Lightening up in the Living Room

In my quest to lighten it up a bit in the living room at “Our House”, I’ve needed to decide what I want to change and what I want to keep. This is the living room before I started. (And obviously before the Valentines mantel was completed, or the cord covers were up!)

My notes on the pictures tell the story of what I considered and decided on in order to bring a lighter feel into the space.

I’m always willing to consider anything, when decorating a room. It’s very important not to allow yourself to ‘get in a box’ with thinking something ‘has’ to stay that way, you could miss a way better way it could be if you’re not willing to even consider it.

Here are the close ups of the fabrics and colors in this room before I started:

Valance Fabric: very dark, and with the red has a lot of visual weight to it. And the new color emphasis will be on blues and browns…I think these have to be changed.

Rug: very good quality, perfect size for room, and even with a lot of orange/red, has enough blue and tan that I can pull from. This rug has been amazing, carrying me through many color scheme changes! (Besides I still have a few red accents in the other part of the great room, so I want to keep a tiny bit in here too.)

Leather Chair: Wonderfully comfy Pottery Barn reclining chair, even though it’s dark, there will be other ways to lighten up this corner.

Sofa Fabric: Keeping it as is for now, will consider having a slip cover made for it sometime, but for now, it’s going to be the dark anchor on this wall.

Settee: Inspiration piece! This Pier1 settee is so comfortable and I love the fabric on it, this will be the inspiration for the fabrics I am changing. Also, this will be the dark anchor for this end of the room, (but with light and blue accents).

Pottery Barn Bench Ottoman: Beautiful fabric, but so much red, it really pulls the red accents out of the area rug. The size and legs are great though, so recovering it seems right.

Swivel Rocker in front of fireplace: Cute slipcover fabric, too much dark in front of the dark stone and fireplace, need a light contrast there instead…and new color inspiration is emphasizing brown instead of black…Dining room has black accents though and roosters too, hmmm…

Paint on Wall and Trim: the wall color is a Hirshfield’s color called: “Brass Bucket”, on my computer, this picture is pretty accurate. It’s a greenish/goldish color and depending on the light can emphasize one or the other. I just painted this color about a year or so ago, and I still really like it, so if I can make the new fabrics work with it, I’ll keep it, but I’m willing to consider changing it if I need to.  The trim is a Hirshfield’s color too, called: “Sandy Lane”. Basically all the trim in the entire main floor is this color, and so that’s one thing that will remain for sure.

So that’s what I’m working with. I’ve already changed the Pottery Barn bench ottoman, and with replacing the reds on it by bringing in the blues, creams, and olives in the new fabric, it has made a huge difference! It instantly lightened up the rug, pulling blue tones from it instead of the red.

Next up: move the furniture and see what I need to buy, borrow (from other rooms) or steal … er…well I’ll refrain from stealing… and just stick to the buying and borrowing!

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