Ahh, she's finally done!
Well, kind of. As done as she's getting for the time being.
It won't be 100% done until I have time to paint the trim. The baseboards and hallway/doorway trim will eventually be a bright, crisp white - but the trim in this house is a solid 70 years old and needs A LOT of love before I can put paint on it. Which is an amount of work I'm not sure I'm up to while also draaaagging my kids through the last two months of virtual school. So that may be a Summer vacation project. I'll just have to re-share when the time comes!
Here we go!!! My long overdue living room refresh.
I was too excited and motivated (slash forgetful) to take a before picture, so here's one from Christmas:
I am SO happy with the change! Let me show you around ;)
So first of all is the wall color. I was hoping for something that appeared a bit more cream than this - it looks like bright white in person. I think once I finally paint the trim you'll be able to see a bit more of a difference, but I'm okay with it for now. As bright as it is, it still has some warmth to it. The color is called Pale Bloom by Valspar, and we got ours in Satin.
This shelf used to hang a little bit to the left and it was stained with a random leftover stain we had when we moved into this place. Back then I had a toddler and no patience, haha. I painted it with a bright white paint and simplified the decor down to the things that fit my vision - whites, creams, greenery. I didn't plan to add the painting in the middle, but it was lacking something so I propped it up there as an example of what a mirror or artwork would look like there aaaand I kind of loved it. So she stayed, for now. I bought it at a garage sale years ago! The garland and such won't stay there forever - just spring decor.
Candles: Amazon | Plants: Hearth & Hand at Target (1 & 2)
Bunting & Wreaths: Bullseye's Playground at Target
This table makes me so happy for some reason! It's just bright and simple and lovely. When I ordered the lamps for the side tables I definitely thought they were bigger! But it's fine. I'd prefer bigger but I liked their style (and price!) so much that they're staying for now. However - the shades don't sit high enough to cover the bulbs, so when you'd sit near these lamps they were blinding. I remedied this by wrapping the base with electrical tape until it was thick enough that the shades could sit up higher. They're perfect now!
The crystal vase belonged to my late Grandmother! I love that I found a way to display it all times! I noticed it in the background of a picture from my parents' wedding day recently, and while they're not still together (and haven't been for decades), I still love the history of this piece and I'm so glad to have it! I filled it with the beloved bullseye's playground tulips from Target and I love how it looks!
Brass Side Table Lamps: Target | Bunch of Tulips: Bullseye's Playground at Target
The recliner beneath my art gallery is also a new addition. Our old one was a dark red and a gift when our oldest son was born. It has served us well, but after twelve years and many little ones, the fabric was tearing and the stuffing was disintegrating in the arm rests. We'd ordered this one in early November but it didn't show up until March! We love it so far.
I call this wall our family gallery. Years ago (7 or 8?) I created a bigger, much more playful and colorful mural on this wall. I even blogged about the process. At the time, I had three itty bitty little ones and our house was very much so in "playroom" mode so I loved it at the time, but started to get annoyed with it after a while. I wanted it to be simplified and streamlined and a little more "grown up". So I played around with new layouts, spray painted all the frames a uniform bright white, and ordered new prints. I used gallery putty stickers to keep them straight and secure. The frames are a random collection from thrifting over the years, and I love how they look with different shapes and textures but all with one uniform color.
Photo Prints: Mpix | Gallery Putty Stickers: Amazon
This side table was already in the room, but I just simplified it a bit. The clock was a gift from my in-laws many years ago (when my oldest son was just a toddler and he loved all the dinging clocks all over their house). On the bottom is a faux fiddle fig from Target, and a soy Opalhouse candle (my favorite) and another bullseye's playground wreath (both from Target). The decor down there hides our Echo dot and one of our wifi routers. We had to get a double system because we have 3 kids doing virtual school & Matt working from home all at the same time!
Faux Fiddle Fig Plant: Target | Opalhouse Soy Candles: Target
This wall! So much love here. This whole room was inspired by my bubblegum girl and it makes me SO happy to see her up on the wall! The rest of this was pieced together with random frames and things I had on hand (except for the hands canvas, that's new). The landscape watercolor was done by my late grandma (the same one who used to own the crystal vase), I made the Schitt's Creek quote print myself, the floral piece was another garage sale find from years ago, and the inspirational canvas I'd gotten maybe 4 Christmases ago and never hung up. Eek. Whatever, it has its home now, haha!
Quote Print: Target | Bubblegum Girl: Society6 | Hand Holding Canvas: Target
So, trying to keep things on a budget while updating this room, I tried to find ways to use what we already had and just adjust it to fit the new look. We'd had this stand lamp for years, and while its style isn't exactly perfect, I knew we could make it work by just changing out the lamp shade. I found one that coordinated really well with the side table lamps at Target, and it was SO easy to install and looks so great! And the bright light that comes out of it now is incredible!
Large Drum Lamp Shade: Target
The final piece of the update puzzle was finding a plant to go behind the love seat. I really, really wanted this one from Target, but I couldn't find it in stock anywhere. After struggling to find a faux fiddle fig that didn't look like it was shellacked, I settled for a ficus. (Btw, we have to go fake up in here because our cats terrorize real plants.) I love bringing the outside in a little, and I snuck some twinkle lights in her branches to make a cozy movie night situation. She will 100% get dressed up for Christmas, of course.
Faux Ficus: Kohl's
What else to share? Oh - the lighting in this room is a GAME CHANGER. Obviously going from a medium tan to a bright cream is going to make a difference, but rearranging our lighting locations, going from 2 to 3 lamps, and working on the light settings has taken this room from gloomy day to surface of the sun. We use the Phillips Hue Lights, which are great because you can change the brightness and color, play around with different effects, and even program them to turn on and off when you'd like. (We also have them in our room and I wake up to them in the morning!) We have two of the color bulbs and one white bulb in the living room, and they make SUCH a difference!
Philip's Hue Color Bulb: Target
Philip's Hue White Bulb: Target
While I'm at it, this fireplace TV stand is fairly new. We got it in November I think? We were trying to think of something to make the long winter a little more cozy and comfy so we got this bad boy. I put it together myself! It wasn't bad. Also, the side tables are from Target as well. I don't think they have them anymore - we bought them a good handful of years ago.
(in the color rustic gray)
That's about it! I'm still on the hunt for some throw pillows. I don't have any now because until recently, they would get so trashed by my kids that they just weren't worth it. Aside from an occasional seasonal one, I just stopped trying. I'd also like to find new curtains, but that's been a hunt. I love the fabric of the ones we have - I'd be ecstatic to find them in white. We'll see!
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I'm really happy with how this room turned out! We wanted to work around the couches we have, even though they are pretty rundown (they are about 18 years old and some cats have had their way with them). They are faux leather and just SO easy to wipe down with kids and pets in the house. Considering we hope to move in the near future (hopefully), we'd rather buy furniture for the home we find then.
I know this is a small room without a whole lot of dramatic change, but it's what we're working with! We needed some more light and to simplify and sort of mature the room from its days of showcasing preschool artwork and legos. I love it so much!
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