First, I think you do have a space that is comfy, eclectic and whimsical. There are some wonderful elements. The room is, as you noted fairly small, and that requires some special tricks to create the illusion of larger space. Most people shy away from paint color in smaller spaces, especially mid to deep tones. Paint is your best friend. You can invite paint in, then if you don’t like it, send it away. It is something you can do yourself, or bring in a professional. It has a very low commitment level. Accent walls in this space will transform the scale, balance, hide imperfections, and enhance your existing furnishings incredibly.
The rooms read now as having the sofa and seating area as the focal point. Usually with a view, especially a water view, it should be the focal point, and although it looks like there are houses etc. between the lake and your place, the natural light, and sky are beautiful. This shift in focus can be achieved with accent walls and window treatments that draw your eye away from and into what you choose.
The sofa, and 2 chairs are great. Nice size, scale, and color. The arrangement is most likely the best since the French doors must have clearance to function. The larger round painted/stained table between the chair and sofa is wonderful. The cocktail table is sad. Don't confuse lack of space, with lack of usable space. Certainly you can walk around and stand on all sides of the glass table...but wouldn’t it be better to have something larger that could actually be used?
For a party, yes. If you do throw parties, or sit on the floor perhaps a large ottoman on castors, and some trays to set on top of it when you need to use it as a cocktail table. A very chic, updated, and functional idea. The lamps are too "sticky", thin with little substance, be bolder and make a statement.
I like the ladder back chair, as it tones down the "sophisticated" lines of the sofa, and chairs, bringing the feel more in line with what you have described. The fabric seems a little dated, although it is difficult to tell too much from the picture.
Your artwork over the sofa is arranged nicely although a little high for my preference, it appears to float. The big problem is that the frames don't seem to relate to each other, and the mattes appear all the same size. The pieces themselves look like they are all water related and that's great, but other than that they are foreign to each other. Love the cat pillow, there's your whimsy! I would add more...love the pattern pillow on pattern on the blue chair. Balance is a bit off...if orange and blue is on the left, then some on the right is needed. Maybe not the same color, and not the same pillow, but near in brightness, etc.
You have a great start, but I get the sense you are holding back...you can stay within your muted color range, but still be that bold whimsical individual.
Hopefully I have giving you some ideas that you can run with. If I can be of any more assistance I would love to help. You can contact me through Ava Living's Online Designer Services. I have some terrific ideas for reshaping, and redesigning this "Tiny Eclectic Living Room" into a "Comfy, Eclectic, Whimsical" Perfect World at Home!!
Thank you for the opportunity to review your Space!
Happy Designing
Patrick Landrum RID
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