets, but I have to refer to your pictures along the way. I think if you did those things that I just said and take all of the accessorizing features off the mantle and walls, take new pictures of where you are at, at that point, the designers here can help you to get to the next step. Which is always Accessorizing.

onthefence I think your couch needs to come out of the window niche. It feels like whoever sits there is being sent to sit in the corner. If the couch could come in and be part of the rest of the furniture grouping, I'm sure you'd get a lot of suggestions regarding how to accessorize the window area.

kozeta73 Mary thank you very much for the idea. I will paint the room as you said and change the curtains. However I have a question, since you suggested to pull the sofas off the walls, should I put anything on the corners? Also the dilemma of the sofa next to the tv. Again thank you very much.

Brooke Enos Interiors I would recommend you cozy up your grouping. It will lend to conversation and not feel so lobby-ish.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Hi Kozeta, Can you send pictures of your room looking each direction? So we can get a better understanding of what is going on beyond. The delimma you also have is the awkward placement of the television to the seating. I can answer that better after I see your pictures.

Do you have two matching sofas?

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Say perhaps your walls, when matching your rug are Benjamin Moore Cream Fleece 232, then your drapes would be Benjamin Moore Winter wheat 233.
That is just an example as there is no way for me to know with any certainty what your true colors are looking at my computer, but this may help your to ascertain them, by giving you the idea of what I am suggesting you should try to achieve.

kozeta73 This is the room Mary.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Hi Kozeta,
So there are two sofas and a love seat, a round chair, am I correct? And what is exactly opposite of the fireplace? Sorry, I just need one more picture.

And is this the only room the television can go in?

If you can get that right away, I will give you an answer tonight, but if not I have to get off for now, as I have an early meeting in the morning, but I promise to check back then.

By then, you will probably have dozens of answers from many great designers and decorators :o)

kozeta73 Thanks Mary. This is the only room that tv can be. Yes I have two sofas lovesit and round chair. The room is open directly to the kitchen and when we sit by at the sofa by the window the room is open to the stairs of the house. I am trying the best to explain it I am sorry, but I really appreciate it your help.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Okay, I am not sure if you will be open to this, but think about it for a little bit, before you decide.

The television in the corner is throwing everything off. It has to be moved. The only place it can be moved, and I know this is going to be difficult to accept, is over the fireplace. It is done all of the time now. And it makes sense because everyone wants to see the fireplace and they want to see the television, and it is just acceptable these days as there is SO OFTEN no other option.

But this will allow beautiful form and function to return to your room. Because once you do that you are going to pull the sofas away from the walls with the front feet on the carpet, so that you are actually sitting in a conversational range from each other.

On each side of the fireplace, now you can place matching cabinets, side tables, urns with tall twisting branches all kinds of things and we can follow up with that more later.

Then on each side of the fireplace you will hang two pictures on each side, one above the other. or a single vertical picture on each side, to flank the part of the fireplace where the television is.

On the sofas, you are going to remove the throw pillows that came with the sofa, and replace them with fresh new ones to be determined later that will bring the whole new fresh look together.

Above the fireplace and beneath the Television will be room to place some decorative item(s)

The picture that is now hanging above the mantel will be placed on the wall where the left side of the television is now.

The round chair will leave the room.

The loveseat may fit facing the fireplace, near the kitchen, or it may not. Push the furniture in that postion so as to see how that is.

Important to know:

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE HOW THIS LOOKS
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE HOW THIS LOOKS
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LIKE HOW THIS LOOKS

AT FIRST!

This is how it always is at first when you are use to seeing it the other way for so long. You need to try this out for at least three weeks to give yourself a chance to get use to this. This is a very warm and inviting way to sit and I think you will find that the majority of the designers would agree the furniture has to come away from the walls.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Now there are a few things I can not be certain of until you do them. I do not know how the love seat will fit, if it will fit. But try to make a nice seating "U" facing the fireplace with enought openess that people can move into the space and sit down.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Don't worry that the window inset looks empty or that any of the walls loo empty for now. Just get use to the idea.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Traditional Living Room design by Toronto Interior Designer Jane Lockhart Interior Design

