Gina's Family Room

Christine,

 

I stumbled upon your blog and can't stop reading! I've asked everyone I know how they would solve this problem and no one can seem to come up with a good solution. I'm hoping you can help.

 

I have a great room that has a fireplace on an angled wall, which is the focal point. We purchased two Chesterfield sofas (his and hers) and we love them. They really fit the way we live and there's no way my husband will ever get rid of them. My only problem is that there is one long wall that is visually divided by one of the sofas. This causes two issues: 1) a completely empty, non-accessible corner, and 2) difficulty placing artwork/decor along this long wall.

 

Would you have any suggestions on what I could put in the empty corner? And any advice on how to place the zinc mirror and accessorize around it? It's so lonely where it is and looks totally random. Any help you can give is so very much appreciated!

 

Gina

Gina,

Gina, Gina, Gina...  I read your questions, I know you are asking me about the wall decor and the corner...  but I can't help but to comment on the whole room.  I just can't leave it unsaid. 

Let me start by saying what nice items you have.  Individually, you have really selected some of my favorite things.  There is no sofa I like better than a Chesterfield.  I have a very similar one in my own home.  Your large mirror is awesome!  Your coffee table is terrific. 

But...  His and hers sofas?  That reminds me of his and hers Lazyboy recliners, but yours is straight out of a Restoration Hardware catalog.   I like making things perfect, and if you aren't letting me change your furniture, it's like, here is some pasta, chocolate chips and applesauce, help me make spaghetti.  Sure- as soon as we get rid of the chocolate chips and apple sauce.  I don't mean to be harsh.  The selections individually are all very lovely.  ;-)  but...

Your design:

Issues:

1.  When you have two parallel sofas, you need more space, so you can have two chairs, or you can have no chairs at all, but the one chair doesn't work.  Can you see that?  Consider moving the chair to another room.

2.  Three different leathers.  That lack of textural variety in your upholstery is not good.  It makes me a little sad, because it all looks so nice and new.  Honestly, I would move one sofa to another room, and move the chair to a third room.  They are all great- but don't belong together.  Your e-mail makes it sound like you won't do that- but the beauty of this blog is that I am going to pretend that you did.  (Don't you e-mail me and tell me you're not doing it.)  Now, go get a matching sofa.  I'd like a couple of "hers" sofas.  ;-)  (or his...)  I never have two sofas, or even two chairs that are the same style with different upholstery.

Now your room looks something like this:

3.  Let me tell you about your wall decor.  It is all about relationships.  When you do not have any furniture against the wall- your wall decor should have a relationship in size and scale to the wall itself.  Having the corner of a diagonal sofa sort of touching the wall does not count.  Look at the photo below.  This is an excellent example of how to treat this wall correctly.  You'd need a whole heck of a lot of wall decor to have the correct scale for a wall that size.

I took that picture from this post, where I go into it in more detail.  However, you already have this beautiful zinc mirror.  Can you use that in a collage?  I think it is too dominant and too deep to mix well with other items.  So- what can you do?  I just discussed this recently, in this post.

You can change the game by adding a piece of furniture to the wall.  Now your wall decor should have a relationship with the furniture that is beneath it.  Add a chest or console table.  Make sure the size of the furniture is a good scale for your mirror that you already have.  I would still add more wall decor on the right side of the console table, perhaps a collection of art.  Not just one piece like you currently have, more like five pieces of different sizes.  You can do a search on my site for the word "relationships."  There might be a thing or two about my husband, but mostly, this kind of relationship issue I have discussed many times. 

4.  The corner?  Add some decor to the table, and a plant.  Easy Peasy Lemon Sqeezy as my nine year old would say.  A lamp, some pottery, that kind of thing.  Check out the collection below from West Elm- You could repeat that exactly.  If you are ever unsure about your ablility to accessorize, the styllists for magazines are pretty good at this kind of thing.  Just copy it.  Right down to the two rocks.  -Add a lamp, and a large plant with an uplight in the corner and it would look great.

