Kick Your Feet Up!
The living room room was one of the more stressful rooms that we designed in our house. It is one of the first rooms you see when you walk in, so I wanted it to have an elegant feel, but still be comfortable for everyday life. I grew up in a home that had a living room and a family room, so it was difficult to think that we only had one living space. I would have ideally wanted one room with elegant furniture to be the living room, and another room with a huge sectional to be the family room. We needed to be able to meet in the middle and have the best of both worlds.
When we first bought the house, this room was in rough shape, yet not awful. The floors were a mess and I HATED the fireplace. It had some sort of funky, 3D stone situation going on and was very dark and gloomy. The room was also very long, and the fireplace was off-center. This made for a tough design decision- but I could worry about that later. First, we needed to freshen up the room!
We started by getting to work on the fireplace. That thing was STURDY, and I had to fight to get a new one. I get it, from a labor standpoint, it’s a total B and I am not the one doing the labor. I just could not bear to look at that thing every day. To make things easier, we did not totally demo the old fireplace. Instead, we shaved down the original stone, and put cement boards over the original, allowing us to put a new design over that.
From there, it was time to lay the flooring. Again, we did the same flooring throughout the entire first floor. After laying the wood, we did a custom, two-tone stain. I will say, I am in love with the stain. It is the perfect blend where it is not too dark to show every dog hair and piece of dust, but still dark enough that it adds the dimension that I wanted in the room.
Once the floors were dry, they were covered and taped off to protect them as the rest of the room came together. The can lights were all replaced and then the walls were primed and painted. The color I had picked for the living room was light grey, but ended up looking more grey-blue once it was on the walls. Not exactly what I had expected, but I still liked it. We get a ton of light in that room so I guess I should have known that the colors would all vary.
Once the walls were done, the trim and molding went up and the fireplace was ready to come together. The stone for our fireplace has a variety of colors. At first, I thought I wanted a bit of a darker fireplace, but we ended up going with this one. It has a mix of blues, greys, and tans, some of which almost have an orange hue to them. Probably sounds ugly but it went well with the wall color that we picked. It also helped to tie in the rooms. The neighboring rooms, the kitchen and dining room, were both painted tan. The tan-tones in the fireplace helped to tie that in with the blue-grey tones in the living room. Instead of adding stone to the ground or bringing the wood all the way up to the fireplace, a slab of marble was placed on the ground in front of the fireplace, as well as at the base entrance of the fireplace itself. Not gonna lie, when I first saw it, I wasn’t sure about it and felt like it could have been too busy. However, I like that we have something that I feel like I haven’t seen in many other homes and the marble is so easy to clean! Once the floors were uncovered and I could see it all together, I felt way better about the look!
At this point, the room itself was pretty much done. The second “disagreement” that we had for this room was the mantle. J did not want a mantle because then he would need to get a smaller tv (typical man). I felt like the mantle was incredibly important for me. I went with very muted tones in my home because I love to decorate for every season and to have sort of a blank canvas to work with. A mantle is a key thing that is decorated in every home. I also could not picture Christmas without stockings hanging from a mantle. We ended up getting the mantle (victory!) and I. LOVE. IT. It is a beautiful, rustic piece of wood that has the dark tones to match the floor. When the fireplace was on it’s own, I really didn’t love it and was a little disappointed. While the marble was beautiful and the idea was cool, the stone of the fireplace really was not my style and it is in the center of the damn room. Adding the extra dimension of a dark mantle really tied it into the floors and helped me to calm down and start to see my vision for the room again. Sounds dramatic, but the design decisions that were not directly picked by me took me a while to come around to. I get something in my head and then if that is not how the plan goes, I have to get over that hurdle of disappointment and adjust to the new look. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved the room and how it turned out, I am just very detail-oriented so those little things would throw me for a spin.
