Happy almost weekend! I wish every week could be a four day work week but hey I’ll take them
when I can get them. Over the Labor Day weekend Shaun and I hosted a party at
our house – not only was this exciting because it was the first time having a bunch
of friends over to our new home but it was our first time hosting a party
together. Paying the mortgage every month certainly makes it feel like it’s our
house but there’s two things that really make a house a home- filling it with
love and making it your own with decorating. We certainly felt loved by all our
family and friends and we’re getting there on the decorating so now that that a
few rooms are feeling pretty finished I figured it’s time to share some peaks
inside.
when I can get them. Over the Labor Day weekend Shaun and I hosted a party at
our house – not only was this exciting because it was the first time having a bunch
of friends over to our new home but it was our first time hosting a party
together. Paying the mortgage every month certainly makes it feel like it’s our
house but there’s two things that really make a house a home- filling it with
love and making it your own with decorating. We certainly felt loved by all our
family and friends and we’re getting there on the decorating so now that that a
few rooms are feeling pretty finished I figured it’s time to share some peaks
inside.
When we first
bought the house I had a very clear vision for our living room, it’s the very
center of our house and you can see if not only right when you walk in but from
most other rooms in the house. We had every intention of painting the walls and
filling this room with stylish blue velvet couches, statement art pieces and
some fun accent chairs – then reality set it. We went over budget on our condo
renovations, it’s still not under contract, there’s a lot of little expenses
when you buy a new home (especially new construction) that sure do add up and
we realized as much as we had this idea of this perfect living room the adult
thing to do was to put this vision on hold and work with what we had.
bought the house I had a very clear vision for our living room, it’s the very
center of our house and you can see if not only right when you walk in but from
most other rooms in the house. We had every intention of painting the walls and
filling this room with stylish blue velvet couches, statement art pieces and
some fun accent chairs – then reality set it. We went over budget on our condo
renovations, it’s still not under contract, there’s a lot of little expenses
when you buy a new home (especially new construction) that sure do add up and
we realized as much as we had this idea of this perfect living room the adult
thing to do was to put this vision on hold and work with what we had.
I purchased
the cream sofa and loveseat back in 2009 – that’s eight years and one black dog
the entire time so there’s no making these look brand new again but with a
little elbow grease I think they came out pretty decent – to get them looking
fresh again I removed the seat cushion covers and washed with detergent and oxi
clean on the power wash cycle – twice. I vacuumed every inch of the bodies of
the furniture and then spot treated with magic eraser sponges – up close there’s
still some stubborn spots that will not come out but overall it’s not bad. The
pillows came with the couches we bought for the upstairs bonus room and we
purchased different pillows that better suited the theme we wanted in that room
– since this fit the color scheme I decided hey, why not toss them on the
living room furniture. I like to change out pillows seasonally to decorate for
the season but these pillows make a good neutral base. The accent chairs were
purchased back in 2012 and since they’re not really cozy for the dogs they’ve
been able to stay in good shape – I got them at Marshalls and I think they were
$150ish each, I see lots of great chairs at Marshalls and Home goods in the
$100 to $200 range.
the cream sofa and loveseat back in 2009 – that’s eight years and one black dog
the entire time so there’s no making these look brand new again but with a
little elbow grease I think they came out pretty decent – to get them looking
fresh again I removed the seat cushion covers and washed with detergent and oxi
clean on the power wash cycle – twice. I vacuumed every inch of the bodies of
the furniture and then spot treated with magic eraser sponges – up close there’s
still some stubborn spots that will not come out but overall it’s not bad. The
pillows came with the couches we bought for the upstairs bonus room and we
purchased different pillows that better suited the theme we wanted in that room
– since this fit the color scheme I decided hey, why not toss them on the
living room furniture. I like to change out pillows seasonally to decorate for
the season but these pillows make a good neutral base. The accent chairs were
purchased back in 2012 and since they’re not really cozy for the dogs they’ve
been able to stay in good shape – I got them at Marshalls and I think they were
$150ish each, I see lots of great chairs at Marshalls and Home goods in the
$100 to $200 range.