 

 There you go- I hope I was more helpful than harsh, what good am I if I don't say how I feel?  Right?

The Cozy Factor

 Hi Christine,

I've been faithfully following your blog, and I've read every single post you have written.

I am a desperate woman, in dire need of your blunt help with my family room.

This is our main room for TV watching and entertaining, and I kind of hate it. It does not feel cozy or balanced to me.

We ripped up the carpet and put down the hardwoods to match the existing that was everywhere else in house.  I removed the 8 x 11 rug I had in there (this one), as I wanted something a bit bigger and not so brown. I like traditional Persian and oushak rugs; however I don't want a red-dominant one.  My very patient husband has driven me all over NY, NJ and CT the last few months to go rug shopping. I've not found any Persians I'm overly keen on, so I was considering a seagrass rug and then punching up the pattern by replacing the linen drapes with something graphic (something like this? , or maybe this? ). I know you like a minimum of 3 in a room.

 I thought you might tell me to put the TV on the fireplace. We tried that, and it was too high and hurting our eyes.

I plan on removing existing vertical blinds left by previous homeowner and installing Roman shades, probably in a woven. If you want me to keep the flax linen drapes, I will have them hemmed and weighted, and also get a longer rod to increase the stack off to the side of the windows.

The only thing I really like in this room are the Greek key pillows I had made.

I was planning on having the armchairs reupholstered in something very graphic. I am at a loss on what to do with the huge wall behind couch. I have a 6.5ft long mirror I was considering, but that still doesn't take up the length of the wall.

My house is a traditional New England colonial, and the rest of my house is done in greys, taupes and blues. Those, along with light green, are the colors I gravitate towards. I'm including some photos of our living room (the blue room, or where our furniture goes to die) in case you want to tell me to use any of this furniture in the family room. The living room is currently a TV/train table room for the kids until we finish the basement. It will be dealt with at a later time.

I am excellent at following directions, and I hope that you can help me. I promise to take pictures and show you what I've done.

Cheers, and thank you ever so much,
Laura

Hi Laura,

Your wood floors are beautiful!  Good move!

I want to address three things with you that will make all the difference in the room:

1.  Your TV

2.  Your big blank wall

3.  The Cozy Factor  (or lack of it)

Let's start with your television.  Yes, it's true that the first thing I would say is, put it above the fireplace or move it to a different room.  So- now that it is staying in this room, and not above the fireplace, I do have another plan for you.  What is really wrong with having it like it is, is your rhythm.  It is very poor rhythm the way it is.  To improve that, I added two large shelves, and set it on an angle on one of them.  The height of the shelves (from Dovetail), gives a different type of rhythm and balance to the wall.  Is it as perfect as no TV at all?  No- but it is a good solution that doesn't sacrifice your furniture arrangement and balance that I am trying to achieve in the space.  Number 2- that big wall.  You have two ways of dealing with the large empty wall.  First, you could have a large collection of wall decor.  One large mirror will not do the trick.  It would still be out of scale with the massive size of the wall.  Or, secondly, you could add furniture to the wall.  When you do this, you change the scale for the wall decor.  Instead of having a relationship with the wall it is on, the wall decor now has a relationship with the furniture that it is over. The piece below is 94 inches in length.  That is great.  With that said, your furniture should have a scale relationship with the wall.  I did this by using a very long buffet table, and then also adding two sconces on either side. 

Do you see how I took you from having to cover 240 inches of wall down to about 70 inches?  You're welcome. 

Now for the cozy factor.  Your room is not cozy because:

First of all, your furniture is too small.  Get larger, taller furniture.  I selected a couple of pieces for you from Bernhardt.  Nothing is cozier than a wing back.  It's like you're being hugged as you sit there.

I also selected for you a sofa that is a larger scale than your current one, and with a softer fabric, and a higher back and arm.  The larger size with be a better scale for the room, taking away the awkward "I'm too small" look that you have. 

