This happens a lot with me too, except I do it on a budget so it isn't quite as bad. You can always sell what you don't want on Craigslist without paying a fee to advertise, or sell it on eBay. Then again, maybe you'd like the finished look of the room? In my case I usually back out.

Hard to tell: Sometimes what we think looks not-so-good in isolation looks stupendous when brought together with all the other elements of the room. Can you post a pic?

I often feel the same way. It IS hard to know. Sometimes what gets me is the process - each piece looks not so great, but when you throw it all together it looks amazing. But, as you look at the fabric in the valance, and you say, "I guess they are ok, maybe", well then I'd step back, live with the valences and the paint color for awhile, before moving forward.

You say, "This happens a lot with me and I know it is my personality..." It doesn't matter if it's your personality or not, your decor is meant to make you feel good. To use an overused phrase - if it doesn't sing to you - it probably isn't the right choice for YOU. It may be a gorgeous room, but you're the one that has to live in it, so make it your own.

Again, I'd take it slowly. If you start to like the paint and valences, add a few other pieces. If they "sing" to you, add a few more. Good Luck!

OK, here is a picture of the fabric BEFORE I painted and then a picture of the room AFTER painting. The valances have not been "fluffed" and they are missing some ties I will be adding at the top gathers.

We thought we would do a patterned rug on the lighter side with artwork on the walls that have lots of light backgrounds and mats.

I think the room is gorgeous: everything about it. If you wanted a rather dark, cozy and elegant room, you've got it! With the right lamps, rug, and accessories, it would be difficult for me to imagine a more beautiful room. If, on the other hand, you're just not "feeling" it, then I would say to reassess what kind of "feeling" you *do* want in the room and revamp before going forward.

WOW! For what it is worth... I LOVE IT! You need to live with it and be happy with the room! Perhaps you just need to get used to the change!

I think it's great! I love the valance fabric, I think maybe you are nervous and need to get used to it. It's beautiful.

Sorry you are going through this - I often second guess myself too. I think the room looks very nice. I really like how all the colors are working together - very pretty. My first thought was lighting/lamps will make a world of difference. Do you have any lamps you could put in there just to see how they impact how you feel in the room? Maybe even "check out" a rug from a store to see how you feel with that in there too. OTOH, if it is not what you are wanting, I would not put more money into it. If you don't like it, spending more money on it may only make you feel worse.

LOL. Your mind is off not the room (you did ask.)

That room is wonderful. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those chairs! And how fun to go with red on the walls.

Keep going you have a winner there.

Thank you all for your comments! I love decorating but know that this side of my personality can make it a challenge for me. I am working with a kind, patient and understanding designer who probably sometimes wants to throttle me. I really do need to enjoy the process more instead of agonizing and overanalyzing everything.

ahem -- I think that the valances are pretty -- but need to be hung a tiny bit closer to the ceiling AND I don't think that they hang right (the fabric itself ...... maybe the sewing...... maybe the lining????)

PLEASE don't be mad at me ---- I'm really useless at window treatments and I'm completely willing to be utterly wrong BUT I just think that the valances (like a gathered skirt) don't seem to be hanging correctly ...... would ironing help???

I do LOVE the wall color. And yes the chairs are wonderful!

I love the room too. Mind sharing the info on the chairs? I do overanalyze too at least according to DH.

Your hutch is fantastic too, is that an antique.

Keep going - it looks great!!

Yum! Love the wall color, the chairs, and the valance fabric. Don't care for the style of the valances - they look like they are too wide and bulky for the size of the windows. But maybe they will be better when fluffed.

Remember, too, that you don't have lamps in there, or art on the walls, or a rug. All those things will balance the strong wall color.

I will say one thing, tho. If you really aren't sure about loving it, I would live with it for a week or two just as it is, and see if you grow to feel better about it. I would NOT go out and spend more money on the room only to find that you still aren't happy when all the details are in place. In the end, we could all love it, but it is YOUR home and you are the one who has to smile when you see the room.

The room is beautiful but just needs more lighting in my humble opinion.

I love what you're doing with the room and I think it's going to turn out just stunning.

That said, I love the first picture more than the second picture and the difference is light. When we use a dark paint color I think we need a lot of good lighting in the room. I suspect with that and your other touches added you're going to love it. You might be just having a bit of a transition period in getting used to it? That can take a few days when we make really big changes.

My first question when I look at red walls is about how sweet tempered the family members are by nature. I painted the master bdrm red years ago and it made my EX get really angry and argumentative in there instead of sweetly passionate. Of course, at the time I didn't realize that his lack of the right kind of passion was due to the fact that he was out chasing everything in a skirt! Paint color can't fix that.

whenicit - I just bought the chairs recently from Crate & Barrel and they were made by Mitchell-Gold. The hutch belonged to my husband's great grandparents and I feel blessed that we have it in our home. It isn't the most stable piece of furniture so we actually have to hook it to the wall with wire - but we love it.