We found the
rug on sale at Tuesday Morning for $99, which sure beats the $700 rug I
originally selected. We considered a larger rug but the furniture we plan on
getting in the future is much larger so a larger rug to go between the two
couches isn’t really necessary –this one is 8’ by 10’. The blue will go with
our new furniture when we’re able to swap out within the next year or so and at
the price point I don’t feel like I need to be crazy about shooing the dogs
away; we’re really not the type of people to not allow our dogs on furniture,
rugs, ect. At the condo we had a black bench as our coffee table and back
accent tables – that wouldn’t really work in this space with all the brown
tones around the house so we knew we’d need new. This is where I turned to
pinterest – I used THS IKEA HACK as my inspiration with a few modifications – I
picked a blue marble contact paper instead of gray to pull in more of the blue
color scheme we’re going for and I used a champagne paint instead of a gold
which is more muted and not as shiny. We also got two round tables I painted
the same color – they look a little more outdoorish than I had hoped but I’ve
seen some people on pinterest make a cover for the bottom layer so I might
explore that route. The marble contact paper was $15 off amazon and I bought
the paint one can at a time using the 40% off one item at Michael’s – I needed
four cans total for the three tables.
rug on sale at Tuesday Morning for $99, which sure beats the $700 rug I
originally selected. We considered a larger rug but the furniture we plan on
getting in the future is much larger so a larger rug to go between the two
couches isn’t really necessary –this one is 8’ by 10’. The blue will go with
our new furniture when we’re able to swap out within the next year or so and at
the price point I don’t feel like I need to be crazy about shooing the dogs
away; we’re really not the type of people to not allow our dogs on furniture,
rugs, ect. At the condo we had a black bench as our coffee table and back
accent tables – that wouldn’t really work in this space with all the brown
tones around the house so we knew we’d need new. This is where I turned to
pinterest – I used THS IKEA HACK as my inspiration with a few modifications – I
picked a blue marble contact paper instead of gray to pull in more of the blue
color scheme we’re going for and I used a champagne paint instead of a gold
which is more muted and not as shiny. We also got two round tables I painted
the same color – they look a little more outdoorish than I had hoped but I’ve
seen some people on pinterest make a cover for the bottom layer so I might
explore that route. The marble contact paper was $15 off amazon and I bought
the paint one can at a time using the 40% off one item at Michael’s – I needed
four cans total for the three tables.
Once I had the
base pieces in place the fun part came – personalizing the space. I love the
little vignettes around the room and it’s what really makes this feel like our
living room, in our home. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to have the big
family portrait above the mantle – my sister took this pic on our vacation in
May with her digital camera and did some minor color corrections – I spent
about $60 on the canvas which is 48” by 36”.
base pieces in place the fun part came – personalizing the space. I love the
little vignettes around the room and it’s what really makes this feel like our
living room, in our home. Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to have the big
family portrait above the mantle – my sister took this pic on our vacation in
May with her digital camera and did some minor color corrections – I spent
about $60 on the canvas which is 48” by 36”.
On the mantle I put the sand from
our unity ceremony at our wedding and a few other pieces that we already owned.
The coffee table and side table pieces are all pieces we already owned as well.
I love that I’ve been able to mix in old family pieces with items representing our
family such as the bouquet from our wedding and the snow globe Shaun gave me as
a wedding present.
our unity ceremony at our wedding and a few other pieces that we already owned.
The coffee table and side table pieces are all pieces we already owned as well.
I love that I’ve been able to mix in old family pieces with items representing our
family such as the bouquet from our wedding and the snow globe Shaun gave me as
a wedding present.
We also knew
that we wanted to have a nod to our new home state and wanted a magnolia piece
of art so we’ve been casually looking for one over the past few month – this piece
was on sale for $40 at Kirkland’s and is the perfect size for this wall.
that we wanted to have a nod to our new home state and wanted a magnolia piece
of art so we’ve been casually looking for one over the past few month – this piece
was on sale for $40 at Kirkland’s and is the perfect size for this wall.
Ideally one
day we’d like a much larger piece on this wall but this blue and gold agate canvas
to me was perfect to tie into our gold and blue coffee table and rug and bring
a little glam style into the space. It was also at Kirkland’s and also on sale –
woohoo! Eventually we plan on painting the room and all the common areas a blue
gray but the two story walls have proven to be a bit of a challenge – we’ll get
to it eventually.
day we’d like a much larger piece on this wall but this blue and gold agate canvas
to me was perfect to tie into our gold and blue coffee table and rug and bring
a little glam style into the space. It was also at Kirkland’s and also on sale –
woohoo! Eventually we plan on painting the room and all the common areas a blue
gray but the two story walls have proven to be a bit of a challenge – we’ll get
to it eventually.
Eventually we’ll
have a re-decorated living room to show off but for now it’s presentable, comfortable,
stylish and best of all nothing in it is on our credit card.
have a re-decorated living room to show off but for now it’s presentable, comfortable,
stylish and best of all nothing in it is on our credit card.
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