help with decorating a living room to coordinate with two other rooms in an open floor plan house?

Question

my house has an open floor plan. the walls are a shade lighter than mustard yellow. my formal dining room is right next to the living room and it has traditional oak furniture and it has a buffet with a charcoal gray marble top. my hearth room is also next to my living room becuase it is right in front of my kitchen, which has stainless steel appliances and uba tuba (ooba tooba?) green granite counter tops along with cherry cabinets. The hearth room has contemporary black leather furniture and black glass tables.
how can i coordinate my living room to look good with both my traditional-style formal dining room and my contemporary hearth room.
please let me know if you need any more information.
any suggestions for stores are welcome. links with pieces that you like from stores like Bombay and Pier One would also be very helpful.
thanks!

Answer 1

The "experts" say pick a color scheme and carry it throughout--sounds like you have a relatively "blank palate" with black leather furniture. If it were me, I'd choose say three colors..and make one the dominant color in each room..and accent with the other two in the rooms.
Martha Stewart would probably say mix textures and fabrics, as wel. Maybe a print (chintz) would be good in the dining room. With black leather, you could do something more shiny (not satin, but something like it?) for pillows. Add a throw, or even a couple of nice artsy sort of pieces. Play off the colors of the chintz in the dining room.
You've got mustard yellow walls, green and gray countertops. Depending on your yellow (is it a blue-ish or yellowish yellow?) you could add some shades of green, maybe a rust or blue tones. I'd find a color wheel (like paint stores have, or decorating books) and look at what's next to the wall colors on either side. Those are your complementary colors.
I've also seen some wood items (frames, boxes, shelving units) that are black with a wood reveal..that might be a nice tie-in to bring some of the wood from one room into the black leather/glass room. (Hmmm...I feel like finding a paintbrush myself!)

Answer 2

Use colors that blend from room to room. Keep the formal living and dining rooms in similar style (traditional).
Is the hearth room like a family room? Try to add some traditional looking accessories to that room. Pillows, art work, ottomans....

I would suggest using black and that mustard yellow and add some other colors to that, maybe terracotta or some other dark colors.

I would try to create a more eclectic look in all areas.
The black contemporary room could use a more traditional style carpet under the furniture to make it look less stark.
I have friend with two $2M homes decorated in modern style but in both homes she has switched from modern area rugs to traditional hand-knotted styles. With colors and fabric patterns you can tie all the rooms together.

I did one house with black as a frequent or dominant color in each room.
In the living room I had traditional furniture and this rug
http://www.shawfloors.com/area-rugDetails/Antiquities/Persia-Ebony
In the family/hearth room I had a huge antique mostly black rya rug hanging on the main wall. It had a very simple pattern or spots. If not antique I would say the pattern was modern. I had some antique accessories. Traditional style pillows, but the rest was pretty much modern leather with a deep burgundy as in the living room rug. I had only patterns in geometric or tribal style, nothing floral, nothing in soft pastel colors. In the dining room I painted the wall behind the dining set eggplant, and the traditional, somewhat SW inspired dining set looked awesome.

So I would recommend what the interior designer who helped me get started with did:
Select colors to be used thru out the home. Use at least one of the colors in each room.
Find two large items ( like area rugs) with the colors and styles you like which look good together and look good in the space intended so that these items tie the two spaces together - they are the anchors and a main focal point - either on the floor or on the wall.
Use LARGE accessories, few are better than many small ones. Especially with a modern room the rest of the house should not look cluttered.

Trust your instincts. Make the rooms reflect what you like.
I had never decorated a complete home and had to use some expensive pieces left over from my previous home.
I combined a lot of styles in each room - I could also move furniture from one room to another and it would look OK there. I think that was the key when buying - would this look good in thatother rooom as well?

I ended up selling that home fully furnished!! I got two offers in one day both wanting it fully furnished!! I got almost all my money back for the furniture because I had shopped during sales and liquidations, eBay, yard sales, etc. The only thing I kept was the antique rya rug. I felt the house had no heart after that rug was gone because it left such a huge hole between the two spaces - nothing connecting the blacks on both side. So a few large key pieces is the secret I feel to good decorating. Also keep the stuff appealing to both sexes.

Answer 3

Sounds like you need some cremes and or beiges that are more lighter in there, if there is anywhere to paint. Otherwise introduce the lighter colors in accessories, like in fabric, candles, vases, etc. Get some good lighting in there as well. Maybe some pendant lights hanging from those high beams to bring light closer to eye level or some track lighting. You can paint over that "swirly, pitted, bumpy cement finish", just make sure you get the right kind of paint. Some lighter greens would work well with all those more earthy tones from the brick and stone. The greens can be introduced in the same ways as above and/or through plants and/or planters and baskets. There are also stains available for changing the look of brick/stone. Might be something to consider.

Answer 4

Pull colors from all the rooms, but don't make any two identical.
Use the black from the hearth room, green from the kitchen? - add a third color such as smoke blue or peach for fabric /upholstery in LR. What color are drapes/curtains and chair pads in DR? May be able to repeat those colors.
Add some oak furniture [ DR ] such as side table or bookshelves.
Perhaps a rug in DR colors, but comtemporary design, or in hearth room colors, but in traditional design?
Suggest you frame all art in similar colors and materials - oak/walnut, brass/chrome, colored enamel. Then you can re-arrange all over your home.
Maybe some marble, or black glass in side tables or accessories. Be sure to include a few 'modern' [ stone, brass or chrome ] as well as 'traditional' [ porcelin, iron, pewter ]accessories.

Answer 5

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