I also added two large ottomans for the center.  They push right together to look like one.  An oversized ottoman, or oversized coffee table, could serve the same purpose.  However, you would pay quite a bit more generally for an oversized piece.  Using two is sometimes a cost saver. 

This is the Ulster ottoman from Bernhardt.

Secondly, the scale of the patterns in the room make a difference as well.  Larger patterns in darker colors brings a large room in.  I just went off your pillows and selected a rug and fabric for you.  This rug is from Uttermost:

Of course, sometimes a rug is like a piece of art, and you might want to stumble upon the one that is perfect for you.  Either way, you could get a jute or sisal rug,  (9 x 12) and then later layer a patterned rug on top of it in an 8 x 10.  When you are purchasing a very expensive rug, this can save you thousands of dollars.  It also increases your textural variety, and can buy you time if you want to take your time on the second rug. 

I would not use your soft fabric on the drapes.  The bolder option you had selected is alright.  I also found one from Lee Jofa for you. 

Again, the bolder print will make your large room come in closer. 

Texture is the third aspect that will make a room cozier.  Ramp up your texture in your rugs, woven wood Roman shades layered with a textured drapery fabric, soft upholstery fabrics and plants.  Wallpaper would also be a terrific addition.

A few more additions:

A bench for under your window.  This gives the room a good rhythm, as well as additional seating.  It can be pulled around to the front of the fireplace for a boxed seating arrangement with a larger gathering.

A blue lamp.  Repeat the blue a couple more times to make it really work great in the room. 

I added the blue lamp on a sofa table behind one of your sofas.  Remember that good lighting also makes a room feel cozy.

(table from Dovetail)

You will need a few more lamps in that large room.  I added some buffet lamps on the console, and a floor lamp.

(lamps are from Uttermost)

Here you go- see it all put together:

Anu's Greatroom

Hi Christine -

I recently came across your blog and I am truly enjoying going over all the entries and reading your suggestions. It definitely puts a great perspective on everything!  You definitely have great taste!

I desperately need your advice. I am kind of all over the place pouring through the internet and design books trying to figure out the best color combinations for our new home. We just purchased it and moved in it a month ago. We have been living in a one bedroom apartment so apart from our bedframe, I can't say we have any 'good' furniture that I would even like to keep -- haven't trashed it yet though. :) I am really looking to start off from a clean slate.

I am hoping you can help me with my living room/dining area. It is an open floor plan so I would like to divide the two spaces by using two different area rugs. I do enjoy pops of color. Also both spaces have dark hardwood flooring. Both spaces combined would be really a rectangular area about 22 feet by 14 feet. I am attaching some pictures of the house prior to when we bought it (so it has the previous owner's furniture). Basically I don't own anything in the pictures. :) I am not too enthusiastic about using a sectional because I feel it can get boring over time. I would like to have a three seater couch and then two armchairs on the side.

Let me know what you think. Any help is very much appreciated!

Thanks so much!

- Anu

Hi Anu, 

I made a floorplan for you.

Let's go over a few things.

1.  I don't think you have the size in your space to nicely pull off a three seater sofa with two chairs.  Go with a two seater.  It will fit much nicer.  I added a couple of little ottomans to act as additional seating, and round out the space.  There are some super charming loveseats out there.  Check out this one by Maine Cottage:

You can pair that with the Eloise Chair from Arhaus:

Add more pattern and softness with some Roman shades, like these from Pottery Barn:

Paired with some chevron pattern drapes like these from Etsy:

2.  Check out your focal point.  It's a TV wall with a staircase right next to it that is clearly designed to be a walkway.  (The whole thing makes me hyperventilate!)   It is far from ideal.  I actually hate it when the focal point is something like a staircase or a doorway.   And to add to that, having it be a traffic path!!!  UGHHH.  This is not what a focal point should be.  But unless you are willing to do some drywall work and an electrician moving all television cables, you are stuck with it.  I suggest you make efforts to have a more central focal point.  The center of the room can be the focal point with a beautiful center table. Perhaps a great centerpiece, and a hanging light can also draw good attention the center of the room. 

