Need Your Advice (xp, OT & pic heavy)

[Uropachild]

We put our Christmas decorations up today!!! :yahoo: We don't have a lot to put up, just the tree and a light thingy over the fireplace, but i feel quite festive now! :D

I do need your advice regarding a home decorating dilemma. I'm not too creative at this sort of stuff and our living room is kinda bland at the moment. It's painted mostly magnolia because when we moved in we just painted all the rooms exactly the same as we were in a hurry.

We're buying a new sofa suite, but the thing is it's brown. I love the colour and i love the suite, so we won't change that, but i need ideas to stop the living room looking like a big brown... well... brown thing.

So, here are some pictures of the room (check out the tree :wink: ) and there are some wall paper samples above the sofa. In an attempt to make the room less bland i might paper the wall behind the sofa.

The massive computer desk thingy and bookshelf will be going upstairs before the sofa arrives, so forget about those.

:?:

1. Do you like either of the wallpaper samples? Which one? Or don't you like either?
2. Is it still too 'brown' even with the wallpaper? Should i have a different accent colour? What colour?
3. Do you have any other ideas or inspiration on how to make the room look good? Any feedback at all?

:?:

Thanks in advance for your words of wisdom! I'm so pants at stuff like this!! :lol: It's good to get a second (third, fourth, fifth.....) opinion! :D

Here's a picture of the sofa we are getting. We're getting the 3 seater and the 2 seater, which is why the desk etc. are going upstairs.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/newsofa.jpg

This is our room as it is now.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1295.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1294.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1293.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1296.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1291.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Uropachild/IMG_1292.jpg

[Graceless]

Holy crap I love that picture!

[Graceless]

Ok, that wasn't helpful. Sorry Sarah. :oops:

I really like the new couch! As for the walls, I am not big on wallpaper but if I were to pick I like the darker one. I think just doing the wall behind the sofa, as an accent wall, would look best vs. the whole room. JMO, and BTW I suck at decorating too... :wink: Good luck! :D

[Kimberly84]

oooh love that sofa and your christmas tree! I think if I were to pick between the wallpapers I would pick the lighter beige one, it will make the room feel larger and more open than the darker paper. I think an accent color would look really good in the room too. Maybe something bold and then just put a few items in, like a dark red (maybe the color in the scarface painting?) and then just a few punches of it like some pillows, a lampshade or a table runner. A green or blue would look really good with those colors too. You could even do something fun on the table to add color, like a bowl full of apples (fake of course) or if you go with green, a bowl full of limes. I don't think the room would be too brown if you just added a few little punches of color, that way its nothing overwhelming and "wow, that is a giant lime green wall...." but it sill livens it up a little bit. Another idea is you could play on the black in the wallpaper (if you choose the lighter one) and add a few black floating shelves around the room (maybe in the dining area, or above the couch) put pictures, trinkets or things like wooden blocks that spell out "LOVE". Anyways, those are just a few random thoughts I had while looking at the room!

lol, can you tell I've been watching WAAAAY too many shows on the home and garden network? ;)

[miss_d]

I would paint the wall behind the sofa dark red or fern green. It seems like you don't get a lot of light so I would change the curtains on the window to something light with a hint of the accent wall.

I like the wallpaper but I think the pattern is too big for your small space. It would over power anything else you have going on. I think it is really cool wallpaper though!

I have dark green behind my brown leather couch but it was a mistake because we don't have great lighting or great light coming in our windows.

I am a crappy house decorator too, so my ideas might be dumb.

[gwtwchick]

Well, I'll start off with saying that I'm not very good at decorating! We've been in our house for over 4 years, and I only recently started doing things to add to the look of it :rolleyes:

I love the wallpaper, but I agree that the print might be too much for the room, at least going by the pictures (which I know from taking pictures of my living room that sizes of rooms can be distorted in pictures). Out of the two though, I like the lighter one. Oh and I LOVE the couch that you're getting! We've been looking for one to replace one of ours, and I can never seem to find one that I like.

I also agree that adding some accents would look really nice. We were going to put our house on the market a few months ago, and the first thing our realtor told me was to add some splashes of color. Our couches are tan, and I got some burnt orange throw pillows, and then also added some knick knacks that had color to them. Really made a big difference! :)

[The Spodas]

I really like the sofa. I am not sure on the wallpaper. what about painting and doing a some type of faux finish????

[Silver_218]

I really like the couch you chose... I am SO not a wallpaper person, but between the 2 choices I prefer the darker one. I agree w/the pp who suggested painting the wall behind the couch an accent color... I did that in my family room - painted one wall a really deep purply-egglplant color... Just adding color really adds depth to a room... and if its just one wall, it should make the room too "dark".... Anyway, good luck!

P.S. I love your picture over your fireplace!

[two_love]

NICE!!!!!

[lby_mommyof3]

I love the couch you've chosen! Color is always good. I think painting an accent wall and using a faux finish would be way cool! And adding pillows to match the accent color would pull the color more into your room. Good luck!

[LadySenna]

I'm another who's not a great fan of wallpaper. If I were to choose between the two, it would probably be the lighter one.

I tend to go with accent walls - I'd probably choose a deep red, or aubergine to go with that couch (which is very nice, BTW). Or, one of my favourite methods, if I want to use darker colours in a smaller room, is just to paint half of the wall, all the way around, the darker colour (the bottom half), leave the top half white/cream/magnolia, and use a border that picks out all 3 colours (brown of the couch, colour of the bottom half & the neutral tone), to cover the join between the two.

You could even do that with the darker wallpaper - the bottom half that dark wallpaper, and the top half a light paint...

ETA: I just looked at the photos again, and I had to laugh. Because that is not a small room for and English house, LOL.

[Uropachild]

Thanks for all your help guys! :D I think i've more or less decided against wallpaper too. I love it, BUT i am a low maintenance kinda person, so i think i'd be better off with something that is quick and easy and that the kids won't pick off the wall in a few years. So, i think i am going to go with the suggestion of painting the wall behind the settee in duck egg blue. It's light enough not to darken the room and it means that i can keep the blue accessories i have already. I'll also get some classier blue cushions for the sofa once it arrives too. And, love the idea of floating shelves, so i think i'm going to get some of those for in the dining room section.

I had to laugh too when some ladies said that it looks a small room. I guess it would be if it were over in the US, but for an English house this is massive! :lol: Funny!!