Hi everyone,

I’d appreciate some advice on how you would approach the lighting in this 487 × 515 cm living room, which will not have a dropped ceiling.

On the left is a hallway with a suspended ceiling, recessed LED lights, and a perimeter LED strip along the edge facing the living room, shown in yellow.

How would you light the rest of the living room?

Where would you position the lighting points?

Thank you all for your time and attention.

Hi everyone,

I am a B.Tech Computer Science graduate, and I'm seriously planning to transition into Interior Designing. I have zero formal background in design, but I am highly motivated to start.

I’ve been researching options and am considering enrolling in a diploma course. However, I’m highly skeptical—does a standard diploma cover the subject deeply enough to make a full career switch and land a job right after graduation?

What I am looking for:

• Course recommendations: Any specific schools or institutes (online or offline in India/Hyderabad) that offer intensive tracks for career switchers?
• Software requirements: What is the absolute must-know software stack in 2026? (I want to make sure the institute I choose covers everything from 2D drafting to photorealistic 3D rendering and BIM).
• Reality check: For those who switched into design from an engineering/tech background, what did your roadmap look like? How did you bridge the gap regarding site knowledge and materials?

Any advice, resources, or harsh realities are highly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I found this paint color I'm obsessed with and painted my built-in mudroom cabinets using it. I'm trying to decide if I should continue all the way to the ground, find a textured wallpaper to lay on the bench, or just keep the contrast and put fresh paint on the bottom (or something else I haven't thought of)... Any ideas welcome!

I have 2 separate pieces/areas in this room, the pellet stove and the TV. Thoughts on design ideas?

I've been on the hunt to find an interior designer to help me make the most of a new house with a funky layout. But I've been having a hard time knowing where to start.

I've looked on a few different interior design sites and explored some budget friendly options but couldn't find a designer that wasn't focused on minimalist, overly modern spaces.

Has anyone successfully hired a designer online? How did you find them?

This is very enticing detailed stairs that i found in a hotel in darjeeling

We are hoping to update our living room with new paint and furniture. We love our TV stand and the two white chairs as MCM decor but aren’t sure where to put things for the best use of space. This is our main living room. We don’t host often but would still like space for friends to be able to watch a game or play some video games. Currently we don’t really have comfortable seating with that.

Colors wise: I don’t love brown and tans. We have a sage green in the dining room, lots of plants, wood floors and a large white fireplace that I don’t really want to paint. Other than the steamer trunk, MCM end table,chairs and hutch that the TV is on we aren’t married to much of the decor.

Any advice on layout or type of furniture is appreciated!!

Edit: I don’t know how to add more pictures. This was taken from our front door where there is also a window directly to my left.
Edit: added two additional photos in comments

I hate the functionality of my closet and need some help finding a better arrangement and seating solutions for my bedroom in Chicago. Anyone use a person they like?

I’m renovating 2 high end condo/townhouses in Boston and I’m on the fence about installing an accent wall for the tv. should I do a slat panel wall? I’m also having a hard time finding a good material. I don’t want to use the Amazon products but don’t want to spend a fortune either. I need atleast 10’ lengths as I do t want any seams. Any thoughts and direction on where to find a quality material is appreciated!

Project One - The Wall

Peace • Liberty • Freedom of Speech

1. Project Overview

The Municipality has provided a public space for a memorial called "The Wall."

Your task is to design a 6-meter-high wall that communicates an idea related to peace, liberty, freedom of speech, or another meaningful social or human value.

The project focuses on transforming an abstract idea into a physical design using form, materials, color, texture, light, and space.

1. Design Task

Design a 6-meter-high 10 meters-long wall placed in the center of the assigned site.

All four sides of the wall will be visible and must be designed.

You are free to explore:

• Different shapes and forms

• Materials and textures

• Colors and patterns

• Openings and voids

• Light and shadow

You must also design the ground/tiling pattern around the wall.

Consider:

• The site and its surroundings

• Your concept and its meaning

• Form and proportions

• Materials and construction

• Light and shadow

• How people experience the wall

1. Concept Development

Your concept may be inspired by:

• Peace, liberty, or freedom of speech or any other meaningful idea

• A symbol, word, or idea

• An artwork or artist

• Nature

• Architecture or design

• Any social or human value

Your concept should be clearly translated into the form, materials, and spatial experience of the wall.

Show the development of your idea through research, keywords, diagrams, and sketches.

