lighten up a room with a brown sofa

Hello everyone,

I am new to doing home decorating. I bought a dark brown sofa, not my color of choice, but the price was right. I got light blue throw pillows and some other floral throw pillows. Any other ideas for lightening up the room? Any coffee table suggestions?

Betsy

 

I think it's a mistake to try to disguise the dark brown sofa with light colored pillows if they don't match the sofa. Remember -- you're working with a whole room, not just a couch.

Paint the walls a nice, crisp linen and paint the ceiling with a white ceiling paint. Light walls and ceiling will help lighten the look. You'll need to work the brown in to your overall color scheme with accessories, flooring, and other furniture -- don't try to ignore the brown but embrace it.

 

You might want to try light-colored shades of the appropriate fabric for the room.

 

I definitely agree with StevePM. Rather than trying to hide the brown, you should use it as an accent color to your surroundings. I think a lighter color on the walls would definitely brighten the room and then use items like your pillows, throws, pictures, that already contain a similar brown to your couch - but also other brighter colors - to add some punch. Just because one piece of furniture is dark doesn't mean the whole room has to be

 

I just love this idea of doing up a room with the brown sofa as the focal piece. Try keeping the wall a neutral pale colour, then the world is your oyster.
Blue is very in at the moment use it as you accent colour in the shades that match your cushions and use the brown in different shades to "point" to the main colour

 

I actually believe that throw pillows are a great way to accentuate a sofa. OP did the right thing by combining blue with brown. Too often do we see heavy, "unfriendly" sofa with all that wood and sharp lines. Throw pillows are great, just make sure not to overdo it so people have nowhere to sit. You may also do a throw in an ivory, since you already have the blue, and a table runner for the coffee table in ivory and blue. Try to keep the window treatments minimal and in a light color such as ivory with a blue accent. However, make sure that the rest of your decor is appropriate with the sofa. If it's a big, luxurious sofa, it doesn't help you very much to get a tiny 12-inch valance and miniature dolly on the table, regardless of how well you've coordinated colors.