Room Planning: Living Room Step 1

Everyone loves a good before and after.

Today, I wanted to touch on alittle bit of decorating for your home. One of the most frequently asked questions that I get... is "I don't where to start, where do you start?" So, I thought it would be helpful when I started the task of revamping our front room to be more family friendly, less formal... and more livable to document that here on the blog. So, if you're wondering where to start, I will be doing a series of blog posts building on each other to get you to a completed it's never complete if you're me room.  Or at least a room you can feel good about :-)

You walk into our front door which is below to the left and you are greeted by almost like a row style home. Very long and narrow... but VERY open concept. We have real oak floors in a natural finish and the front window usually lets in alot of light, especially in the mornings. Before, we had a couch we purchased second hand sitting against the major wall to the right and some odd chairs throw into the mix with left over side tables. It was not even remotely close to my style. I purchased that french chair with the hopes of recovering it....and as you can see, I started tearing it apart and took a long break. There's a mis-mash of styles going on in this photo and at this point, I was looking for something for the wall above the couch... something large and that spoke to me.

The couch with the chaise in this room was not working for me so we sold it on a local yard sale page for basically what we had in it...and off to Ikea we went. We picked up two Ikea Jenny Lund Chairs and the loveseat... only,  on the way out of Ikea...I thought I should check Craigslist one last time to make sure none of these items were on there that we could possibly save some money by buying second hand from another family. Low and behold, an Ektorp loveseat had been posted late the night before for a fraction of what we were going to pay new. We basically threw that couch back into its section and left with only our chairs and new covers in tow for the new loveseat/chairs. 

The french chair will be getting recovered and will find a new home at my mama's house. We are completely starting fresh in this room...and if I don't love it, as in gasp when I see it or just HAVE to have it, I don't need it. Folks, that's how you know you really love something. When your heart beats alittle faster when you see it or you just can't seem to get it off your mind.

We opted for a smaller sofa that fits the scale of this space much better as well as the chairs. We need seating for functionality purposes and that was also very important to us. I also have our dog bed behind the chairs because this room is supposed to be comfortable and lived in. I also plan to add some fresh greenery for pops of color in this space...and obviously, personal photos.

 Ok, so above is the space if I'm standing in the dining room... 

I'm right near the entry wall here, very close to our hall way but not quite...

 This wall above is the largest wall as well as the one behind me while I took the photo. Since this is a long and narrow room, so to speak, the walls are very long too! 

And here's a view looking from near the loveseat in wards. My vision is to have a sofa table as well as coffee table in this space. I also plan to have a small rug, some great and unique accessories and a statement piece on the wall. We also need to recreate some storage as well as some functionality when you first enter the door for coats, keys, etc. and also somewhere to put our shoes. :-)

I can't wait to show you the rest of what I'm planning but I'm waiting on a certain store called World Market to have a sale so I can purchase a few things from them... Or they can just send those things right on over to me so I don't have to deal with all that. "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

I'll keep yall posted!

New tv stand & changes coming...

Things have definitely been evolving in our home. And honestly, that's not something that is new around here. Just ask my husband ;-) I'm really loving the calm I feel when I enter our sunroom. The more and more we work on these small and large projects together, I feel roots planted firmly for our small family. We really enjoy the feeling of accomplishment when we DIY something ourselves and it was no different when we finally did the board and batten in the sunroom. If you haven't read our post on how we accomplished our board and batten look, you can find it by clicking here.

I love our cute little cottage style house near the beach but it needs more of a story. It needs more character and more things to bring the life out of it. That's exactly what we're trying to do. Yes, we live here and over the years of decorating, I've let go of the picture perfect room and more so, the picture perfect life. There is beauty in the imperfect, especially when making memories is involved.

Below was how our sunroom looked last year when I could feel my style evolving...again.

 

And here's after we did the board and batten. At this point, I also sold the salvage shutters and the media console because my heart was telling me I wanted something different for this room.

We had our fifth wedding anniversary last week and of course, we went out to dinner at a nice restaurant just the two of us. Between my husbands work schedule and mine, as I work as a licensed real estate agent, have a space in Vintage Living Marketplace and run this blog among decorating jobs, staging, etc... we don't really have a whole lot of time to do a whole lot of nothing. So, that's what we both said we wanted for our anniversary. I didn't want jewelry or anything fancy and he didn't want electronics or typical man things. So, instead of jewelry or fancy things, I wanted a piece of furntiure. And my husband is a good man. :-)

I knew I wanted cupped pulls and a rustic finish. I also really prefer something with traditional lines but that meets the style I was going for and this console did not dissapoint.

 Here's little Winston just watching mama snap some photos while he relaxes on my (his) blanket. He is such a lover and a good boy. All he does is sleep and cuddle. Sometimes he gets wild.

 

I added some new pillows with a linen feel and stamped with old typography style fonts. I also love the look and feel of an old, leather chair. Nothing is better than not having any pressure to keep things "new" feeling. That's the beauty of old... it doesn't have to be perfect because it's already imperfect. "Old is the new, new."

I also snagged up these cable knit down pillows... not only are they super adorable and super pretty but super comfortable too! And can't ever beat washable covers!  I always get alittle taken aback when folks say, I could never have those... or "you don't have kids, you don't know." Well, actually I do. I have kids over here, we have neighbors and we have friends with children. There is nothing in my house a child can't touch, play with...ruin, etc. The slipcovers, although beige, can be washed quite easily! Same with all of my pillows. I don't buy any pillows unless they have covers that are washable....

 

I also scooped up this chair from Vintage Living Marketplace a couple weeks ago while I was doing work... I couldn't resist with its beautiful finish and linen fabric. Perfect accent chair for the time being... :-)

And here's a pretty iew with the sun going down and the lamps on... We are adding crown molding to the top so that's the corner piece that you see in this photo.

 I'm loving the changes and can't wait to show y'all more... Home should be a place where you can be yourself. And be comfortable. And same with your family. Old is the new, new....and beauty comes in all forms... remember that! I'm finding more truth in the old saying that "less is more..." and that simple can be stunning. I am finding I don't pick up as many things to decorate... and I like to let pieces speak for themselves without overwhelming them with accessories. Sometimes too much of a good thing is just that, too much of a good thing. We are slowly adding a few more touches. I'd like to find another couple of pillows for the couch and we also are going to be adding some family photos somewhere. We're hoping to make those out of salvage wood also. Remember to embrace perfection and find the beauty in the "not done." Life is too short.