I have finally finished our living room. It was been a long process, but it is complete. Well...almost I guess. I am still waiting for a floor lamp that I ordered over a month ago; ironically it will be here the day that I deliver the baby in the hospital (June 14th).
My inspiration came from the lovely Lauren over at
I just loved the light feeling that Lauren's room offered with all of the layers, textures, and the overall sense of "home." The floor lamp that I am waiting on for our living room is actually the same one in the picture above. Lauren has a way of adding style and ease to a room without making it feel too stuffy; it is still approachable and lived in.
I wanted to achieve this same feeling for my own family; to some how incorporate style into a room for my husband and I, while still making it comfortable for a toddler and baby on the way.
When we moved into our 70s split level rental; I knew right away that there was A LOT that I wanted to change (after getting the landlords permission), I started painting and "remolding" room by room.
Before: On move in day...what a mess!
When the movers brought everything in...it was nothing less than overwhelming.
Our trusty dog Roscoe was there to lend a "hand"...
The lovely cornice board curtains- I took those down the first day!
A close up of the curtains...
Look at all the packing paper!
Lovely view of the chaos...
After painting the walls, and putting up a stencil on one of the walls to add some texture (VERY tedious job!!!); this is what it looks like now...(warning: there are a lot of pictures).
And After:
Although I am not that crazy about the back side of the couch facing you when you first walk in the door; it was really the only spot to place it.
A close up view of one of the built in bookshelves. I left the bottom shelf empty because when the baby comes I will be spending alot of recovery time on the couch, and the lower level will make a great temporary changing table.
The bust I ordered from an antique dealer from Spain. We almost thought it wasn't going to make it here. It had trouble getting through customs and he had to resend it twice! The antlers are from a gazelle and I thought they were interesting. I am still missing the candles to go in the candles sticks.
View of the other built in book shelf...
Our rose bushes our starting to bloom out back and make a beautiful little arrangement.
This was my little rocking chair when I was little and is now one of Evelyn's favorite places to read.
The box is an old wine crate that the bust on the mantle came in from Spain- I am recycling it to hold some of Evelyn's animal toys.
The Eastlake chair is an antique I found at a flea market in Georgia for only $20; but it is very special to me because of the velvet fabric. My grandmother gave me the fabric as she had been holding onto it for over 50 years. Every time I look at it I think of her and our special memories.
This little green book was another gift from my grandmother. Recently, they came to visit us and she gave this book to Evelyn. It's the very same book that she used to read to me for hours. It was the most precious thing for me to see my grandmother sitting in our living room reading this book to our daughter.
Just priceless.
I wish I had a seagrass rug that was much larger...but they don't make them larger than 9x12 unless you special order.
A close up view of the stencil I did on the wall. Again, you must have extreme patience, for this is a very tedious task; and honestly, not one that I am sure I will do again. However, I do love the results.
I know I had a lot of pictures and hope I didn't overwhelm you all with too many of them. There are always things that I would love to change- like the actual fireplace itself, for example; if we owned the home I would completely reconstruct the way the mantle and fire place looked. I would also paint all of the built-ins and wood trim white...but, all in all I do love the way our living room turned out. I hope you enjoyed my little "before" and "after" tour...
Have a happy week!
~Cheers,
Melissa
