J_White's Profile

All of these suggestions are sound; you might want to think about using a combination of all the ideas that have been offered. I noticed that you a yellow pillow on the chair; yellow usually goes well with grays/neutrals, that it does nothing here to lighten up the room says to me that you have a sense of what to do. You just need to go further. Add several pillows and a couple of throws, not in the same shade of the same color, but along the same part of the color spectrum. Plants would help; not one plant, but several of different heights, varieties, etc. You'd be surprised what a large plant like a yucca or a shiffleura (sp.) can do for a room. Do you travel? If so, put up photos from your travels. Or put up family photos. To be brutally frank, the artwork looks like it came from a big box store--personalize the walls, which is essential with gray walls to avoid an institutional look.

@Rural and Rueful--I agree completely; well-stated.

As for the "it's just a flag," and "why don't you worry about something important," folks, I don't understand you at all. Setting aside the tackiness of using the flag as a window treatment--and it is tacky--the flag isn't just another piece of fabric. And I say that as someone who is hardly a flag-waving conservative. Also, I am very much concerned about the "real" issues some of you mention; being appalled by this design choice has nothing to do with those issues. One can be outraged by systemic indifference to poverty, war, and lack of banking regulation AND outraged by this use of the flag.

Having said that, I also can't stand the sumo wrestlers photo. And color-coordinated bookshelves are an abomination nearly as horrible as using the flag as a curtain.

Like this one a lot. I followed the link, and she had another dresser with a beautiful wood grain that looks like oak. Deep, rich, finish--sadly, she painted it. White. Sigh. Just when it seems the world is coming to its senses. . .

It seems masculine to you now because it's so badly decorated. Without the bikes, a TV, clutter, and a bare light bulb, I think you'll see this space differently. Jane Austen cottage or Hogwarts--great suggestion. Personally, I'd go for a Hogwarts look. Instead of fighting this great feature, accentuate it.

To the commenters who suggest painting the surrounding wall, we don't really know what color the wall is. If this pic was taken with a camera phone during a walk through, the color might be skewed. Not to mention the bad lighting--the bare bulb--plus the darkness of the wood could also affect how the wall looks in the photo.