For example, a coffee table that says "look at me"- like the shadowbox coffee table above.  You can fill it with sand and shells from all of your exotic vacations, or family memorabilia.  It could even be something as simple and changing as the crafts your child brings home from preschool. 

The ottomans in my floorpan do two things.  The first of which is to act as seating, or leg lifting, of course.  Secondly, they help to create a central focal point by enclosing the coffee table in furniture all around it.  Can you see how that is a more effective central focal point?

By pulling the furniture away from the walls, we now have a large wall to fill with interesting wall decor.  Go antiquing, find some reclaimed stained glass and put a collection together.  It would make terrific wall decor.

I wanted to briefly touch on the dining room side.  What you need is a very narrow table.  The one above that I found for you is only 36 inches wide.  That is perfect. 

Throw in the unexpected with a mid-centrury chair like this one from Bellacor.

Add a couple of jute rugs or braided rugs.  You will most likely need custom sizes to pull off this room just right. 

There you go- all set.  Keep your white walls.  ;-)

Hanna's Family Room

My friend Hanna is re- doing her family room.  Right now it looks something like this:

Hanna has great taste, and it is a perfectly fine looking room.  Her room has too much negative space, and lacks some really good balance.  I'd like to change the furniture arrangement to look more like this:

Remember all you need is three feet for your traffic path.  Your room should really be about being in it, not about being easy to get into.   I feel like Hanna's room before was nice and open to the eating area and to the kitchen, but it is a space of its own.  Create an environment.  Create a conversation area.  Create an atmosphere in each room. 

So- where do you begin?  I start with a floorplan.  Now Coleen can know what size of sectional to shop for.  She knows that it is a left arm facing sectional.  She can go crazy on Labor Day weekend and take advantage of all of the good sales.  I like keeping my large sofas and sectionals pretty neutral, bringing my color in, in other places.  Find a good off white or gray.  Find one that is comfortable and the right size.  For her room that will be about 11 x 8 feet. 

Finish furnishing the place with a chair...  What to look for here is one that is both comfortable for you and also has a good straight back that will look nice in this setting where I have it against the wall.  Some chairs are really meant to be out in the room, with sharply angeled backs, etc.  Stay away from those.  (the sectional and chair are from Macy's)

Now for some tables....  I added a coffee table:

and an end table...and a corner table:

Notice the variety in texture and materials.  Nothing matches.  Perfect!  Get a corner table that is approximately the same diameter as the depth of the sectional.  Not too small, not too large.  This is a 38" round corner table.  That is a very comfortable and common depth for a lot of sectionals.  If you go looking in the "end table" section of furniture stores you are going to find a lot of tables that are 24 inches and smaller.  That is ok for the table out in the room, but his one needs to fill the corner. Scale, scale scale! (the three tables are from one of my wholesale sources)

Now look at the floorplan again, notice the two squares?  I added a couple of poufs.

These versatile little guys act as extra seating for little guys, or a place to put your feet.  The one above is from West Elm.

Add some more color and pattern with a great area rug.   (8 x 10) The simple stripe below is also from West Elm:

There are three walls in the room.  One is clearly filled with the fireplace and built-ins.  One is filled with windows, and the third is big and open.

Add more pattern with some window panels.  (also West Elm):

Now for your large wall. I would fill the space with a terrific wall collage:

You can keep it neutral, or use some of the green, gray and orange.  Collages are great because they can be whatever shape and size you need them to be.  They are also a great way to show your personality, and make your home your own.

Now for your lighting. 

Add a floor lamp next to the chair, a table lamp on the small table, and along with about three house plants, add an accent lamp on the round corner table.  Put a plant in the corner by the fireplace, and add an uplight.  Put track lighting up for your wall collage, and if I remember right,  you already had overhead lighting.  Put the accent lamp and uplighting on a timer, to be enjoyed every evening without thought. 

