Room for Improvement #2

This living room could use some life. Let's see if we can give it a little CPR.

For this installment, I looked for a living room that needed some improvement—and boy, did I find one.

I haven’t quite figured out what the apparatus is on the right wall (exercise? therapy?) but hope that it could be moved somewhere else.

This room is generous in size and has a fresh coat of white paint. All of the can lights are in good working condition. But the overall feeling I get from it is that it lacks a soul.

The room appears to be a combination of living and dining space. It is furnished with unapologetic recliners—two of them—with a table in between. On the back wall is an electric wall fireplace, and nothing else. The recliners face a large wall-mount TV and there is a small round coffee table floating in the space.

A futon chair divides the area between living and dining. Then you have a small round table with six chairs, which is overly optimistic since its surface is big enough to serve maybe four.

Even clean, neutral spaces need softness and color. Black accents, natural wood, a lush indoor plant and cozy area rug liven up this tone-on-tone room. (Photo: Moore House Design/Houzz)

Did you also notice that the room has absolutely no architectural element to give it character or cohesion? No fireplace. No moldings or wainscoting or paneling. No sconces or central light fixture (and what are those black things hanging on each side of the window? If they are reading lights, they are awkwardly placed.)

Ideas for the disjointed living space on the left include creating a better focal point, such as a built-in bookshelf/media wall. (Photo on left: realtor.com | Photo on right: Joy Street Design/Houzz)

What I Like

The futon. This chair is cute, colorful, and goes a long way to warm the room.

It’s clean. You can never accuse this room of being cluttered. For some, the stark clean look with a neutral palette is very appealing.

Plenty of even lighting. Even with just one window, this room is very light and bright thanks to liberal placement of can lights.

What I Would Change

The arrangement. By placing a sofa across the dining/living divide and the chair or loveseat perpendicular to create an L shape, you have a much more defined living zone. I would move the TV below the fireplace and position that fireplace better. Right now it looks like an oversized microwave oven.

The stacked TV and fireplace will also need framework—create interesting bookshelves in a pattern to surround them, or build out a section of the wall. You could paint it or add wood or tile.

The recliners—by now you know how I feel about recliners but these would be OK if they were accented with a fabulous rug, coordinated pillows, and a substantial coffee table.

Keep your TV area anchored with a rug scaled to the floor size and L-shaped seating (or a sectional like this). Instead of floating your TV screen in a sea of white wall, place it on a handsome credenza or frame it with built-in shelves. (Photo: Moontower/Houzz)

Cohesion. Everything in this room just seems to float. Even the cute futon chair is randomly placed. It might work better if it was angled from the left wall and a great piece of art hung where the exercise contraption is now. Good visual cues for establishing zones include rugs, tables, floor lamps, and artwork.

Avoid the “contractor’s special” taint. The plain construction of this house does it no favors but you can do things to enhance it. One thing I really like is adding siding to one wall, or even to create a panel effect, like this:

Mass-produced housing rarely includes things like built-ins, fancy molding, or interesting window designs anymore. This paneled wall design would go a long way to improve a plain room. (Photo: Houzz)

Add spot lighting. While the canned lights provide even light, some well-placed floor and table lamps would create more warmth. Wall sconces are underrated, too; they highlight parts of the room so that you have an interesting interplay of light and shadow. Mono-lighting is not necessarily a good thing.

Move things around, connect your spaces, and start searching for that one art piece you need to get a heartbeat in your living room.