Living Room Makeover

** Addendum: If you're interested in seeing further updates to the living room, check out this post. **

 

Remember how last week was supposed to be living room makeover week? Yeah...well, a day (or week) late and a dollar (or more) short. That's me.

 

Even though it's not finished (it won't ever be "finished," that's part of the fun!), I've loved incorporating a variety of living room ideas that have resonated with me into this space. This has been a slow process for me (going on six years now)...I wonder what the next six years will bring...

 

So. Buckle up for transformation time. This minivan lady can haul.

 

It's a pretty basic/modest living room design; here's the room before:

 

 

You guys, so many things about the setup above I want to address but am almost embarrassed to. Furniture pushed up to the walls and a wiiiiiiide open No Man's Land in the middle of the room, the blinds-only windows, the plant with a single huge stalk being held up by the wall (whut the...), the grossly undersized clock above the mantel, the two 80s track lights, the unintentional focus on an unused stark fireplace, the blah-ness of it all.

 

 

 But here's the thing. We didn't have money (or it wasn't a priority) for a huge one-stop living room overhaul. I've had lots of living room decorating ideas over the years, though, so we've changed things up and out, one piece at a time. 

 

Over the course of a few years, the living room coming closer to how I actually want it. It's certainly not perfect now, but here's where we're at today:

 

 

 

We've changed a lot (starting with the color scheme), and it's still a little busy. But I love it so much more as a room that's closer to what our family is all about.

 

 

 

We changed the paint color (BM Phoenix Fossil 3/4), added ceiling-to-floor drapes (Amy Butler), added bookcases to flank the fireplace (Ikea) and painted the backs, changed out track lighting...for more track lighting (Lowe's), added a large mirror above the mantel (TJ Maxx), added a rug (Overstock), added old & new furniture, and did some DIY projects (sunburst mirror, reading lamp, throw pillows, etc.).

 

I love how mixing old and new tells "our" story. Like my gramma's ottoman that I recovered with an Ikea sheepskin, this vintage trunk as a coffee table, the reupholstered thrift store tulip chair, the bookshelves filled with books and objects from my childhood (which are now weaving themselves into the childhoods of my own children).

 

 

I'm working on trying to increase the calmness of a space by being well-edited. Not there yet, but I'm learning my own style as I go.

 

 

 

 

 

It's a work in progress. For life. But a fun work in progress!

 

 

Some projects still looming: slipcover the grey loveseat, find another lamp (or pair of lamps) for the white sofa, make the bookcases look more built-in, and redo that light blue side table.

 

 

 

What people see immediately when they walk through our front door into our entry way:

 

 

I don't think decorating a living room space is ever "done." At least, not for me. Which...hooray! Because changing things up brings me joy.

 

 

Annnnd, one more time. Just because it's like a cyber-pat on the cyber-back:

 

 

Addendum: I'm constantly changing things up... Exhibit A: This sneak peek into the most recent living room changes:

 

 

If you're interested, check out my most recent living room update, some of my other room makeovers, or the full (yet incomplete) house tour. 

 

Have a wonderful week!

xox 

 

 

 

Featured!

      

 

{also shared A Glimpse Inside, Common Ground, here, here, My Repurposed Life, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, & here}

also shared:

Pin It Now!