Living Room Update
When we moved into this house, I had a lot of plans for how we’d update and generally make the home more ours. In the way of things, we’ve simultaneously lost momentum and then gained it, albeit in a slightly different direction. The appearance and functionality of our yard is a serious thorn in our side, but something that we don’t really know how to handle and that we are…unmotivated to do much about right now other than suffer embarrassment and shame. But! We have been steadily improving the inside of the home and in December my parents visited for 10 days to help us redo our living/dining/great room area. We have some small projects to finish, but the space is more or less done. And it looks pretty good, if I do say so. I don’t have an official before photo, but here are a few of the space during the holidays shortly after we moved in:
Key features: mustardy wall color, bland carpet (which looks decent enough here before being destroyed by cats and us), anemic trim, hideous popcorn ceilings, brass chandelier in the dining room (you can see this in the photo that at first glance seems to be of a coffee table), mis-matched furniture.
We upgraded some of the furniture and the layout a year or so ago, and things were looking a bit better:
And then the huge undertaking this past fall has the space looking like this (very unstyled and still a bit cluttered):
New bookshelves (Billy–IKEA) which I love, especially the glass doors. The new wall color is so much more flattering against the fireplace. We laid the hearth tiles as a kind of work around for running the wood right up against the hearth. Still trying to determine window treatments, would also like to put an armchair in front of the fireplace.
Dining room — no more brass chandelier. Still have to cover the chair cushions. I was packing boxes here, so the table was a bit more cluttered even than normal.
Entry way — new light fixture here, plus removed the ratty curtain and put up window film (not finished here, hence the glow). We also replaced the old coat hanger with a walnut hang it all. Still need to hang pictures along the hall.
The view as you come in the front door. We get a lot of sun.
Other side of the living room. Things have been added and tidied (cords) since this photo (taken about a month ago), but you get the general idea. The slipcover for the chair is the wrong kind, which is why it looks so lovely. We also have an area rug here now, too, which cozies things up considerably. And a lamp. It’s nice to look back even at these photos and realize that we have made progress even since they were taken. It really can seem so incremental at times!
