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!

Dining Room updates: Old vs new

Happy Independence Day! Let's all remember the real reason for this holiday and be thankful for the freedoms that we have. Remember what our flag stands for and the proper ways to honor it. And lastly, never forget the men and women who have and still pay the ultimate sacrifice for our country, my husband included. God bless them all and always keep them in your prayers! I am proud to be a military spouse to someone who selflessly gives their life for their country. And I am still proud to fly the flag and to be an American.

Today, as I was setting our dining room table… I thought about how much my style has evolved. So I wanted to go back in time and take a look at a few different dining rooms that we have had in different houses. I thought it would be a fun way to compare how much I've grown into my own style. When I first started writing this blog, we were in Minot, North Dakota. Why not, Minot?! I went through many style changes in that house mostly because I hated the house. Looking back now, I had decent bones to work with, besides the pink kitchen… but here's what it looked like right before we moved and before I changed my blog name! It's the only decent photo that I could find but the table and chairs were yardsale finds as was the entryway table, mantle and chair. The corner hutch was in the family for years. Other than that, that dining room was done on a shoe string budget and still looked beachy/cottage-y even in the tundra of North Dakota.

Then, we got orders to Florida and moved into a rental home off of base. It was big for us and had a lot of wasted space. So, naturally, we just kept purchasing stuff to fill the home up when this actually made it really hard for us to downsize once we bought the home we are currently in. We went from almost 2,000 sq ft down to barely 1275 sq ft. But I LOVE our house now and wouldn't trade it for the world. And to be quite honest, I'm really glad we had to downsize because more than half the stuff we had, we didn't really need or didn't serve a purpose. And I'm all about functionality and being intentionally. There's  nothing intentionally about a piece of furniture that just takes up wall space. I want spaces to have purpose and to be able to be lived in. In that house, I obsessed a lot about keeping everything clean and would constantly be picking up/cleaning. In this house, I'm finding the beauty in the chaos.

Towards the end, it was pretty simplistic and basic. I found myself evolving towards a more natural and neutral palette rather than a bunch of colors.

We sold that beautiful trestle table to a reader off of the blog… it was SUCH a pretty table! But it was too large for our space and quite frankly, we didn't use it as much as I thought we would. I used to hear people say that round tables were better for families because it brings you closer… ;)

All of those things above the cabinets were bought just for that, to be above the cabinets. Well, that was silly right? Maybe not silly because it worked for that house but in this house, we have 42" cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling so I sold off all of my plates along with the shabby cabinet, the barstools and some other furniture.

Enter OUR home. Yes, our home. We purchased this home in September of last year and I can't believe we are well on our way to being here a year already! So here's the old trestle table when we first moved in, in our space. I immediately took the chandelier they had down because I was eyeing new ones. It was beautiful! But really, too large for this type of space.

So, enter my newer-older table I found through a friend. And then I went out and purchased my new chandelier and the new Ikea slipcovered chairs. It was taking shape but something I didn't like. It wasn't until after we got our new couches in a light sandy beige that I knew, what I really wanted and had in my head was a more linen slipcover.

So, today here is what everything looks like now. The cupboard will always stay…I don't think that I will ever get rid of that piece. I love it, practically stole it and it has followed us since the last house.

I purchased the new dining room table off of Craigslist and used my old Ikea chairs with new slipcovers. We also don't have a rug in here right now because one of our dogs got sick on the other one. Jute and sisal don't clean very well unfortunately which left a stain on it permanently. I am currently searching for our perfect rug in here and sadly, I am still drawn to an 8ft round jute rug. I love the texture that it brings and the warmth. 

These slipcovers were exactly what I had in my head. They tie up the back and have a linen, drop cloth material. I adore them. The wrinkles need to fall out some more or I need to get a better iron. Probably both… but I am still enjoying them anyways!

 Overall, I am always pleased to grow as a person and find my style in our homes. It's never felt more like home until we got to this house because WE are doing all the work, WE are finding the character and finding the beauty in chaos. I am really trying to enjoy the process and am *trying* to remember that everything does not happen over night or "Rome was not built in a day" as my mama would say.

Now come sip sweet tea with me and let's talk about life.

How to: Recover a seat using a table napkin

Hey y'all! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends... I definitely know that I did! I spent some quality time with my husband and it was so nice to just relax together! He went back to work today so I took care of a few things that I've been wanting to do. One of those things included my little stool for the kitchen. I had it covered in a plain beige canvas cloth for sometime now but let me tell you, not practical because bare feet and doggie paws are on this stool so let's just say it didn't stay clean for long ;-) I've been searching for a fabric that I loved forever... similar to one I had on it before the beige canvas. Here is the before the canvas fabric. Very fun and colorful.

I was just wiping my counters off when I glimpsed over at my bar with my new World Market napkins on my plates. I wondered if the napkin would fit the stool at 20 inches by 20 inches and sure enough it did! So... I used a table cloth napkin instead of going to have fabric cut and recovered my stool! Here's some steps for recovering a stool. You would use the same steps for a chair or something with a single seat, etc. Hope it's easy for you and enjoyable!

Materials: Stapler, fabric (napkin), screw driver

First thing that I did was take the screws out of the bottom of the stool that were holding the top on.

I then laid the napkin pretty side down and put my seat centered on it. I didn't bother taking the older fabric off. I figured it would just add some more cushions for those cute little paws that like to sit on this stool ;-) As you can see below, it was a perfect fit. You always want 1-2 inches of fabric left on each side so you can staple easier. 

The way that I upholster my chairs and stools most people know how to do or at least I always think they do. I like the use the "butterfly" method which I will show you next. Below, I took one corner and pulled towards the middle of the stool cover. The represents the "body" of the butterfly fold. I stapled the very end of the napkin to the wood seat and also in the corner for a secure hold.

 Next as you will see below, I took the left side and folder over the body or center of the corner and stapled there.... By the way, if you plan on doing a lot of these projects with upholstery, invest in an electric stapler. Well worth the money people. 

Here you see me folding over the right side and a peek of my electric stapler. Perfect, neat and one corner down! 3 more to go!

Here below you see two sides done. It is not critical that any excess fabric is stapled down, just make sure you have most of it secure and where you won't see it hanging down or have a lot of excess once you put your seat back on the body of the stool or chair or whatever you are recovering.

I seriously am in love with this fabric! What do you think of it?

And here is the final product! Pretty and colorful goodness! The stool I found in Minot, North Dakota a year or so ago. It is from the 1900's and is in amazing condition! Probably something I will never sell because Winston loves it too much ;-) Usually when he wants a treat or an ice-cream, he'll run to sit on this stool and stand up on two legs...that little dork!

 So, have y'all ever used anything you had to reupholster something like an old t-shirt or a napkin like I did? I've used burlap before too! What do you think of this thrifty project? Do you have something that you want to upholster soon? Let me know and please show me your projects over on Facebook. You can find Home by Ally on Facebook by clicking HERE!

If you enjoyed and loved this project, please help spread the word about my blog by pinning this project to your personal boards on Pinterest. You can do so by clicking "pin it" below.

XOXO,

Ally

Goodnight!

XOXO,

Ally

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