October 2009 Weddings
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Melissa & any others good at design...
I need some interior design help! When we moved, we got rid of all of our furniture and started over so now we are slowly trying to get our house in order. Currently in our living room we have a couch so I have a lot to do! My problem is that the wall behind our couch is reall big and I have no idea what to do with it. I tried googling some inspiration but couldn't really come up with anything...if any of you have any ideas or isp. pics of what to do with a huge blank wall with a couch in the middle - please pass them on! TIA
Re: Melissa & any others good at design...
Do you have pictures? If we could see exactly how big the wall is, especially in comparison to the couch, maybe that would help.
If it's SUPER huge, I'd say you'd need to make separate "areas" with it, instead of focusing on one gigantic way to make it work. I'm not sure if that even makes sense.
<a href="http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b260/KelsieAustin/?action=view
Ok, hopefully this helps. I couldn't fit the whole wall in the pic by taking it dead on so two are from an angle (at either end of the room) and the middle pic is looking right at the couch. The couch isn't in the center b/c on the opposite wall we have a fireplace with a cut out above it for the tv and its not in the center of the wall (weird I know) but I may move the couch so the whatever I hang is more symmetrical on the wall. **Also, please excuse my folded laundry, laptop, and half painted walls - we got snowed in last weekend and ran out of paint**
That's a pretty big wall!!! In order for you to come at this in the best, least stressful way, you'll need to focus on furniture before wall decor. But, while picking furniture, you'll need to keep wall decor potential in mind. But, just putting things on that wall isn't going to cut it.
My first thought is an over-sized sectional. Or even adding an over-sized recliner to compliment the existing couch. Maybe add some sort of wall table/sofa table/end table.
Is the shape of the room such that you can pull the couch away from the wall? Sometimes people get stuck in design because they feel like they HAVE TO put furniture flat on walls. If you can pull it away from the wall and then anchor it with a sofa table behind it, that may open doors to all sorts of other design posibilities.
<a href="http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b260/KelsieAustin/?action=view
Hey! How cool that you have a fresh pallette to be working with, I'd love to sell all our furniture and start over!
Aside from that wall being really long, it seems like your ceilings are really high too, are they standard 8 foot and just appear taller in the pic, or do you have a lot of height to work with as well?
I like to use mirrors a lot in decorating, especially in small or narrow rooms, they make any space seem larger. The first idea that popped into my head is this one from Twice Remembered Cottage. The end table on either side along with the lamps help to use wall space as well as providing storage and a place for task lighting:
Or, using a tall, verticle, framed floor mirror next to your recliner would enhance your space, like this set up from Young House Love:
I also agree with Shawty that if you break it up into sections, it can feel alot less 'placed', and much more 'designed'. Take for instance, this design by Candice Olson, she takes this long and narror room and breaks it up into 3 different areas. You probably wouldn't need a dining room, but you could use this as a jumping off point and have a TV area on one side, and a reading or conversation area on the other. I assume you have a dining room or eat in kitchen elsewhere:
Before-
After-
Also, if your ceilings are tall, consider adding some crowne molding along the top, it will visually enhance the room and lower the ceilings. Another idea would be to hang a light above the center of the one area, or one above both areas if you do split it into two areas; ikea has great and cheap options for this:
On the opposite wall from the couch, I would use some open bookshelves, or floating shelves. The floating shelves won't leave a footprint and take up floor space, and the open bookshelves won't take up as much space visually, I like these backless ones from ikea:
I also like the idea of a console type storage unit, it has the benefits or storage like a bookcase would, but it's a little more on the modern side because of it's shape. You could also put floating shelves above a console until for even more display space (this one is also from ikea):
Well that's all I have off the top of my head, if you aren't tired of reading all this then let me know and I can look for some more photos for you! Good luck!
Hey - I'm butting in, so I apologize.
I like to break up spaces so that you maximize space, but also don't drown in it. I love Melissa's suggestion about the mirrors, but you could also space out 2-3 frames above your couch. Add a side table and a large vase with flowers in it (I prefer fake so I don't have to water them) - I'm trying to find a picture. Angle the recliner. I wish I had a full view of your room...but you can do it.
Thanks for all the suggestions ladies! If you have any others, keep 'em coming
Melissa - yes, the ceilings are really high...we could do some molding, but we are renting so we didn't want to put too much work into it since we def. aren't buying this place. The only reason we painted the room is because one wall was a WalMart blue and the others were white and it was not working for us!
I definitely think the recliner will help, and Melissa had some great suggestions!
The first two things I thought of were a large wall clock like this:
or a photo wall, which is kinda similar to the mirrors, but maybe a bit easier.
or even something like this would be easy to do with cheap frames and scrapbook paper:
MY BLOG!
Our couch is on a long blank wall too, and we're also in a rental. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to paint, so we have one long white wall running through our living/dining room. We hung three large floating shelves on the wall above our couch and put some interesting objects on them. I bought inexpensive frames from Michael's and framed scrapbook paper that matches our living room colors. I propped the frames at the back of each floating shelf and in front of the frames are candles, etc. Inexpensive and adds some color to our walls without leaving (much) permanent damage. I don't have any pics of our room, but here is a similar idea:
Then, we "framed" our dining area with a small chandelier and a wine cabinet. I hung some different framed artwork over the wine cabinet and placed a vertically oriented floral arrangement on the cabinet so it feels visually separated from the living area.