Help me style my room

[jordancatalano4ever]

So I’ve been trying to finish this room but I’m not liking how my styling is turning out. It’s feeling a little too grandma/fussy. We’re going to replace our coffee/end tables this summer. But I also I think the pillows are throwing me. Any suggestions that would pull the room about more modern looking? Oh, and should I look at a different style of lamp?

[dr.girlfriend]

How attached are you to that art? Honestly, changing out the art and rug would make the biggest difference.

What kind of style do you like?  It doesn't help to make the room modern if it's not your style, but maybe there's a more modern style that you like and would feel comfortable in?

Maybe something more like the below?



Also, I'll admit I'm a little puzzled about how the crown molding seems to dead-end, and then a chair rail starts in the next room.  More pics of this and the adjoining room(s) might help.

[cosmowife]

I think a colorful painting would help, and hang it a little higher. Perhaps even add some additional art on the wall - it is a big blank space. I live by the rule that every room needs white and black, and some natural materials and man made materials. So replacing the coffee table and end tables with something else would help a lot. I envision a white modern coffee table. Don’t match the side tables to the coffee table. Rugs are hard to replace due to the expense - I think you could make it work if you need to keep it. I really like the two side chairs with the pillows.

[mrsukyankee]

I'd also remove the teddy bear (though it may be your child's and just happened to be there). And maybe just have two pillows (solid colour?) on the couch.

[fryjack2]

A few things that would help modernize it:

-change out the painting and whatever you replace it with, hang higher.

-when you replace the coffee table and end tables, go for something with clean lines

-can the arm chairs move back a bit? They seem pretty tight in that space.

-switch out the maps to taller lamps. Make the eye go vertical as right now everything seems to be scrunched into a small part of the existing space

You have a lot of contrasting, but not necessarily complementing patterns. The birds on the pillows, the weave of the coffee table and end tables and the material they are made of, the pattern on the rug, the older landscape art, the tufts of the chairs, the curtain pattern, etc. Changing out the tables and art will help a lot.

I think it will look great with minor changes. Have fun!

[OG Jo]

The scale of the items in the room are throwing me. The arm chairs seem much larger than the couch, the art too small for the wall... I would center the couch on the wall and add taller pieces to draw the eye up. What about glass bookshelves instead of end tables? Take a look at this YHL blog entry - this is what I have in mind on either side of the couch.

www.younghouselove.com/neutral-living-room-makeover/

I'd also look into adding something taller and live - a tree in the corner?

[jordancatalano4ever]

The only items I'm needing to keep are the sofa/chairs and art. We will be replacing the coffee and end tables. I would like to replace the pillows. I could also replace the rug. I would say my taste is transistional. I'm not into full modern because I really like traditional styling but I want more of a modern look than full traditional.

This is more of what I would like to go for:

[sandandsea]

I think you need some bling to brighten the space. It looks really dark and closed off. Bring in some more brighter accents like a colorful throw across the couch and some bright vases and decor.

Get lighter pieces for the coffee table and end tables.

I would change the frame around the art as the frame seems to date the piece which itself is more classic.

Also can you rearrange so the chairs are across from the couch so the room is less one side heavy?

Check out z Gallerie living rooms for some ideas of mixing traditional with modern and some pieces that could spruce it up.


ETA photos. Yesterday they wouldn’t work.

[momin2013]

I think the culprits are:
- the tables: get something more modern, possibly lighter-coloured, and with cleaner lines.
- the lighting: get something taller, with white shades and which give off a “whiter” light (currently they’re pretty yellow).
- the art: I think the picture itself is very pretty, but it desperately needs a new frame. I think adding a nice modern one with a white matting will make it pop more. Then hang it higher above the couch.
- the rug: this is an opportunity to really play up the art. Something with some of the same green in it will help put more focus on the art as an accent piece.

[Deleted]

Can you re-frame the art? I'm not really a fan of the frame and I think that it would look better with something less ornamental.

I'd bring in a rug with more color.

When you replace the coffee and end tables I'd try to find something Mid-century modern with nice clean lines.

[ellipses84]

Your style is going to look transitional based on the furniture, no matter how modern you go with accent pieces. I think you need some big, bold statement, like a darker, maybe patterned accent wall behind the sofa or a dramatic rug. You can keep the art in the room, but reframe it with a larger simple frame and matte around it to size it up, move it elsewhere in the room and put a large canvas or series of simple framed art above the sofa (like the two white frames in your example photo) or make it into a gallery wall with more modern frames and artwork around it. You could swap out some of the tables, but yours kind of blend in and don’t stick out to me. You need something to draw people’s eye when they walk in the room, and you have lots of options, so just find a piece you absolutely love and work around it.