I get lots of qusetions about 2 story living room walls. Their expanse can be daunting. And not everyone has giant artwork or wants to deal with a mega-gallery wall scenario just to fill the space.
Such was the case with this living room.
This homeowner sent pics of all her walls and was flummoxed by what to do with these. She really wanted a simple solution, primarily for the tv wall which was huge by comparison to her small tv stand.
She related that this was a home that they were just settling into and alluded to the fact that they were budget minded and just wanted to make it look better without a lot of expense.
While I might have addressed the paint, if this were my in-person client, I’d really like to paint that oak trim and maybe even change the wall color. Obviously, that would be a big deal and not quite an easy fix. It would involve other parts of the house too, so I didn’t go there…..except for one item. :-)
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A Two Story Living Room Needing Wall Decor
Let’s take a look at the pictures she sent.
TV Wall
Stair Wall
Window Wall
Fireplace Wall
I know many people in the suburbs, built since the 90’s, have these giant two story spaces. My own house is similar to this, built in 1995.
While they are nice for a large, open look and can let in lots of light, which is fabulous, they can be a headache to address with decorating.
One thing you have to remember in situations like this is that you don’t have to fill all of the wall space. That is exactly how I’m going to address these walls, today.
2 Story Window Wall
While her big question was the tv wall, and I’m sure as they are looking at the tv, it is top of mind. However, I think we need to address a couple of other things first.
Number one was really the furniture layout.
In looking at all the walls, the window wall looked kind of bare. It needs some furniture there. I think it would work to put the sofa at the windows here. It would make a really nice look as you walk into the room.
That would open up the room and not create a barrier with the back of the sofa.
In any room that is almost all warm toned or cool toned, the best thing to do, to create some balance, is to bring in the opposite color tone. Therefore, in this all warm toned space with wood trim, I would bring in some cool toned items here like a blue-gray color in this sofa and in drapery.
Window wall with sofa and drapery.
2 Story Fireplace Wall
The next wall I think we should deal with is the fireplace wall.
First of all, I think the painting there is too wide for the location. It looks a bit top heavy above the fireplace. I also think the colors in the art are a bit light and it doesn’t really work with the warm wall color. I think this art would be better off in another room.
Edited fireplace wall with art and small side cabinet removed.
Secondly, there is a lot of wood in this room and that is a bit overbearing. I think if they painted just the fireplace a creamy white, it would take a lot of the wood look off this wall. The granite tile surround will not feel so busy with a softer look on the wood here.
Painting the wood mantel and hearth to a creamy, warm white would tone down the wood look in the room. (Pardon my poor photoshop capabilities.)
For artwork here, I’m going with a more vertical piece, as we do have height to fill, although I’m not going to worry about the rest of the tall wall here. I also think the color is important, as we need to tie into the wood color somewhat.
I want to introduce cool tones and I love this piece. The warm terracotta/caramel color relates to the wood and the blue-gray color adds coolness to the room.
Next, I’m going to repeat this color scheme in the chair that will be next to the fireplace. It could be a caramel leather chair, a more traditional style, or a fabric like this one.
Adding a simple cream vase and then a small wood object on the fireplace cements this concept and helps round out the look.
It looks lighter and fresher and truly fits in well with the wall color and all the wood trim.
I’d use a tall plant here, it adds height on the wall. It fills the corner.
Now, let’s tackle that tv wall.
2 Story TV Wall
I do not like the idea that we need to hang lots of art here above the tv in a gallery wall fashion. I think that will look cluttered.
Nor will I suggest adding mouldings to create a paneled wall, which usually helps in this situation. I’m not doing this because I’m trying to keep remodel changes minimal here. And if we’re going to paint, then there is other wood I’d recommend painting.
I feel like a taller, built-in looking tv cabinet might be what we need to bring height here. We’re also looking to sort of echo the look of the fireplace wall, just opposite this.
Because of that, I’d go with something like this cabinet from Pottery Barn. It is the light color like we have painted the fireplace, and it allows the wall color to come through behind the tv, in the center. There is plenty of room for a good sized tv too. It can be decorated with warm wood and blue-green objects and books to help tie in the color scheme.
This cabinet is 81” tall, that is about the height of a standard door, so it isn’t exceptionally tall. To elongate the height of it, I’m going to add tall vases and even artwork above to visually block out a taller shape on the wall.
I’ve done this a lot in my wall decorating dilemmas here on my blog, most notably in this wall dilemma post.
The tv can move down the wall, more to the center, since the sofa is on the window wall now.
2 Story Stair Wall
Lastly, we have the stair wall. I think here I’d go for a pair of art pieces, these are 30” square, staggered up the wall on the upper part of the stairs.
On the lower wall, now that the sofa is moved, a console and mirror can be placed. The mirror will reflect the view outside and the blue console repeats that cool tone to create contrast with all the warm.
I included some lighting changes here as well. I like these cleaner lined fixtures for the entry and the stair sconce.
I know, it is a lot. However it is a plan that can be done a bit at a time.
I’d start with the tv cabinet and painting the fireplace and go from there. I feel like those pieces anchor each side of the room an introduce some lightness that is needed. Arranging the furniture can be helpful to start with too.
As always, review colors and sizes for your own purchases, as these are my best estimate and are not exactly scaled or color matched. And by all means, shop for deals where you can, this is simply a go by to show what I would do with these parameters and considerations. :-)
Here are the items I used above if you’d like to view them more closely.
This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.