Help with living room please

Lauree1183

We live in a townhome and used to have 20ft ceilings over our living room, we recently added a third bedroom above the living room so now we have a 9ft ceiling with a 9.5ft recessed ceiling in the middle (pictured below).  We have never bought shades/blinds for our living room and are looking to do so now.  

Here is how my living room was decorated before construction.  We will most likely arrange the furniture the same way again.  The Ikea print will not be put back up, I'm planning on doing black floating shelves.  I also have been purchasing new throw pillows with the intent of redecorating around our current furnishings.  We entertain a lot and do not have a TV in our living room.  I also bought new drapery rods (black) and we removed the tie-back holders and I think we will be doing free hanging drapes- we plan on hanging them around 6" above the windows. This is our living room: 

 

This is the blank canvas I am working with (new ceiling pictured- though not completely finished- still need can light covers/surrounds):   

 

Throw pillow that's my inspiration (I like the turquoise, grellow, and purple):

 

Question is, what kind of blinds/shades would you do, and what colors?   Any other suggestions for our living room?  

Thanks ladies!   

TarHeels&Rebels

With that house right across the street, it looks like privacy is an issue, so I'd put up some white faux wood blinds, then curtains.  The current curtains look nice - is there any reason they can't be used again?  When you hang them, hang them outside of the window over the drywall.  You have that great huge window and it's almost completely obscured by curtains.

I think new lamps would be a great addition for you; buy fun ceramic ones in turquoise or grellow.  DIY some canvas art for over your sofa with turquoise and grellow to repeat the colors.  Lastly, I'd look for a new rug with your colors. 

Lauree1183

TarHeels&Rebels:

With that house right across the street, it looks like privacy is an issue, so I'd put up some white faux wood blinds, then curtains.  The current curtains look nice - is there any reason they can't be used again?  When you hang them, hang them outside of the window over the drywall.  You have that great huge window and it's almost completely obscured by curtains.

I think new lamps would be a great addition for you; buy fun ceramic ones in turquoise or grellow.  DIY some canvas art for over your sofa with turquoise and grellow to repeat the colors.  Lastly, I'd look for a new rug with your colors. 

We will be keeping the drapes, I really like them, they're from Ikea.  I will look into wood blinds, hadn't really thought about faux wood ones :-) 

emoflamingo

TarHeels&Rebels:

With that house right across the street, it looks like privacy is an issue, so I'd put up some white faux wood blinds, then curtains.  The current curtains look nice - is there any reason they can't be used again?  When you hang them, hang them outside of the window over the drywall.  You have that great huge window and it's almost completely obscured by curtains.

I think new lamps would be a great addition for you; buy fun ceramic ones in turquoise or grellow.  DIY some canvas art for over your sofa with turquoise and grellow to repeat the colors.  Lastly, I'd look for a new rug with your colors. 

I agree. Hang those curtains high and wide. If you can't find fun ceramic lamps, look at the shapes of ones in thrift stores and use some spray paint like YHL does.

Love the colors of your inspiration!