FWIW !! I think it looks wonderful!! I love bold colors.

I would raise the WT up as high as possible. But, like others have said....once you get everything else in place it will pull it all together.

Take a breather for awhile and live with it. It looks very nice.

Smiles:)

greenmtn~Are you by any chance a Virgo? (Like me?) You'll be just F*I*N*E. (**cked up, insecure, neurotic, emotional)LOL.

I LOVE your room, I have the same color in my dining room (which I currently use as a study). Mind if I ask where you got the fabric for the wts? They're gorgeous.

oceanna~That is a funny story, but I'm sure it wasn't very funny at the time.

I think your room has really beautiful elements. As others have noted above, I'm wondering if perhaps the valences need adjustment. They look like they might be a cufftop valence, but the cuff portion may be not pulled forward. Since your close-up photo doesn't show the top, I may be wrong, but wonder if they might be this style shown below, but with the top not properly folded forward? Otherwise, I agree with the others--it's pretty but it needs to be something you like.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Looks like a great start if it's going in the right direction! Very pretty and good-looking. Do you have any idea what it is you're not liking or not sure about?

I had to sit back in my chair and take a deep breath when I looked at your LR.

First, your furniture is wonderful. Love the chairs.
Now as for the red.
I had a designer pick that color for my LR and
dark heavy gold fabric.
I lived with the red for a year but could never get past
that I had to use so many lamps and keep them on even during the day to keep from feeling like I was in a cave.

Everyone thought it was beautiful.

It is now a pale pale yellow and I am going in a diff direction with everything in there.

Don't buy anything . Live with it a while.
Deep red is not a happy color.
One of my guest rooms is that dark red.
That way company won't hang around too long. Lol

Prairiegirlz5, it is funny but you're right it wasn't funny at the time. As soon as I discovered what it did to his temperament I painted the room baby blue and he calmed back down. But he was worthless and eventually I was forced to jettison him to outer space. Not fun at the time but a VERY good decision on my part. I just wish I'd had better judgement before I married him. A crystal ball would help sometimes!

Anyway, when looking for the silver lining in that cloud -- it did teach me something about the psychology of color. :D

I like the colour, but it is a rather dampening colour, isn't it? The room needs you to move forward to putting more in it.

Grab various coloured top sheet, blankets, quilts etc from your linen closet, and position as a you would a rug, under the furniture there. Make folds folds if they need to be smaller. Take a few photos, see how you feel about the room with another large block of colour there, and get some idea of how dark/light dull/bright the rug you get will need to be.

Hmmm, living room. How often do you use this, and for what? I was actually seeing the space as a moody den/music room. There doesn't seem to be much natural light. Are you planning for a light colored rug?

Your posts are helping me to really think this through. Thank you everyone. I haven't slept much which tells me I need to "chill" and really try to enjoy the process.

prariegirl - LOL, I am a VIRGO!

sujafr - I actually have the Pate-Meadows cuff top pattern made for my kitchen but they are not yet hung. This pattern is the Marley. I'm going to keep "fluffing" and working with it to see what I can get it to do.

squirrel - No, this room gets very little light. We thought we would kind of embrace that by making it moody. The room does not get used much at all so I suppose it is one room where I could be bold.

Another Virgo here, so I can totally relate to over-(anal)yzing decisions! It's almost crippling! Anyway, I love your room! I get the cozy library feeling especially with the black baby grand! Like the WT too, although the only thing that feels "off" to me is the length of them. Sort of like wearing a dress that is too long for a short statured woman. If the window was taller than they might look better. Were they made longer intentionally? I think the room is lovely, but listen to your Virgo heart, because you are probably right, you just have to zero in on what it is that is bothering you.

This "should I keep going hoping it will all come together" questioning happens to me too, and I'm not a Virgo. :)

I agree with others that the valances seem to be too long or too full or something. Another thing that strikes me is the chair arrangement. It seems off-kilter. It's reminding me of my own living room where I have a single off-center window that was just a bear to work around. But I did finally land on something that worked. My neurotically symmetrical mind wants you to move the cabinet all the way over to the left so it balances the window. Or, it seems like that window-less section might be a good place for the piano? Anyway, do you suppose the furniture arrangement could be part of your dissatisfaction?

I don't post often but your room caught my eye..because I think the problem is a matter of scale. The valances are quite big and have movement, in contrast to the straight-lined modern chairs and delicate antiques (thin legs and edges, no heavy wood carving). The curvy, flowy valances seem to take all the attention from the other elements in the room.

One way to bring them into scale visually would be to choose a wall color closer to the overall tone of the valances, rather than just that one little red stripe. They would still have movement, but would blend into the overall background of the room, and not be so prominent.

An easier way that might work would be to bring in a few big accessories..large green plants, lamps with fairly large shades, etc., bringing the size of the window treatments back into scale with other items in the room. This is hard to get right, but is a quicker fix. Have fun decorating!