Help with room arrangement

Bonnie
by Bonnie
Trying to create eclectic feel to my very small living room.
too much going on?
  9 answers
  • Thomas Nickel Thomas Nickel on Sep 15, 2014
    Sometimes the best thing to do is start with a quick sketch of the room and size of each piece of furniture. A lot of times when I get to a room with that many things I like to create a faux/moveable wall. In your particular room I am having a tough time telling scale. Feel free to send me some dimensions of the room and size of furniture. Maybe I can help you think a little differently once we have the pieces laid out.
  • Anna @Annabode Anna @Annabode on Sep 15, 2014
    I love the color of your walls! I think in such a small space, the two ottomans are too much. Maybe replace them with a coffee table. Also, I'd recommend removing the blankets that are currently covering your furniture. If you want to keep the pieces but don't like their current upholstery, SureFit makes amazing slipcovers that are cheap and fit any type of furniture. Otherwise I'd replace them with pieces that are upholstered in your style. Good luck!
  • Carole Carole on Sep 15, 2014
    A tricky one as the carpet has a strong pattern and the walls a very strong colour also. You need to tie your soft furnishings in colour wise with these elements. Too many small pieces in this room make it looks messy to the eye, rather than eclectic. I would try to pick a theme and go with it, ensuring there are no pattern or colour clashes with your carpet and walls. For instance, if you love African artefacts for example, you can use African wooden stools and masks and a faux animal skin throw. If travel is your thing, use things in that room from places that you have been that mean something to you. You can include maps in frames or on coffee table tops. If you have a favourite colour, a collection of things that reflect those colours and go with your walls and carpet without clashing horribly could be the way to go. You need to do something that pulls the look together and makes sense of it. Eclectic does not mean random - there has to be some sense to the look. Hope this helps and hope I have not been too critical. Have a think about what your style is and what you want your room to say about you. You may need to lose some pieces and add others that are more suitable.
  • The Chirping Frog The Chirping Frog on Sep 30, 2014
    If only I had some dimensions.... I love space planning but its very difficult from the pics. Need to know where door openings are in each wall and what room those openings are going into to figure out traffic patterns. Also, size of existing furniture would be great. From what I can tell why not put the sofa/loveseat in front of the large window.... with the larger chair forming an L and then in the small corner (with an entry).... would the smaller chair fit in that corner facing the other seating area without blocking the traffic way too much?
  • Jill Valeri Jill Valeri on Oct 05, 2014
    I agree with starting with graph paper and measurements. It's much easier to try different layouts on paper. However, my instincts are telling me that the large sofa would be best under the window and the the two armchairs could be opposite it on either side of the doorway or one by the fireplace on an angle and the other with it's back to the entry (next to the couch). You have some strong colors and it's hard to tell exactly what's on your upholstered pieces. I would suggest keeping the wall color and (if you love it) the rug. Then neutralize the sofa and armchairs but add throw pillows in colors that are found in the walls and rug. It's a small room so limit tables to a pair on either side of the sofa and a small table between the two club chairs (if placed together opposite the couch) or a small round side table by the one club chair if placed by the fireplace. You should have a pair of lamps flanking the couch and maybe small floor lamps for each of the club chairs.
  • Debi53 Debi53 on Oct 05, 2014
    I agree with Jill & Carole about simplifying & sofa placement. I, personally, think the wall color is too strong, but if you want to keep it, let it be the bold statement & neutralize everything else--paint pieces white; choose one or two fabrics that have the blue in it; spray paint the different picture frames on the wall white, or gold/bronze to unify this arrangement. Edit, delete, coordinate & lighten. If the fabric on your upholstered pieces is in good shape, but just a bad pattern, you can paint the fabric with milk paint (tutorials can be found online.) This looks good & would give you a much cleaner feel than all the blankets & draped coverings. Another way to go: It looks like you have a lot of burgundy?, purple?-can't quite tell from the pics. If you like the rug/fabrics that you have, I would change my wall color to one that works with these. I hope this helps.
  • Shelly Shelly on Oct 12, 2014
    if you are keeping the wall color, go for a clean neutral white slip and curtains, raise the rods to the ceiling and widen a bit larger than the window to bring in the light. i would remove some of the pictures on the stair wall and us all the same color frames, white if your keeping the blue walls, or black if you go a lighter neutral shade. try to stay with an odd number, 3, 5, 7. if you are keeping the room dark, id use chalk paint on the desk, if not, keep the wood. just remember, too many bold prints and colors are stressing and you cant relax with too much going on, and declutter. ive recently picked 5 frames for my family wall, and will rotate my pics out seasonally. good luck!
  • Kayo Frazier Kayo Frazier on Jan 14, 2015
    Ok, Here's my 2 cents...While eclectic is known for it's color & pattern. Unfortunately you've got too many clashing colors from 2 different styles & not in a good way. First, I want to address the placement of furniture. I would move the couch under the windows. This will open up the space for traffic flow. Then, I would remove the bookshelf next to the stairs & place the bigger armchair there. Keep the rattan chair w/ ottoman where it is. I can't tell from the pictures whether the rug covers most of the floor, but if it's removable & you have another space that the rug will fit. I would take it out. It looks like you have beautiful hardwood floors. I would keep them uncovered. If you must have a rug I would make it much smaller. Maybe 2 8x10 rugs side by side. For the couch I would remove all the blankets & slipcover it in a lighter shade of what you have on the walls, then you can do something like this...There are amazing colorful Moroccan floor cushions that you can use to replace the cushions you sit on, on the couch. You will need to double check the dimensions of the cushions you have now so they will match & fit the couch.. If you are crafty, you can look up Moroccan floor cushions for the couch online and actually make them yourself in whatever colors & patterns you like. Of course you would have to find cushions that has the wall color in it along w/ some contrasting colors like orange, royal blue, purple. If you do decide to try this my suggestion is to keep it in the deep. rich jewel tone colors. You can use lighter colors as well as white w/ patterns or pops of color. For the rattan chair & ottoman I would replace the upholstery with a pattern w/ dark rich purple. For the armchair I would replace the upholstery some kind of Moroccan pattern. For the pictures on the stairs, I would get black, silver or white ornate frames then spread them out around the room you have a lot of narrow walls thru out the room. I would put groups of 3 or 5 pictures w/ 1-2 decorative pieces on a simple shelf. Don't be afraid to go up the walls. I'd switch the ottomans w/ a low coffee table. Hope this helps.
  • Country Design Home Country Design Home on Jan 17, 2015
    Hi Bonnie- loving the wall color! Bohemian chic is very cool with all of the mixed colors, patterns and textures, but still needs to be done in a cohesive manner. As far as the room layout goes, you do have some issues because the furniture is across the room from the focal point-the TV and fireplace, simply because of the room's doorways and structure. I like the idea of the sofa with the console table behind it creating an "entryway" that defines the space, but if that isn't working for you, then slide the sofa under those windows and pair the chairs together across from it with a table in between them. One thing I would change is the rug-removing that and replacing it with a neutral light sisal rug would instantly change the room, giving it a more rustic feel but removing the clash of prints. Taking off all the throw blankets on the furniture would help as well. Unless they are tattered or torn, they'll work with some colorful throw pillows that co-ordinate throughout the space. I'm thinking one ottoman or coffee table would do in place of the two little stools. Its difficult to tell from the photos, but there appears to be a pretty orange color on that arm chair cushion. Perhaps use that as your color inspiration for your pillows and throws and curtains-it is the perfect contrast color to the deep teal walls. Then you could pull in some bright Moroccan style soft goods and mirrors with those colors to pull everything together Good luck!