Living Room

One month after purchasing our first home we moved in with all of our furniture ~ most of which resided in the living room.  Yup, that's it above!  Like most first time home buyers, we weren't completely sure where to start, so it took us 6 months of focusing on other home projects before we re-focused our attention to this room.  First on our to-do list was to brighten up the dark khaki walls.

Before:

After:

For paint we used Benjamin Moore's Hush.  We also purchased three Allen + Roth roman shades in honey for $25 a piece.  It's amazing what a little paint can do ~ by brightening up the space, it seemed so much bigger!  Now with all that room we worked on making an area that would help keep us organized.

In the corner behind the front door, we built our Custom Ikea Expedit.

To see that project click here.

Then it was time to start updating furniture.  I knew exactly what I wanted ~ neutral pieces that could easily transition from season to season that would keep our small space feeling airy and bright.  We quickly started having sticker shock when we saw how expensive furniture can be!  So when we came across these West Elm Sweep Armchairs we fell in love with their sleek lines and neutral texture.  We completely lucked out when they happened to be on sale ~ and on top of that, our store was willing to sell their floor samples at an additional discount.

I was (and still am) ~ so proud of these chairs ~ mainly because they were by far our most expensive purchase to date.  For curtains we hit up our local Ikea and purchased two sets of sheer white.  Black cafe curtain rods were purchased from Target.

We then set out to save more pennies to purchase a couch.  I knew I wanted white and quickly decided on a slip covered couch.  Slipcovers allow for easy cleaning and would give us the option to change it out entirely in the future.  We decided on Pottery Barn's Basic Sofa in Brushed Canvas, Natural.  After reading reviews online, I saw that PB typically had an annual sofa sale.  We waited for this and purchased our sofa on sale.  We've been very happy with this for the past two years!  Surprisingly, it has held up very well ~ typically I'll vacuum it with a brush attachment to clean off any dog hairs and dirt (our pup is known to put muddy paws on it from time to time).  And when needed will throw the slipcover in the wash.

So one year after purchasing our home, our living was slowly starting to take shape.  In search for side tables I found this Crackle Lattice Garden Stool from Mecox Garden.  The exuberant price tag made me determined to find an affordable look alike ~ so you can imagine my excitement when I found one at Decor Decor here in Atlanta.  And the most exciting thing ever?!  I found this one in their scratch & dent section for $25!  It had fractured slightly during the firing process, but had since been re-glazed!  Best score ever!

The rug is West Elm's Jute Bolce in Platnum.  And the industrial inspired coffee table was another scratch & dent find from Decor Decor.  

Two lamps were purchased from HomeGoods.  The Vintage Map along with the Antique Hutch were thrift finds.  And there you have it ~ the current state of our Living Room.  

We still plan to re-do the ceiling and add a salvaged mantel to the fireplace.  

But more on that later!

Before & After