The pictures above are of my living room from a couple of different angles. As some of you may remember, I desperately want to change the look of the sofa. I don't want to go the pre-made slipcover route because those always move on me and look bunchy (plus this has a pullout bed). The couch is super comfortable and sucks me into many an unplanned nap, but everytime I look at it I am filled with fabric hatred. I'm thinking of reupholstering it (well, really recovering it because I plan to go over the existing fabric rather than to remove it), but I'm having a hard time picking a color. I found a burgundy velvet that I love the look of, and I can kind of dig the idea of a big soft reddish-purple couch, but will that be too damn much with the rest of the room?
This would be an after-Christmas project because I already have too many projects going on what with the unfinished cure and WT. My family is pushing the "you're crazy- leave it alone" viewpoint (mom, sis, and husband) but I'm kind of excited about the possibilities. Of course, I need mom to sew the cushion covers, which might be why she's less than thrilled!
Oh, and I found this coat online, and am in love...
8 comments:
I have no wisdom to share about the couch, just wanted to say I love the coat. Looks like the grown up version of the one you saw recently in the children's department! Good searching!!!!
I can't believe I'm just now learning about this blog. :)
Fabulous coat. Classic, elegant and ultra feminine--in the best possible way.
About the couch:
First, let me say my couch is very similiar in style to yours. It has a rounded back and rounded arms, claw feet. I love it. I also have the poang chair. I'm finding it more difficult than I had anticipated to make the two work together. I've been thinking of recovering my couch too, and re-doing the living room, so I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately.
A complimentary colour scheme is so difficult. I'm drawn to them as well, though. They're so lively and vibrant and done well, they won't make your head spin. To work well, 1) the two colours need to vary in tone, ie, one dark, one light or, if their the same intesity, they need to be slightly off, like a raspberry and green, or a lime green with red. Straight red and green is, well, Christmas.
2) one should dominate, the other should play a supporting role. You have about equal intensities in equal amounts. When balancing colour, remember, Bright and dark and shiny colours really stand out--like your poang. You can't have too many pops like that or things start to look splotchy and cluttered. With the bright blue chair and the fabric piece on the wall, you are almost there. You need to use more of the light and subdued shades to balance it out--so the colour of your sofa works (though it is a bit shiny, is it?) Though, it does look a bit too white for the space. (But that could be the flash of a camera, so I don't know)
So, I don't think you can go blue. As the dark brown pampasan is a nice counterpoint to the bright orange poang, the navy would be to your bright blue chair. Things would be equalized too much and it would look like you couldn't make up your mind which direction to go.
If you go the other way--to the orange, say, a rust or dark terra cotta, you'd make the blue chair look like a "mistake" unless you accessorize only with the blue hereafter. Unless, of course, you cover the blue chair in some sort other orangy colour as well (maybe rust? --but then you'll have a monochromatic room in shades of orange--and that may be great. The lines of your furniture are all over the place even though they all share a curve. A monochromatic scheme would reenforce what they have in common. Orange comes in so many variations!
You could certainly make a burgandy/reddish-purplish couch work in that room. It's a good bridge between the blue and orange. It may look too "anthropologyesque" with the lines of the couch. I think that's what bothers me a bit. The poang chair and the pampasan would be out of place, perhaps. Velvet is an excellent choise as it won't yell for attention.
It just might work. Your room would come across as funky. But it needs to be darkish and that may pull the room too far away from those light, light walls.
I can see why you're having problems! Go through the fall colour finalists. In particular, look at Chrisintotonto's entry--there's a great use of orange in his living room. See how he mixes up the light and the dark. Try not to get distracted by his fabulous use of pattern! As well, Carmen's little pops of coulor is a great study in balancing light and dark. Some of her shots of her other rooms in the later entries show that she loves orange, too, and how she worked with it. Here's alink to all the entries: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/fall-colors-2007-main/at-survey-whos-your-fall-colors-pick-036623
PS--sorry for all the typos! Good grief. I meant "Chris in Toronto" of course. I hope that helps a bit, though. You've got a great eye for colour--you won't have to do much, really, to pull that room together. It's just difficult to figure out what!
I also love the red coat! I put a red coat on my own top 10...I don't own one yet, but I am looking. I've worn black coats for so many years and I want to break out of my rut.
wow Alana- you flatter me! I'm just shocked that my random assortment of furniture vaguely works in this room. Overseas, it is all scattered about, mixed in with the dead boring neutral furniture the USG provides, so having it all in one room has been an adventure. There are actually two blue chairs (the other is in the bedroom) and the Poang is new to this house (its mate and footstool are in FL with my husband). I had planned to live with the couch as is because it is old, it was cheap and I had planned to ditch it when I go back overseas (it has been in storage since Nov 1998). That said, now that I have rediscovered how comfy it is, I'm rethinking and so would like it to better fit my current tastes. The more I think about the burgundy, the more I like the idea. Plus it would go nicely with my rug which is really the most essential-for-the-future match for me (the furniture may change or rotate, but those Persian carpets are forever!) I might try to mess around with Photoshop to get an idea how it would look...
Photoshop is an excellent idea. If I had it, I'd do it too. I've been thinking about your darn living room all day! I've even created a post about complimentary colour schemes. And you're definitely on the right track to work with your beautiful, classic (I wish I had them) carpets.
Ok, so I finally got the post done. I tried to clear a few things up, but I think I made them worse! Oh well, I wanted to ask you to post the photoshopped images. Please? If you can, of course. Thanks.
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