Living Room Revamp

I don't know if you remember, but in May, I won an e-design from design blogger Erica Harless.  When I won, I had to choose a room of my house that I wanted her to design.  I debated between our office / keeping room area and our living room and eventually went with the keeping room.

Here are the recommendations she gave for the office / keeping room.

Honestly, I haven't made a ton of progress, but I did rearrange the desk and file cabinet, and I found fabric I'd like to use for the window treatments.  Truthfully, I'm too cheap to pay someone to make the drapes, and I haven't found the time or desire to make them myself, so the room is still pretty bare.  Hopefully I'll get some motivation before the baby comes to sit down at the sewing machine and make some drapes!

But...that's not what this post is about.

Today, I want to talk about my living room.  Ever since I won that e-design and chose not to have Erica do the living room, I've been wondering what she might have done with it.  I'm kind of nesting, so a few weeks ago, I decided to make some changes myself.  When I say myself, I mean I called my good friend Lanie Beth, and she came over and gave me great ideas, and I implemented them.

Here are a few before and after shots.

I think the biggest change (as far as the overall look of the room, not necessarily the most amount of money) we made was the new rug.  We ordered this rug from Pottery Barn.  I had a hard time finding a rug I liked, and this one really had mixed reviews, but I decided to take my chances, because it was one of the only ones I found that I liked.

Another change was to add curtains.  Lanie Beth suggested velvet curtains.  I was hesitant at first, but I'm so glad we put them up.  I love them.  They really make the room feel cozy and more complete.

Lanie Beth also suggested painting the coffee table, which was something I was already planning to do.  It just so happens that she has her own business (Under the Rowan Tree) refinishing furniture, so I didn't have to look any further.  She brought me some paint swatches, showed me some knobs, and after I picked my favs, she went to town.  I LOVE my "new" table.  It adds so much color and interest to the room.

Oh, and I also bought a new couch.  I found it on craigslist at an antique store.  If I had it to do over, I'm not sure I would buy it, because it turned out to be a good bit smaller than I had imagined. (Silly me, I bought it without seeing it in person.)  With that said, I really do like it, and I think it's pretty and fun, and it adds a vintage feel to the room, which I really like.


I think the thing I like best is that the toys are gone.  I know that's awful, because I'm a mom of two little ones with another on the way, but I love walking in the living room and not looking at toys.  If we keep the toys out, I'm going to have to be diligent about taking the girls upstairs to the playroom for play time every day.  I don't want the toys to sit up there without any attention.  That would be so sad.  Plus, it would mean we've been glued to the boob tube all day, and that's no good.  Another option is to find some other type of storage for the toys in the living room...something that has a lid so the toys can be disguised.

It's still a work in progress.  We want a new couch and chair to replace the white ones.  I know white slip-covered couches are all the rage, but I hate them.  They are not practical for kids.  I don't know what is, but I'm thinking dark brown leather.  Something that can be wiped down and doesn't show every speck of every thing spilled on it.  I also want something different for media storage.  I think we'll mount the tv on the wall and find something low and smaller for the components.  It's a process, though, so it may be a few months before it all comes together.  And I'm okay with that.

For now, I love my new living room.  I love sitting in it.  I love walking through it in the middle of the night when Layla cries.  I love cramming 28 people into it for a Christmas party.  It's the place where memories are made, and I'm looking forward to many more.