Apologies, I forgot to snag a picture with the mantle installed before we decorated the room :(
Once this room was done, it was time to figure out furniture. Again, the room was long and narrow, with two big bay windows and an off-center fireplace. This did NOT make for easy planning, let me tell YOU. J wanted to get a giant sectional the size of the entire room (typical guy, again). Now, I really do like the idea of a big sectional, just not for this room. With it being long and narrow, that would mean that the couch would be about all that goes in the room and it would have covered the windows. I wanted it to be functional, yes, but still elegant and pretty. That would have taken away from the room and probably would have made it seem smaller. We had the finished basement and that is where I felt the “lounge furniture” should go just because of room sizing. I ultimately decided to break this room up into two sections. We ordered all furniture for this room from Pottery Barn, as we were able to customize everything. I decided to put the couch in the “center”, aka between the two windows and facing the fireplace. This left a huge gap at the end of the room, where I wanted to add a second, conversational space with two love seats. While we were at Pottery Barn, the consultant suggested adding a swivel chair in between the two areas. I loved that idea, and we moved forward with the order. For the couch, I chose a light grey, herringbone fabric. We chose this couch because the chaise would keep the room more open, as opposed to a sectional with a high back that could make it all look more clustered. For the other section, I chose this loveseat, and got two to face each other. Finally, we chose this swivel chair to go in the middle, with the idea that the person sitting there can easily turn to join conversations from the couch or from the loveseats. I was a little nervous at first because all of the furniture was a different color- grey couch, cream colored loveseats, and a light brown leather chair. We purchased all of these items during their friends and family sale, however, Pottery Barn is still expensive and I was terrified that I would hate our purchases. It took four months for our furniture to arrive, but it ended up being perfect when it got here! Lol at the months in between where J and I would literally sit in the dog bed to watch tv.
I also went ahead and ordered a grey rug on Wayfair for under the couch. The consultant at Pottery Barn suggested I do two different rugs in the room (one under the couch and one under the loveseats). She had also suggested that they be different colors (originally we were told to get a blue rug and a green rug to “compliment nature”). I felt like that would just be way too busy and stuck with the one rug. I personally did not want to spend a lot of money on the rug. When I went on Wayfair, I put my settings so that I could only see rugs that maxed out at $200. I found this one and bought the same one in brown for the dining room to match (both in 9x12). Rugs get a lot of foot traffic, so I did not want to feel guilt if I decided to replace it after only a few years. I also feel like changing out the rug changes up the whole room, so that is a quick fix down the line should I have a change of heart!
At this point, we really just needed to add the final touches to make this room look more like a home. I ordered two coffee tables, both from Wayfair. This is the smaller one that we put in front of the couch, and this is the bigger one that is between the two loveseats. The bigger one was not the color I was expecting at all, and I will likely do a light sand on it and re-stain it to be a darker, walnut color like the other one. I do, however, love the size and quality and it provides great storage! For both of these, I did a search for “iron and wood coffee tables”. I love the combo of those two materials and I felt as though it would add that rustic touch that I was looking for. That is also why I wanted nailhead on the majority of our furniture, with the hope that it would all tie in.
Also, please excuse the next series of pictures- I forgot to take pics of this room when I had it decorated more neutral, and all of these were taken in the fall (I swear I don’t have orange and pumpkins in this room all year).
I am still kind of messing with the area behind the loveseats. Right now, I have these black frames from Target. There are two on each side, as the single was way too thin. I think I want to switch them out for a rustic, mirrored window pane, kind of like this one. I don’t have it pictured here, (but you will see it when I post the Christmas decor blog) but I have added a tall plant stand to each side. I felt like it needed a little something more, and that really helped. When my parents moved, they asked if I wanted them (they had them for over 10 years). They were cherry wood, so I just painted them a charcoal-black color and they turned out great!
The next area that needed some love was above the couch. I had debated putting a mirror above it so that people in the kitchen could see the reflection of the TV through the mirror. Ultimately, I opted out and went for art work. We purchased this painting from a street artist in Rome and have been carrying it around for years. Once we moved into the house, we knew we wanted to hang it somewhere special as it is a great memory for us. I took it to the Hobby Lobby by my office and picked out a custom frame for it. I was shocked by how expensive it was! I think it was like $400 just to get the frame put on, no glass. Funny story- I paid for the framing and then asked J to hang it. This was the early stages of living in the home, and he hated putting nails in the new walls, so he and his friend decided to put, like, 50 command strips on the frame and hang it that way. Well, speed forward to a few days later and he and I are in the kitchen talking when we hear a loud crash. You guessed it- the frame came crashing down and cracked, so he got to pay for the SECOND round of framing. Men, I tell ya.
