A Chance to Decorate Using Someone Else''s Money!

[plantationcatt]

Unfortunately, you get to decorate MY house with my money...not yours

We close tomorrow (yay) and are trying to plan a decorative scheme before we move in a couple weeks. The living room is where I am at a loss. The house was built in 1975, and has a large living room/dining room combo divided by a 'floating' stairway. There's lots of light, and the ceiling is maybe a 20' A-frame. They already have new blondish woodlike laminate floors, and the paneled walls are a pretty grey-white. We want to leave those the way they are. There's also an awkward (but unique) gas fireplace in the right corner that we can't move. So:

*we're looking at an 8' wide unfinished wood entertainment center to paint black
http://www.woodcraftindustries.com/Catalog/product_view_core.php?collection_id=305&Base_Item_No=SC_3A1503&x=57&y=21
*and a teal/turquoise sectional couch
http://www.rowefurniture.com/collections/cosmopolitan/monaco_sofa/default.htm

We already have a coffeetable we can paint & two black club chairs (okay, they're pleather, but they're vintage....and cool)

Photo is the current owner's furniture in the space. There is a sliding glass door on the wall parallel the stair; the wall parallel the wall shown has the fireplace and about 8 feet of wall.

Help me...I'm terrible with this....please!

 

[plantationcatt]

This is the open stair between living & dining room.

 

[plantationcatt]

This is the back of the house--the sliding glass door is the one that goes to the living room.

 

[oobiecoo]

I''d love to help!... I''m just not quite sure what you need help with... accessories? dining room furniture?

 

[plantationcatt]

Sorry...should have specified. I''m looking for living room furniture/colors/accessories. I think we''re pretty much decided on the furniture...but not on colors, textures, accessories, or furniture arrangement. Thank you!

Really...I''ll take whatever advice you have to give...yall are geniuses.

 

[Octavia]

That''s a neat space!! I''m guessing from your color and furniture choices that you''re looking for a more funky/cool look than it has now. Lighting is really important, and I think some sleek, modern floor lamps would look good with the couch you''re considering. Something like http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1230&f=26526 or http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=1230&f=6802. Or, have you thought of hanging some chandelier-style lighting, which will help take up some of the vertical space?

If it were my space, I''d look for throw pillows and a throw blanket that will either bring the warm wood color of the floor up a level, or ones that tie in with the color of the walls. Black and teal is a pretty splashy combination, so I''d use the couch as your big accent piece and not try to bring too many other colors into the mix (unless you''re looking to go wild with color, and then I''d add some sort of plum or kelly green, maybe?).

Do you want to visually divide the living and dining spaces, or to keep it as open as possible? How big is the room, and are the two sides roughly equal? A couple more pictures would be really helpful, especially one of the fireplace. But it''s kind of hard to think about furniture placement with just the pictures shown.

 

[PrettyBlues]

What a great space you have! I wish I had my own space to decorate

It's much harder in a rental apartment.

Now I'm not sure if you have your dining room set or not, so if you do and it is sleek and black then just ignore me. But have you considered painting your living room tables and entertainment unit a really deep chocolate brown rather than black? Chocolate brown and teal are just so yummy together IMO.

And I think it suits the shape of your entertainment unit more. I also really love the contrast of dark brown and blonde wood colours, it can be really striking.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

That is an awesome OPEN floor plan, Plantation! I like it.

I am not really good with decorating, but I know you''ll end up with something great.

What colors are you guys looking to use? Maybe that''s what you were asking for help with?

 

[plantationcatt]

here is a bad attempt at our floorplan. I''m not sure how well the sizing will work after I upload, but the den is approx 15x17 with the total den/dining room approx 17x30 divided by the stair.

 

[oobiecoo]

Nice floorplan action! You definitely need to decide on a focal point for the den and that will help with arranging everything and possibly colors. I would choose either the fireplace or the sliding glass doors... the sliding doors would be really nice if you have a great view. Is the sofa going to be a bright teal or more subdued? As far as colors go, I would add in maybe a sand-y color or if you really like color then something like a berry. The house is wonderful... congratulations on it!

