Living Room Reveal

Welcome to the Living Room!

* Warning: This room has been a major DIY fest, which makes this a picture and link heavy post!

The Before....

Good ol' wood paneling! Um...anyone get the black light and the glowing green cups?

These next two pics were taken right after we moved in and I had refinished the hardwood floors. We had an unauthorized military move from HI to WA and so I sold most everything we owned before I moved. Storing things in HI, and moving things across the Pacific cost WAY too much. So I kept only a few things over there during my husband's 15mo deployment. 

This picture is on here for you to remember the couch. It's recoverd in all the after pictures.

The After...

I refinished the hardwoods before we moved in...basically 3 weeks of working really late nights! I would wait until my kids were asleep at my parent's, drive through Starbucks and come out to this house and work LATE!

Once I tore the carpet out, I realized some of the wood was missing, so it took much longer than expected to finish the floors.

DIY TIP: I purchased professional sealer and finish from a business in town that professionally refinishes hardwood floors. It was spendy, but thousands less than having a pro refinish them, and more durable than basic polyurethane. I wanted all of that hard work to last!  (I now know why they charge so much to refinish hardwood floors! Trust me...they earn their money!)

This is the same couch in the before picture! I tore off the skirt and my mom, sister, and I recovered it in corduroy. It has (surprisingly) held up really well for the past 4.5 yrs! I recovered all the pillows, and added trim to the lamps. The lamp bases I found at a yard sale. The coffee table I painted brown. It was originally a honey oak and was purchased off Craigslist. You can see the side tables in my before pic too. They were originally honey oak. I painted them with a gloss black lacquer. 

Five years ago, when I started on this room, I pulled together yard sale and Goodwill items and what I had been given and made it all "work". It wasn't bad, but it wasn't me. I decided to go from my original green, red and brown, to this gray, white, black and yellow color scheme that you see now (with a few pops of teal). I made the change about a year ago, and I choose to keep the wall color, the curtain material and some of the brown furniture because I had a million other projects going on and I had only so much time!

This picture shows a great layout of the room, and how the office is attached to it. You also get a shot of the entryway. This picture also has made me decide to ask for a tri-pod for my birthday! Tired of long shot fuzziness!

Here is a clearer shot of the office. The square framed mirrors are from the dollar store. A great way to make a big impact is to purchase 9 smaller items and arrange them in a big square.  You can also see the Joining Wall  here. The twine chest someone gave me when I was buying something else from them off Craigslist. It's now the toy box. 

The chairs I purchased at the Goodwill. I LOVE the fabric, but it is old and they eventually will need to be recovered. To hide their age I made the bike and music note linen pillows. I feel they brighten the chairs and distract from their age, yet people still notice the fabric. To all of you who have asked for the bike pillow tutorial it is now linked above for you!

For accessories, I used whatever I had. This is a vintage "bowl ?" I found, painted it yellow, distressed it and added rose pinecones. I also painted a couple picture frames, added some fabric flowers, and recovered pillows to bring in the yellow and teal. 

The piano I found for FREE on Craigslist. ...of course it cost me $100 to have it moved into my house...ugh..., but overall, a fantastic find. I recovered the bench.

 The frame of silhouettes is another repeated idea in my house, where I take a large frame and put smaller frames inside, to make big, but inexpensive wall art. You can see another example in my entryway.  The willow branches were from my neighbor, who's son is a landscaper. You can also see the blanket basket. Blanket baskets are a must have in any room with a couch! 

Another sign made out of baseboard. I figured this was a good saying for the living room... "Love each other as I have love you. John 13:34"  Other baseboard-word signs can be found in my nursery. The candle holders I found at Hobby Lobby on clearance. I added the nautical touches for summer. I figure I'll change them out seasonally. 

I always have flowers from my yard, and these wicker balls in this wooden tray (I purchased the tray at a friend's yardsale.) The balls I keep there because they are interesting and they can stand being thrown on the floor by my one year old! (one of her favorite pass-times).  I found the wicker balls at a local grocery store. I waited until they were on super clearance, (guessing that not too many people would be buying wicker balls at a grocery store), and then bought way too many of them!

I love a good reading corner. The vintage chair is from a yardsale. The lamp and the stand are from Craigslist, and you can find the tutorial from the wine jug and jute HERE.  All the ottomans in this room are from yard sales. The art is hard to see here, but it's marble art I made with my son. It's cool and FREE and you can see the tutorial HERE. Keep in mind it was posted before I blogged for anyone but friends and family. Meaning the pics are crap-ola. 

My dad gave me some beans in this sack to make chili. I made some gathered ribbon out of teal material, and sewed it on the sack to help bring in some teal to the living room. I'm pretty sure it's my favorite pillow in this room. 

Do you remember those 60's shelves? I took them apart and made my own shelving by adding straight shelves. I wanted them to look vintage and cottagy. The awesome vintage cabinet is the first piece of furniture I found here. It was sitting on someone's yard with a sign that said $5! 

I love that the shelves originally had the wood paneling behind them. When painted, it gives a cottagey feel.

So there it is....I've painted everything from the ceiling to the floor in this room. We had an electrician add recessed lighting. I added faux trim (tutorial HERE). I tore out the carpet and refinished the hardwoods. I updated the pull curtains by adding trim to the top and fabric at the bottom, and I've mentioned most of the decorative finds. If I didn't you can bet there were DIYed or found from a yardsale or the GW. 

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

--Katie

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