OUR LIVING ROOM: WHAT’S WORKING, WHAT’S NOT, & A MAKEOVER GAME PLAN

We started our living room renovation back in 2016 and we finished 75% of what you see today within the first couple months of living here. The new flooring and some furniture were the last pieces of the puzzle that we wrapped up in early 2018.

Fast forward 3 years and to be completely honest…I’m not in love with the space anymore. I’m tired of decorating with pieces that I don’t love simply because it “fills the space” and I’m tired of walking into a room that feels foreign to my current style preferences.

So what’s working and what’s not?

Well for starters, that single curtain panel goes against every curtain “Do + Don’t” I’ve ever preached. First on my list is replacing that with two panels on either side of the window. I also got tired of the wood wall a couple years ago and I’m just now getting the courage to do something about it. I’m no longer a huge fan of “accent walls” that feature a different material or color than the rest of the room and my shiplap wall is the epitome of that. So it’s gonna go. I like the white walls however and I will continue this throughout the room. Eliminating the wood wall does pose a new problem since the brick fireplace and walls are all the same color, I have to find a way to make sure the fireplace doesn’t disappear in the room.

The fireplace has a lot of pros and cons. Truthfully, it’s far too large for the room. It’s such a small space and the fireplace takes up nearly an entire wall which towers over the room making it feel even smaller than it is. If this were a long term home for us, I’d probably restructure it to be narrower and less bulky. But, that’s a big investment for a home we don’t plan on staying in for long so that probably won’t happen.

The other issue is that when we initially renovated the room, we raised the ceiling 2 feet and as a result, our fireplace is now 2 feet shorter than the ceiling. That bugs me. In my opinion, the brick needs to extend to the ceiling and I’m currently in the process of convincing Chris to let me source brick to fix that issue.

What I DO love about our fireplace is the brick and the half circle opening. It’s a much needed texture for the room and the half circle is such a charming element.

Aside from the fireplace and wood wall, the room is somewhat of a blank canvas which I actually really like. I can easily change the whole aesthetic of the room by simply swapping out the furniture for something new. So in theory, this could be a fairly inexpensive makeover.

The OG furniture and decor that I purchased back in 2017 feels very mid century in a non mid century home. I was determined to make mid century pieces blend in with my home and although I don’t think it looks bad…it doesn’t necessarily belong. I’d much rather sell what I have and restart than work with pieces that I no longer love. So I’ve been slowly sourcing antique furniture and thrifted decor over the past year and we recently made a few larger furniture purchases that will make a big impact.

I hope this isn’t coming across as me complaining because I truly love our home. But I will always be a women who loves change and I’m ok with that. 😉

So…the game plan! Aside from taking down the wood wall and extending the brick fireplace to the ceiling, we’ll be replacing most of our furniture. Our new sofa is coming soon and we couldn’t be more excited about it. The neutral fabric will be a blank canvas for me to work with and that’s very refreshing! (P.S. I know you guys are curious to hear my thoughts on our new sofa, where we got it from, and it’s durability. I want to use it for a little while and then give you a full review!)

I’m also on the hunt for a few side chairs currently that don’t break the bank. So far most of the chairs I fall in love with do indeed break the bank. 🙂 And after 6 months of scrolling through FB marketplace daily for an antique coffee table, I finally decided to just build my own. Excited to share more about that soon!

The rug, antique furniture, and a few decor pieces will stay but the rest is going and I cannot wait to share the refresh with you. Here’s my vision for the space –

SOURCES:

sofa (in the fabric “Buff”) • coffee table (similar style to the one I’ll DIY) • accent chair • rug • side table (vintage) • wood cabinet (DIY project) • tree art • curtain panels • table lamp (DIY project) • ticking stripe pillow • solid taupe pillow • green dot pillow

I should warn you, this is going to be a slow makeover…one where we add pieces as we find them so don’t hold your breath too long for the reveal! But please do follow along on Instagram because I’ll be sharing the whole process there in the meantime!