Wednesday, August 1, 2012

I'm in love with my living room!!! woo!!

We have lived in our current home for almost two years. Some people are amazing and can have their whole home decorated and perfect within weeks of moving in. I am not such a person. I have to brainstorm, envision, take my time, and if I'm not feeling it I absolutely cannot force myself to decorate a room without a vision. I also do not like to spend a ton of money on something I am envisioning if it's something I think I might be able to find for less if I wait. All that to say... I have had en evolving vision for our upstairs living room ever since we moved in. And it's not done, but it's way closer than ever before! (Disclaimer: I don't think anything in my house will ever be completely "finished"... I like to change it up too much!) 

We brought home a "new to us" piece of furniture last night and I took some before and after photos of the living room after rearranging it a bit. 

before

after


Just switched the sofa and loveseat. The coffee table was a gift from my aunt and uncle for our wedding. The baskets under it I found at target about 5 years ago, and they are full of toys, magazines, and photo albums, and our movies. The little chalkboard was on clearance at pottery barn outlet for $20 something. (Drew keeps all his cars on the ledge) There's a close up of the mantle later on. 
before

after
Again, just switched the sofas and moved the end table. 
before

So this is the corner that really changed. When we first moved in we just had a little tiny stand and tv in the corner. Then it was where our Christmas tree would go. We moved our tv to the basement this winter and when the christmas tree was gone too then the corner was really empty. So I brought this chair down from our bedroom to fill it. Turns out I really like the chair in the living room (and am sitting in it this very moment) so I wanted to keep it down here even after moving our new piece of furniture in. (Side note: the chair was free from my grandmother and has a slipcover from target on it to tie it into more of our neutral furniture color look.) 


after



And here she is! Our entertainment center/armoire.... Our awesome family friends the Herrmanns GAVE it to us... they had gotten a new one and didn't need this anymore. The doors open and then slide into it.  And it has storage underneath. The vintage suitcases on top were free at a yard sale I stopped at recently. And the tv inside was given to us when my grandmother moved from her house to her apartment. (another side note.... we have never bought a tv and we have four of them. hmm....) It is fun to look at a room, remember where everything came from, and thank God for blessings you might not have even noticed before. The photo collage is made of all family photos that I try to keep updating, the K is from ac moore painted black inside a frame I found in my mom's basement. The "canvas" is sheet music decoupaged onto a cardboard lid and I painted on the lettering. You can see it a little bit closer in this post.
after
 One more view of the room. The mirrors over the sofa are all antiques, and I'd like to add a few more into the arrangement. (Told you it's never done... but I'm looking for the right shapes and price... like maybe free? lol) I like that you can see the end table better now, it was kind of hidden tucked into the corner it was in before.  The cute baby is mine.... :)

Lastly, our "mantle". No fireplace in our house but this shelf is so fun to decorate and constantly changes... Yellow pitcher from the same yard sale as the suitcases. $3. Old books from my mom's collection when she was younger, antique shops and the biggest one is an old dictionary from 1952 I paid 49 cents for at the same yard sale as the pitcher and suitcases. Love the faded colors the books add to the room. Vase I spray painted white. Cute tea cup from anthro via bridesmaids gift from Britt. 

Something about the armoire just makes the room feel grownup, complete, and cozy. And a rearranged room is very appealing to me for whatever reason. We turned on our lamps, all had ice cream and watched the olympics in here last night. Fun, fun :)

And that is what I love about my living room. :)




I've posted a few other photos of our house here: 

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