(lamps from uttermost, track lighting from Pottery Barn)

Notice something about the lighting?  No coordinating "series" used.   Different shades, different colors, different metals.  Nothing matches.  Perfect!

See how it all comes together:

Frequently I find when people go from inadequately furnished rooms to perfectly furnished rooms, they think it is "too much furniture".  It's like if you don't eat cookies enough you think they are too rich.  It's just not true.  Always shop with your floorplan grid, make sure your purchases are the right size, or it really could be "too much," but after you live with the end result you will feel so much better in the room.  You will have created a more intimate environment.  The balance in the room translates to a balance inside you.  You can always move the furniture if you want to wrestle. 

We should all eat a few more cookies while we're at it!

XOXO

Christine

Another Tricky TV

Hi Christine, 

I have been reading your recent posts about TV placement. I am worried that I am about to make an expensive mistake. My room is small and awkward. I have tried to arrange it so many ways and end up frustrated by the limited options I have. One wall is taken up by the fireplace and two windows. The adjacent wall has the doorway to the kitchen and an off-center arch. The wall opposite the fireplace is broken up by the bathroom door, the stairs, and the front door. This is the best setup I could work out. I am planning on putting the TV mounted on the little wall opposite the fireplace (there is a chair there in some pictures that I would move to another room). I was planning to balance it out with either a thin console under or a builtin shelving around it. Would it be a mistake to put the tv there? It would make a split focal point and I know that is not a good idea. I do not want it over the fireplace if it can be avoided. Also there are some complications regarding wiring there. I know if anyone can figure out this room it is you. Please help me know what to do.

Warmly,

- Connie

Hi Connie,

Your question is so similar to my previousy's post, but as it always the case, every room is different.  I just hate to have a focal point -like a television- totally opposite the dominant focal point- like the fireplace.   It's like taking two dates to the prom.   Neither date is going to be very happy with you.  Architecturally, it is also a very bad wall.  The way it is so broken up makes it a very poor selection for a focal point.  Plus, like I said yesterday, the room would never feel right.   I wouldn't do it.  I also wouldn't put the TV on the wall with your entry console table.  That is the last thing you want when you enter your home, and what you have there now is very nice.  You can't do what I suggested in my last post, with the TV to the side, because you have windows.  You also can't put it on the wall where your sofa is because of the pass through in the wall.  Now I sound like the guy on The Princess Bride, "I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you...  I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me..." 

And so, with that said, there is not an ideal location for your television.  So, what would I do? 

Like my last post, you have three options:

1.  Don't put a TV in this room.  It is not made to be a TV room.  If it were meant to be a TV room, we wouldn't be having this problem.

2.  Put the TV over the fireplace.  Keep the integrity of the focal point.  Generally speaking, most rooms have an architectural focal point wall.  I always try to use that wall as my focal point wall and only deviate from it when absolutely necessary.  Translation: if I were to put a TV in this room, I would put it above the fireplace. 

3.  Fill the pass through, configure the furniture in an L-shape, and put your TV where your sofa is currently. Hopefully the room is deep enough for that.  The sofa would then go opposite the fireplace, and you would need enough depth to have that as well as a walk way behind it.  You could always split the chairs to have one on either side of the fireplace to make room for the sofa moving. 

The biggest down side to option #3 is the lack of rhythm that you have when you fill that much space without upholstered furniture.  If you leave the chairs where they are, and were to split the square room into two triangles, all of the seating furniture is in one triangle.  It lacks balance and rhythm.  If you can fit a chair between the fireplace wall and the TV wall, that would really help with your rhythm. 

Connie, you really have a lovely home I can tell that you have a good decorating sense.  Everything from your decor on your console, coffee table and end tables are all so nicely done.  I really like your use of books, your layered rugs and your drapes.  Keep up the good work!