Once we hung the frame (properly), I felt like it still looked too dull. I decided to hang sconces on either side of the frame to add an extra touch, and to be able to add more light (I am OBSESSED with candlelight). It took me a while to find one that I liked, and I had to return my fair share of failed sconces. I ended up going with these ones, which stick out as opposed to laying flat. I only buy remote-controlled, flameless candles- I have so many lights in the house that it would take forever to turn every single one on without a remote. Normally, I like the ones with a more burnt down, natural look. I ordered these on Amazon for the sconces, and they are perfect cylinders, which I usually wouldn’t like. I was going to return them, but they actually ended up looking good in the sconces, so, we kept them!
The rest of our decor is primarily from Home Goods. I buy tons of candle sticks, lanterns, frames, pillows, and knick knacks, and am constantly changing them out and switching up the decor every few months. I like to be able to create a new vibe and bring new excitement into the home without having to spend a ton. This room is one of the most used rooms in the house, and we have been very happy with how it came together. While we weren’t able to do the big sectional, we still have tons of seating in this room. We host a lot of get togethers, so we move things around as needed. When we have a crowd for football, we will usually carry one of the love seats over to the other side of the couch, then slide the other one over by the chair. Essentially, we are able to create the sectional feel when we need to, but can still have the put-together family room we want. The windows have also served as very useful seating for us- I was going to get custom cushions made but opted to stick with the white wood. It’s easier to clean and is still decently comfortable. Speaking of easy to clean- I will speak mountains for the furniture we picked out. The performance fabric was advertised as being “easy to clean”, but I am always a skeptic. Let me tell you, we have spilled everything under the sun on all of these couches. Chocolate, wine, ketchup, dog prints- the list goes on and on. All I have to do is wet a rag, wipe, and BOOM- stain is gone. That is huge for me- when we first moved in, J was freaked out about maintaining the home and ensuring that everything stayed as it was when we moved in (hence the picture frame story). I am the one who does most of the cleaning and touch ups, so I had the mindset that we can fix anything that goes wrong. After about 3 months of living there, J seemed to relax and see how even the worst of stains can come out with a good Pinterest concoction. To me, there is nothing worse that going to someone’s home and they make you feel like you’re in a museum and have you paranoid to eat or drink anything, God forbid you spill. While it is so important to always be respectful of other’s homes, accidents happen, and I wanted to be prepared for that. I wanted our house to be the spot where anyone could come and feel at home. Every mess can be cleaned, and the memories made are way more important. After being here over a year and half, I look at this room with a smile because it is filled with so many special memories with so many special people. I would be lying if I said I don’t already have the next living room picked out for the next house but, for now, this room has become so special to us and a staple room in our home. Thanks for stopping by!
Fun fact: my dog knows when people are taking pictures and photo bombs EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
This is the view from our front door when you first enter the home. Hence me wanting this room to be well put together, as it’s the first thing you see. Also the reason why I stressed the need for the mantle- I think it makes all the difference!
This is the view when you first enter the room from the front door. This kind of shows why I went with the chaise instead of the sectional. I honestly would prefer a sectional, but if the first part of the couch had a high back, I feel like it would have blocked the view to the chair and loveseats, making it look a bit more clustered. I wanted everything to be open and airy, so this helped the room to flow better.
Here is a better view of the fireplace. Try to tell me that mantle does not complete the room, I dare you.
This is the view from the other end of the room (please stop and laugh at my dog before reading on). The plan is to eventually put a buffet and large mirror against the wall by the stairs. I haven’t seen one I have liked, and have learned my lesson in rushing furniture purchases. I love that the loveseats add a whole extra view from this room that you would not get with just the couch. I often sit in this section to read or when I am awaiting company, as this gives a view of the front yard and street. You can also get a feel through this picture of my vision for two conversational areas. Many times, the guys will be on the couch and the girls will sit at the loveseats to chat. While they are two separate seating areas, they all blend together and the whole room remains conversational.
Finally, let us not forget our friend, the swivel chair. This has quickly become the “dad chair” as both of our fathers and my grandpa go for this chair every time they come over. It is sneaky comfortable and it is really nice to be able to swivel from tv watching to couch conversations with ease. I initially felt silly adding this on because I thought the price was really steep, but I think the warm leather adds to the room and was the final piece we needed!