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design I tried to attach the picture here. Just go to my site and click on my Living Room ideabook. You will see a picture of an living room by Jane Lockhart. You can see the U although she does not have the sofa pulled out as far as the chairs. You will see the televsion over the fireplace and I even noticed she had pictures on each side of fireplace as I had suggested. She has two chairs at the end facing the fireplac as would your loveseat IF IT FITS AND DOES NOT OVER WHELM THE SPACE. Also, she has wall color similar to way I think youshould have it. Yours will be brighter because of the nice red and gold accents that will show of nicely.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Kozeta, did you look at the Traditional Living Room Design by Jane Lockhat Interior? This is for arrangement purposes only. As your furnishings and color palette are very different.

kozeta73 Mary I looked at the picture and decided that this weekend I will remove the round chair and try your version. I took down the tv but I have to find someone to remove the stand, which is a piece of marble. I bought the paint and have a blind company come and give me a quote for blinds. I will have a curtain with a bronze rod outside of the window. I will post pictures. As you said the love seat crowded the room a little so decided to have two arm chairs in each side of the fireplace the only thing, I will have to wait to deface these chairs with same material of the curtain. Also, when I tried to move the sofa closer to the carpet made the sitting area a little smaller, so what I did I turned the carpet around and made the room comfortable And very cozy. This way also I do not have to put to many accessories in each corner and make the room crowed. Te only thing I did not like the space by the window. i a, trying to figure out maybe a big plant there or something. I just wished I found you and Houzz before I moved in the house. Thank you very much. I will post picture as I finish each step.
Again thank you.

nukiegirl How about a nice sofa table in front of the windows or a tall plant or two would be great also. Just remember not to hang the tv too high over the fp. Plus I have read about the heat on the fireplace could damage the tv at a certain temperature. I have read that in posts so just be careful and do your homework first. GL

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Hi Kozeta, I agree that probably a nice plant would probably do the trick. I think of doing a room like making a stew. I keep adding ingredients then testing and adding and correcting until it is perfect. So, although I think that is the answer, I am just wanting to see you room with the changes we said and then we can get just the right thing plant or table. By the way, sometimes it is hard to find Discussions, so just write on yours and it will come up on my feed, and I will know to check out where you are at on your Living Rjoom.

blindsdirectcanada Yikes the drapes are dated and muse go . I would stay away from any heavy drapery the space it way to small for that. I would recommend going with Roman shades or Silhouette blinds with a valance.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design These are really beautiful window treatment choices Blinds Direct. I like how you chose examples that are consistant with colors in this room. I think, due to the size of the room itself, the large scale of the sofas, the high ceilings and classic formal layout, that a simple single pleat drape would look best on a simple bronze rod. However, some type of simple, light filtering shade, such as you are suggesting, paired with this would look very nice.

Madeline Hi Kozeta, Hang onto Ms. Mary, she is like gold and fits with your room very well! Seriously, It's fascinating to watch: Mary Poulos has been giving you excellent thoughtful advice and you have been been accepting it, weighing it and providing excellent feedback for her. You are working together so beautifully already it's almost like "no others need apply." I posted this to make a positive comment on your working relationship and also so I will stay connected and be a "voyeur" as the project goes forward. Good luck!

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Thank you Madeline for your vote of confidence. Every once in a while I take a special intertest in a design delima, when I realize the person posting is really trying to follow and do what I am saying. Then I feel it is worth the time not to abandon them when they are investing their faith in me.

Your kind words really mean a lot to me and it is true, if Kozeta follows what I am saying she will be able to achieve a very nice room, and that will actually make me very happy, and please keep watching :o)

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Hi Kozeta,

I just wanted to remind you if you wouldn't mind sending me an updated picture since you rearranged the furniture and the rug? Also, you had mentioned two chairs, do you have them or a picture of them?

Also, are you having the window treatments on bronze rod in front of the window itself? Or in front of the opening to the window. Because, it may be best if they are in fron of the window itself because it might look best architecturally to allow the window insetted area to not be obscured.

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Hello Kozeta, Just checking in on you to see how you are doing on your project?

Mary Poulos Interior and Exterior Design Kozeta how is your room coming?