Newbie, need living room decor advice

f49frugalwife

Hello!

 

I'm a newbie here and am desperately seeking advice on how to decorate my living room.

The couches are a deep eggplant.  The floors are hardwood, a dark oak color.  The beige area rug will be removed.

 

I'm open to buying a new area rug, but must keep the current brown window treatments.

The shelves and entertainment center are a birch color and I want to paint them.  I'm not sure if I should go with white or a dark color?

 I am not into contemporary/modern decor at all.  Definitely more traditional.

 

Thank you! 

TarHeels&Rebels

Love the color of those couches!  Eggplant's one of my favorites that I've never had an opportunity to use.

Do you have any idea what colors you'd like to incorporate?  Eggplant's one of those non-neutral neutrals that you can do almost anything with.  I've seen some very sophisticated monochrome pairings with lilac and beige or gray like here and here. But you could easily put most colors of the rainbow with it, too.  What do you like?

f49frugalwife

Thank you!  I want something light and clean.  the rest of my downstairs rooms are blues/greys/greens.  I am considering the brown color sample on the wall, but am afraid it is too dark with the dark couches and dark rugs. 

I do have 4 small kids so it has to be practical too.

 

 

 

 

f49frugalwife

I definitely like your second picture better!

 

musictchr25

I will be redecorating my family room this fall and I am pairing my eggplant/plum purple with yellow and white. My decor is going to be very contemporary/modern, but you could do some of the same things with your space.  I was originally going to pair the purple with a green, but yellow is my DH's favorite color, so I switched it over to that.  

My browser won't let me add the picture, but here's the post from my blog:

http://www.rhodylife.com/2013/03/family-room-redesign.html 

RugsUSA, RugStudio, and Overstock.com are my go-to places for rugs. If you're ready to buy, RugsUSA is having a great sale right now with some rugs up to 65% off.  The sale ends in three days, so check it out to see what you like. 

TarHeels&Rebels

If you do a light beige/greige on the walls, you'll be able to bring in the blues and greens from other rooms in accessories.  I do think the mushroom sample on the wall is too dark.

Sue-n-Kevin

You've had good suggestions. Since the sofa is so large, do you have other colors in other rooms in close proximity you could introduce? For example, is blue, yellow or gray a color you have in a kitchen, right next to the living room? I find it always look professional if the colors in a room "blend" from room to room. They don't have to matche exactly, but there should be some sense of continuity IMO.

You can paint the cabinets. I'd choose something like Behr Swiss Coffee in an eggshell finish. High gloss paints are hard to gauge on painted surfaces, sometimes it works well, sometimes not. Chances are your bookshelves are not real wood, but have some type of "finish". I've used this paint to paint things in my home and it's a nice neutral off-white.

Good luck.

gymbugmj2k

http://modernfurniturepics.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Modern-Bedroom-design-in-Purple-and-beige.jpg

 

 That was sort of my first idea.

Colors that go well with purple/eggplant are:

Black, white, brown, light green, yellow, beige, light or dark grey

 

So -- you have TONS of options!

White furniture may give you a beachy/cottage feel, while dark furniture may keep it more traditional.  Personally, I would stick with a light wall color, dark furniture, the eggplant couch, and accent with greys, light green and/or yellow.  Brown treatments will fit in with the right shades of the other colors -- especially if you keep the brown tone of furniture pieces.

mrsB68

I would use more of a greige so that you can keep the window treatments but update it a bit. The "gre" of a greige will be a cleaner look than a brown. You also need something to brighten the room so I would look to paint the furniture you have a lighter neutral color (maybe another shade of what you do the walls in so it coordinates) and then maybe some of the mercury glass for table lamps. It would still continue to be a "pottery barn" traditional style but would lighten the room up and update it to a nice clean feeling.

KayJens

I prefer darker colors, so that would be recommendation for the painting.

Do you have any thoughts for decorations yet?

Personally, I really like having portraits and art prints in a living room. I recently redecorated my DD's room and we had a few pieces of wall art made on Shutterfly.com.

I'm also a sucker for knick-knacks and nautical themes, so I'd probably get a few little kitschy items to strategically place around the room like this cute little boat I found on etsy

Here's hoping I get a chance to redo my living room again :P