apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

One way to go is to slipcover all the furniture in white, and switch the rug for a black-and-white one. Then if he wants a black leather recliner, you'll have a graphic b/w room rather than a mish-mash.

I really love the yellow couch and rug - what if you painted the walls a lighter blue/green color and went around those bright pillows (on the green couch) for other accents? I think you could put the couch facing the pretty windows (maybe with the chairs on either side and have the tv on a smaller table in a corner?

I've always been partial to using 2 couches at 90 degree angles with some kind of coffee table/ottoman etc in front. its very cosy for tv and chatting and guests etc. Cant tell from the pics if it will work or not (are there doors in the wall behind the couch?). You could always then keep the Armchair (not the ghost one) in the window with a little side table as a reading nook, but easy to pull into the group for extra seating if needed.....

Again - Not enough info: Where does the door by the TV lead? What's on the wall opposite the bay window? Where's the front door/front hall?

A floorplan would be helpful for these questions...

Or even dimensions.

Needs more lighting and less free weights.

Ideally, if you don't want the tv to be the only thing you notice in the room,

1) don't put it opposite the front door. If this is the first room you see when you walk in (or guests), look at it from that perspective as when walking into your home, and not just about the tv. The tv on the same wall as the door so you have to come all the way in to look at it, or a wall to the side -- ideally one that's not a view of your tv from the side as you enter.

2) get a cabinet for the tv instead of a credenza-ish piece (similar to what you have now). You can close the cabinet or put books and other items to frame the tv, so it's not just this block of tv.

Other than that. I hope you get new furniture or do something to help it be less eclectic, like share it and trade it with other rooms where it could look nicer. Window treatments. Group the furniture you do keep... it looks like it's scattered evenly throughout the room, instead of together how people can have conversations at a comfortable distance.

I would put something small like a comfortable chair and a side table for reading or knitting (if you knit) by the bay window. If you neither read voraciously nor knit, it's still a nice place to sit, and be apart from the social group setting of sofas and other chairs. Please put up curtains also, and get some prettier lamps, and bring lighter colors into the space.

I have to stop somewhere, so I'll stop there. Hope it helps.

Do up a floor plan--I can't even tell what relationship the yellow sofa has to the rest of the room, let alone the TV.

http://www.bhg.com/decorating/arrange-a-room/

A picture taken from each corner showing the opposite one would also help.

Upload to flickr and then link in the thread.

Love your suggestions K T G.

I should get a new monitor at work, things look so different at home, and I don't even have a great computer...

The blanket with the squares is not helping the room. I thought it was upholstery, the chair is probably ok in a solid or some slipcover, but that blanket must go. If it's chilly in there, consider a throw that actually matches.
Alana-- if I had to guess about the yellow sofa, I think it's hers, the one she is moving in with. Keep the yellow sofa, Nicola!
If you can paint the room, paint everything including the baseboard radiators. They're not "trim" like actual baseboards (my opinion). If you still have the can of paint from the room color now, and you like that color, consider the radiators a weekend project. I'm not a big fan of the mix of colors in there now, but if you can improve one thing tonight, get that blanket out of the room.

Anyway, good luck with the project, Nicola! Your boyfriend will not know what a nice looking place he had until you came along!

if it were me i would: repaint the walls a light neutral color, swap out the rug for a bolder, more graphic one, reupholster the current striped sofa and one armchair with a neutral colored fabric, get rid of the other armchair (whichever you like least) move the yellow sofa to the bedroom, keep the sofa and side table as it is, move the armchair to the bay window, put some curtains up, get a cabinet for the tv and media storage, move the ghost chair along a wall as a more decorative piece and for extra seating, try to find an eames lounge chair via craigslist or ebay, then keep or buy fun pillows and lights to finish the room. good luck!