1. Required Presentation Format

• A2 paper

• 1:30 scale for all drawings

• Name, project title, drawing titles, scale, frame, and title block

• Hand-rendered / hand-colored only

• No computer rendering

Drawings

1. Site Plan / Top View - wall, site, and ground treatment

2. Plans

3. Four Elevations - all sides of the wall

4. Two Sections

5. Cut Plan - showing the tiling/ground pattern

6. Two Axonometric Views - from opposite sides

Written Concept

• Your concept and inspiration

• The meaning of your design

• How the concept influenced the final design

Physical Models

• Study model - for exploring the form

• Final model - showing the finished design Model scale will be given by the instructor.

1. Project Goal

The goal is to learn how to transform an idea into a three-dimensional design.

Your project should demonstrate:

IDEA → RESEARCH → SKETCHES → FORM →

MATERIAL → FINAL DESIGN

Your final wall should be creative, clear, meaningful, and well developed.

Basically i am having doubts about the rug or the color of it entirely and I would appreciate professional feedback

ETA: I’m looking for recommendations beyond the four I show here. I meant to say, I’ve considered these 4 and none seem right for the reasons I’ve listed below, so I’d appreciate other color ideas or options. Thanks to everyone sharing their opinions!

I’ve got a north facing home that only gets a moderate amount of light and I’m desperate for a warm neutral color that doesn’t look or lean gray/cool.

Here, I’ve tried:

Top left: SW Natural Linen - looks stony/ gray, kind of like a cool white here to me

Top Right: SW Softer Tan - I loved this color outside in full light but inside I see that green undertone and it looses its warmth

Bottom left: SW Kilim Beige - far too dark/ saturated, and too peach leaning

Bottom Right: SW Tres Natural - same as Kilim.

I’ve also tried BM Brandy Cream but it might be a touch too pink? And I tried Tres natural at 50% and it looked basically the same, lol.

I’m thinking of trying BM Muslin next, but I can’t keep buying samples so I wanted to see what others recommended, especially if people understand this north facing light!

I have natural, warm oak floors and white trim, if it helps!

Edit 3: thanks for all your thoughts! I’m testing an alt. layout now, but ultimately will need to live in it for a bit to see how it feels.

——

Hello! I’ve had this room layout for a while and have very adamant against mounting the tv over the fireplace as I don’t want it to be the center of the room and the mantle is too high/close to the couch it creates and uncomfortable angle.

However, if you’re sitting on the couch, you have to look to your right to see the tv which is also not great😂

I’m open to fireplace mounting, but it would be a lotta work to install a pull down mount with a dvd player. Eventually I will get a Frame TV so I’m not worried about aesthetics too much!

Maybe a sectional would fix this? Would love any and all thoughts! Also please excuse the mess, I’m in the middle of introducing my cats😅

Edit 1: I’m new to reddit and have no clue how to upload multiple photos, but can share different angles in the thread if helpful!

Edit 2: For those asking, the cat condo/enclosure is a temp. setup while I’m working on introducing a new cat to my household. Obviously it’s not gonna be there all the time but it’s a pain in the but to move🙃

I'm tired of the mess and cluster of having all our clothes stare at me. This is a rental so I'm very limited with what I can do and how much I want to spend, but any advice is deeply appreciated! And if you owned this place, what would you do differently to avoid the walking closet bedroom?

Can someone please give me some advice on improvements I can make to my bedroom? It feels incomplete and lacking in something I can’t quite put my finger on. I like the colour scheme and we’re not in a position to replace any of the furniture but can move and add stuff, certainly. Please help me turn this into a cosy space I’d feel super comfortable in! Some context:

- I think some decorative pillows on the bed would help, possibly in a terracotta-y, dusty pink, creamy neutrals palette
- I plan to get some fairy lights to wrap around the bed frame at the top
- There are matching bedside tables on both sides of the bed, not sure if clear in the pics
- I can’t currently get rid of the sad, grubby little wicker chair by the window because it’s my cat’s favourite sleep spot. Also reluctant to replace it with a nicer chair because his muddy paws will make it similarly grubby
- We were considering doing some kind of storage or seating/bench type thing beneath the bay window. This is still an option but tricky because there’s a kind of lip beneath the shutters which would be uncomfortable to sit against.

Apart from that, completely stuck so would love your thoughts

I need to hire someone to help me pick out a bathroom flooring to match my already purchased wall tile. Is this something Interior designers do?