Livingroom Transformation
Hey there!
It has been a crazy few months between being pregnant (and sick as a dog), interior decorating client projects, graphic design projects, family life and more. We also slipped almost moving in there, but that did not turn out as we had hoped so we decided to stay and really dive right into making our house feel more like a home. The living room of our home has been a thorn in my side since we moved in. Between the dirty, tan walls to the random cherry floors and vaulted ceilings, it has been a challenge to say the least.
Layout
I create furniture layouts and decorate rooms for others on a daily basis and I could not put my finger on how to appropriately design this room. For starters, our old basement couch and other random furniture peppered the room, so it became a graveyard for old, unwanted furniture. Another reason this room is such a challenge is the rectangular shape. There is a large doorway and the room is long and narrow with vaulted ceilings. It also has random, cherry colored floors when the rest of the house is a golden, maple color. After picking out some furniture I finally got around to doing some research on styling a narrow room. Here is what I found out...
Pull the furniture away from the walls.
Create a walkway.
Center the sitting area, making sure the furniture is at least 30" away from one another.
Create different spaces in the room - a sitting area, a console table with flowers, a desk nook. etc.
Use circular shaped furniture pieces to breakup the rectangular feel ( a coffee table, end table, ottoman).
Paint
A few months ago I was approached by Sherwin Williams to start using their color kits on my client projects as well as in my own home. I was over the moon as they have some amazing paint colors and a great variety of color tools and paints to choose from. For the living room, I chose "Tinsmith" by Sherwin Williams. I really love this color because it is a very light, silver grey, much like the rest of my home. It looks great in the sunlight as well as at night, which is important as there is no overhead lighting.
Furniture
Choosing furniture for a narrow room is a difficult task. We had a sectional in the room for about two years and it really made the space feel empty. I say this because a sectional can only be placed a certain way, especially a sectional with a love seat. With it placed up against the wall it left a large space in the middle of the room making it feel like a bowling alley.
I found these gorgeous, charcoal grey couches from Bob's Discount Furniture for a steal! I am totally in love with the tufted fabric and the studs. Of course I had my eye on some light, neutral colored couches but with 3 dogs and a 3 year old, that just wasn't going to happen. This photo looks more denim colored, but in person it is charcoal grey.
Carpet
Now I know everyone is not going to agree with me but I decided these cherry floors have to go. They are beautiful, but they don't match the rest of the house. I think the previous owners used this room as a large study filling with many leather bound books but that just doesn't work for us. Refinishing the rest of the floors to match (or vise versa) just isn't in the cards right now.
We chose a plush, multicolored, grey carpeting with flecks of white. We are also putting this carpet in our family room as the carpet in that room is currently disgusting. I am really looking forward to making the living room feel cozy and inviting with some thick, plush carpet between your toes.
Vaulted Ceilings & Wall Decor
Trying to decorate the walls in a room with vaulted ceilings can be a great challenge. I have tried to create a collage wall with our favorite musicians (which I thought looked cheap) and I hate to add marks on the walls"just because." Ultimately, we will put some white built in's along the back wall someday which I think will help fill up the space. Then we can add lighting,
display books, knick-knacks and other interesting pieces. I am still on the hunt for some large canvas prints for the opposing walls.
For now, I found some rustic, farm prints from Hobby Lobby that have a classic, white frame that will work for over the couch. Curtains are also on the agenda!
I am so happy with the way everything turned out, I am always searching for the perfect pieces of wall art. I found some that I like temporarily but I truly believe the treasure hunt is half the fun. I hope this blog inspires you to take a risk and try something new!
