Sunday, January 4, 2009
Decorating Help!
I freely admit that I am clueless when it comes to interior decorating. My husband has a much better eye for color and style than I do! We've been rearranging the furniture in our home to make a little more room for baby, and as we're doing so, we have some decorating to do. I'm appealing to all you in the blogosphere for tips and ideas! I've posted a short video of our living room. It is a challenging space to decorate as you will see. (note, the pictures on the walls are only temporary until we figure out what we're really doing!)
One of the biggest challenges is one wall has a huge (8'x12') mirror permanent as far as our landlord is concerned. Should we try to cover some of it up? How do we incorporate that into a bigger scheme?
Also, the walls are a very light shade of pink. We think they must have meant to be a nice trendy tan, but picked the wrong color! :P
So with that preamble -- HELP!!
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8 comments:
If you really can't take it down something to consider would be treating it like a large window.
You could even hang sheers in front of it to minimize the reflection and just give the appearance of extra light in the room.
Another thought is to play up the mirror aspect of it and purchase a bunch of mirrors at Ikea / garage sales / Goodwill. Paint the frames all the same color (or two complimentary colors) and then hang them from the wall above with strong ribbon (because you won't be able to mount them directly to the mirror without damaging it (apparently the landlord loves that mirror and would be mad if it was damaged). Try to get a nice balance with an assymetrical arrangement.
I agree about treating it like a large window, with some sheer drapes. I think you have plenty of beautiful natural light and glass in the room, so putting curtains over the mirror would help cut back on the reflection. I have sheers in my house, and it make me feel like a princess. :)
As for the rest of the room, I like it. I'm a person who really likes to put pictures on the walls, and I choose all the same frames for my pictures. Just weird that way, I guess. But I would listen to Sue's decorating advice long before I would listen to my own advice.
Can you move the entertainment center/TV or is it stuck there because of cable or satelite outlets? Also, do you have an area rug on the floor? I couldn't tell from the video. Also, can you paint the walls or are you stuck with what you have?
You may try pulling the couch and loveseat out at angles. One option is to put the couch in the corner at an angle and create an L shape with the loveseat. Move the area rug at the same angle as the couch (if you have one). By doing this, the mirror will no longer be the focal point and you can just ignore it.
You can tone down the pink walls by accessorizing in soft browns. It will make the walls seem more taupe than pink.
If you are allowed to paint, you can just paint the wall behind the entertainment ctr. a soft brown. Again, the pink walls will seem toupe if you pick the right shade of brown.
You will have to send us an 'after' video when you are done so we can see what you did!
hey, kathy--looks like a really cute place. here's a post on a blog that i love by a reader with the same problem--looks like some good ideas in the comments section.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/good-questions/ny-good-questions-how-should-i-cover-up-this-mirror-054482
good luck and take some pictures of the final product.
I think all the pre-existing suggestions are great ones. My mother-in-law is an interior designer, and she always told me to follow one rule of thumb - that furniture shouldn't be placed right against walls. I love the idea of angling it just a little. It usually makes the room feel more cozy. I also agree with the idea to put sheers against the 'mirror wall'. You could also add some rope lighting behind that too so it casts a really pretty glow... I think it's such a pretty space though!!
Hi Doug and Kathy--I found you from JT and Mejkins blog. I came hoping for baby news. I'm sure you second that emotion Kathy! :) We'd love to hear from you.
As for the mirror issue, I'll give you my two cents worth...I saw a spread in Pottery Barn where they hung pictures over the top of a mirror, either hung from above on a ribbon, or directly on the mirror using those release tab hook things they sell for Christmas decorations, etc. I also liked Sue's idea of more mirrors. I think that would look really cool. OK, so that was more than two cents, I just can't help myself...
You can also use a hammer. That will help you decide.
Hey Kathy! I found you through following links around the Former Nodaks' blogs. The mirror could be a benefit if you made it more of a (much softer) focal point. I did a little web digging, and someone had the idea to put up a picture rail above their equally huge mirror. Another idea could be to hang pictures with ribbon, instead of just on a nail, above the mirror...
Are you allowed to paint the room? Because paint is an amazing helper...
It's a shame that there are too many architectural focal points so close together in the room (a gigantic mirror AND a fireplace? In the same corner? Oh boy!) That fireplace is cool, though I agree about not really needing it in your locale.
And I'm also going to echo everybody's thoughts of adding sheers. You could tie the sheers and the photo-ribbon thing together. If you put the curtain rob up high enough (and got longer sheers) you could hang pictures using ribbon along the length of the rod, lightly draping another sheer around the exposed rod part. (Warning: This is about to sound cheesy) It would look almost cloudy, like your pictures were hanging from the sky. Sorry about the cheese there.
Hope all these suggestions are helping!
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