The Living Room

One of the rooms I was most excited about was the upstairs living room. Being the first room you see when you enter the house, I wanted it to be as welcoming as possible. Before we closed, I would spend hours pondering furniture arrangement and paint colors so that I made sure to get it right. 

The paint color wasn't a difficult choice for me, as I planned on using our medium toned greige that we were given (15 gallons that someone didn't end up using) before we moved out of our first house. It was perfect to tackle the high ceilings and blend my love of grey with the fact that we have a large brown sofa. :) 

The first big step to getting the living room done was figuring out how we would place the furniture. We originally thought we would put the brown sectional down in the man cave--and we tried several times to get it down there. Man-cave war wounds...

Needless to say, after the third try and third set of big burley man-folk testing their brains and brawn, we settled with putting it back upstairs and just making it work. 

I wanted to keep the windows as open as possible, but the large sofa just wouldn't fit in the corner underneath the glass block. Next plan: block part of the windows but use the credenza as a sofa table to decorate around it. Success! (I didn't take a picture of it before we painted, so lets get right to the good stuff). 

After the kitchen cabinets were done, it was time to tackle the kitchen and living room walls, as well as down the hallway. 

Don't get me wrong, the before color wasn't bad, but there were spackle spots and dings that needed to be taken care of and, of course, a very red kitchen that needed to leave as soon as possible. 

 

Into the center of the room, went EVERYTHING...and we set off to paint to our hearts content while Dawson slept. Therefore all of the taping and prep work happened during her afternoon naps and painting took place between 8 and 10 or so at night. The first night we tackled the first coat, and followed with the second on night two. 

Lets just say, I was so excited when it was finished, I stayed up a little late pulling tape and putting furniture back in its place. 

Voila! Living room completion! 

As with the kitchen, we still have some odds and ends to take care of. One of these being cutting in around the ceiling once we have a tall ladder. Jagged, old paint border isn't really our thing, but we hardly notice it right now since we have the decor up and it feels like home now. 

All I know is that a little elbow grease and some paint goes a long way in making any house a home worthy of calling your own. We have truly been blessed by this house, the space it offers, and the guests we can welcome! 

 I would say that Dawson has done well making friends with our guests. :) If this doesn't melt your heart, the view of these two squealing and laughing in this very living room sure would. Blessings abound with family and friends in our home! 

Plans for this space include: 

-removing the glass block divider and replacing it with spindles or modern cables, or even plexi glass. 

-updating the light fixtures in entry and dining area

-adding curtains to the large picture windows

-adding a large area rug and coffee table in front of the sofa 

-updating the wood burning fireplace (new tile surround? Built-in bookcases around it? A wall treatment above the mantle?) 

If only the funds were limitless, right? :)