 

[plantationcatt]

Ya''ll are GREAT. Thank you so much for your help. Yall have the weels turning! Since we closed Friday, I was able to get in and take pictures with their furniture gone. Hopefully I can get those posted tomorrow.

octavia, I LOVE those lamps you recommended. There''s not enough overhead lighting, so we''re definitly going to need some. Maybe we''ll hang a simple chandelier and do a couple floor lamps, depending on the final furniture layout. I''m thinking teal will be the only big color. We''re pretty simple people. But for holidays or a party I could always break out a plum or kelly green throw!!! I''m going to try to get those pictures to answer your space question...

PrettyBlues, I''ve been renting for three years, and boy was I tired of beige walls. I currently have a small dining room set, but when we find the money we''re going to be purchasing a much larger one (we have big families). And we actually might purchase it at a place that does unfinished wood, so then we can paint it whatever we wish. Decisions, decisions. I also love chocolate brown. We''re doing navy & mocha in the bedroom, so maybe that will satisfy my brown love.

fisher, I''ve been watching your housing thread & I''m keeping my fingers crossed for you! We do like the openness of the living space, while the bedrooms are all closed off. In fact, there is a door to the bedrooms hallway that can be shut when entertaining, (still leaving a powder room for guests). Sounds all fancy, but not really.

SanDiegoLady, After further consideration and measuring around the room like an idiot this weekend trying to figure out where to put things...I think you''re right about the two chairs and a sofa. I might see if they can make a matching ottoman or something...hmm again...

oobiecoo, I already had some sandy-gold satin pillows with black embroidery--I''m thinking those on the couch plus maybe a sandy throw over one of the black chairs might work for the palatte. The sofa is more of a rich, jewel tone teal. The focal point is going to be tricky...there is the fireplace, the staircase, the doors (which do have a nice view), and then our huge entertainment center...

Again, I can''t tell you how amazing PS is!!! (like ya''ll don''t know

) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

 

[Octavia]

Plantationcatt, thanks for posting the floorplan! Sorry I didn't see it before this. I took an interior design class for fun (so I only have a tiny clue what I'm talking about, feel free to ignore me if it seems silly!) and one of the cardinal rules is to avoid smooshing all the furniture to the outside walls of the room. In your living room, it looks like one of the obvious places to put the couch would be against the wall opposite the fireplace (like in the first photo above)...but avoid doing that if you can!

How are you planning to display the TV? I.e. a media cabinet, a small TV stand, hanging on the wall, etc? And do you need other storage in the room (bookshelves, DVD/CD storage)?

Congratulations on making it through the closing! Keep us updated on what you decide to do with the spaces, and I'll keep thinking of possibilities for you

 

[plantationcatt]

Octavia, we''re going to get the entertainment center for the TV (link in my first post)--but the bookshelves that flank can actually go elswehere in the room--they''re detached.

Following pictures might help:

 

[plantationcatt]

Photo might help a bit...

 

[fisherofmengirly]

How exciting!! You CLOSED!!

When do you move in? Are you painting at all, or is that already done or not needed?

How exciting!!!

The room you have to work with looks GREAT!

 

[plantationcatt]

Fisher, we're loading up the Uhaul tomorrow...and we only have to go about 10 minutes away in it! (I know, we're REALLY blessed). I'd go crazy if we couldn't go back and forth with more trips in the car with the very fragile things!

Have yall heard anythin on your house yet?????

We are painting the back bedrooms and the formal living room. I'll attach some of those pictures for fun. \

The text is tiny in the pictures, it says: Master bedroom is weird rose gray---will be navy & mocha brown spli by chair rail
Other room, to their defense, was their daughter's room. It's now a soft grassy green

 

[pennquaker09]

I love the house. It''s quite beautiful. I actually have a design magazine that shows you what to do with the color teal. I''m going to have to dig and find it.

Teal and black is actually a pretty good combination. There are two directions you can go with this; you can go for a modern look and add some silver or you could go more traditional and add gold or brown. I could see a zebra pint ottoman somewhere in the room.

 

[babysteps]

Great house and great space!! Just a thought for down the line - I would be very tempted to box in that part of the open stairway between the posts and the stairs and create something you could use, i.e. wine storage, bookshelves, place to hang some art, put stereo components, whatever. There are some great books at Home Expo with ideas for built-ins and I think it would cozy your space up without sacrificing sq. footage. Love the open floorplan and the light in your house!