I think it was sometime around the middle of February this year when my husband looked at me and asked “when will this be done?” in reference to the constant changes I’m always making in our home. My blank stare probably gave me away, but I said, “Soon! I promise! Then things will be settled for a bit.”
Well, here we are four months later with a bit of progress to share on our living room updates, but I have to say… I don’t feel like I’m any closer to feeling like it’s finished. I’m not sure any room ever really feels finished to me! But we’re getting there…
Just to backtrack a bit, you may remember that we redid our living room completely for the One Room Challenge in Fall of 2016 (above!). Personally… I loved it. There were a couple items and tweaks I wanted to swap out eventually (namely the two side chairs), but overall it felt just right to me. But… my husband wasn’t a fan of the sofa. It was too deep for his liking, and frankly the quality wasn’t great, so we started hunting for something new.
We both absolutely love Room & Board, and knew we wanted to get a sofa from them. This post explores all the options we ended up going through (it was so hard to decide on fabric!). But once we had the sofa, it set the tone for the rest of the room. And here’s where we’re at now!
As you can see, we went with a lighter grey-green tone for the sofa… this threw everything off for me. I’ve always had white sofas, and having something darker felt strange at first. I also instantly regretted not going just a little more bold with our color choice, as this ended up feeling a little more grey than I wanted. At the same time, having neutrals is pretty essential for me since I swap things out so often! In the end, I decided that going with bolder colors elsewhere would help me find balance.
Blue pillows and colorful artwork now help bring the living room together a lot more. I’m still playing with the art selection a bit, but I’m so happy with the new pieces that we added to the wall. I’d also like to find some pillows with more pattern rather than the solid blue, but I haven’t come across anything I love in the right colors.
The smaller top piece is Kate Roebuck and one I’ve had for quite a while. The piece below hers that looks all white is by Ashleigh Ninos. It’s hard to photograph, but the piece actually has all this beautiful carved out texture to it. It’s nice to have something neutral like this right next to the TV too. The newest addition to the crew is the blue abstract piece by Shannon Duley, and I found it at this awesome site, Gregg Irby Gallery out of Atlanta. They have pieces from some of my favorite artists and if you’re in the market for original pieces, I’d highly recommend checking them out!
While we’re on the topic of what I love about the living room, let me keep going. Then we’ll get to the problem areas…
The entryway is still doing just fine and dandy – we didn’t really do any updates here except simplify it even more. The little basket holds Gracie’s leash and extra shopping bags, which works fine for us! The biggest change is the addition of new custom linen drapes from Barn & Willow that I am obsessed with! They’re so so lovely, and could not be happier with them. The linen is weighted at the bottom so it falls really nicely. And because our windows are so huge, we had to go the custom route in order to get just the right size. They’re casual perfection, and I love the way they blend nicely with the paint color on the walls!
The other piece I’m in love with is this new cabinet. Jason really wanted storage for his records in the living room, and I promised him that eventually I would find the perfect piece for them. And I did. Unfortunately it’s not available from Rejuvination (where I found it on mega sale) but it is available here.
Ask me how many times I’ve seen my husband pull a record out of here to play it though. (Insert eye roll.)
Ok, so let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Or rather, that huge farmhouse table.
I bought it on a whim from a shop that was closing here in Seattle, because it was insanely discounted and I couldn’t possibly let it get away! Some days I think it works perfectly fine in here, and others I think I might just be blinded by love. I was also really wanting to add some more vintage/antique pieces into this all-new room.
I adore it because it gives me a big surface to style on and – frankly – it provides a little privacy by separating us from this huge open window that my neighbors can all clearly see through. It’s narrow enough that it does actually feel like a console table, by the way. But the height is definitely dining room style.
I question it because the scale isn’t quite perfect and because it happens to be in the spot that gets the best sunlight all day long, which would be nice to lounge in. For comparison, you can see the piece that we used to have there (a long, low bookshelf) in this post. If I were to put that bookshelf back there, I think I would have it painted a lighter color first.
So basically, I need your tough love on this one. Our family and friends are equally torn on this piece, but the truth is, I’m SO not getting rid of it. But if it really doesn’t work here, then please tell me I’m crazy.
Dilemma number two: these chairs! They don’t exactly ‘go’ together. The Callan chair on the left is another piece from Room & Board. I love the channeling, it’s a total classic, and of course my husband loves it because it’s practical. When guests come over they’re happy to sit on it.
The chair on the right is AHHHMAZING. More amazing is the fact that I first saw this chair in an Australian house tour, and as much as I hunted, couldn’t find it anywhere else outside of Australia. Then, I happened to wander into a vintage shop in LA and there it was! Guests are afraid to sit on it. (I think it’s more comfortable than it looks.)
Ideas: this chair could go in my studio (if we got rid of a couple other items), but won’t fit in my home office which was really my fallback plan (it’s too big to get through the tiny attic doorway!). There’s no other great place for it in the house except maybe the basement, which kind of sucks.
If I get rid of the farmhouse table, the I think that solves the chair problem because there would be more than enough space for both of them! But do we like both of them in this space? If you had to pick one chair to stay in this room, which would it be?
If you need me, I’ll be staring at the art wall, because at least that piece is done! Here are a few ways you can get our current look…
1. white and brass floor lamp | 2. cane lounge chair | 3. entryway console | 4. black and white medallion pillow | 5. pale sage green sofa | 6. diamond wool rug | 7. white zig zag garden stool
