I'd be lying if I said I felt ready to share my home with you. We're still very much in the renovation process around here! I'm realizing more and more that the process will never feel 100% complete… and that I don't want it to. It's so much fun to be continually working on our space. Every weekend is filled with small projects (sometimes big ones too!) and I'm enjoying this new lifestyle.
So without further ado, here's our living room before & after…We'll call this "phase one".Before: This is how the living room looked the first time we saw it. Months of house shopping taught me to always keep an open mind. I felt like I was wearing style goggles. We could walk into a home that was totally not our style and instantly envision it painted in a different way, usually with new flooring and new furniture. We instantly fell in love with our home when we saw it. The living room is the first room you see after walking through the front door. We knew we would be changing a lot, but it had good bones (and giant windows—yay!!).
The first thing we did in the living room was paint the walls and the trim white. Luckily, the trim was only painted in two rooms. The color we chose is Thistle Seed by Valspar. It's a nice warm white, great for rooms with a lot of natural light. We were able to keep the floors as they were in the downstairs rooms, which was really lucky. They have beautiful, original hardwood.
Speaking of natural light, we chose light, lace curtains, because I couldn't stand the idea of blocking out any natural light.The couch we chose is the Cleveland Sofa from Thrive Furniture. I love the bright color. When Jeremy and I were house shopping, we agreed that we would bring most of the color into our home through furniture and accessories and work with a mostly neutral palette for walls and floors. We are so glad we made this choice! The house feels so bright and cheerful, which is really important for me as someone who works from home.
We've already rearranged this room at least ten times. Before these photos, Rachel actually gave us her tips via Facetime. Ha! That was fun. :) Although this probably won't be the last home we live in, Jeremy and I truly consider this our dream home. I guess that's a good way to feel, no matter what stage you are in. This attitude affects all our choices. So many of the pieces we've picked out for this home are things we've been dreaming about for years, like the hanging chair. It was definitely on my "dream list" for a long time!It's been fun to collect records together. We buy them for gifts at the holidays and collect vintage ones too. Our niece is obsessed with the record player. She's only three, but she already knows how to work it all by herself and she loves dancing, which is the best thing in the world. ;)
The feather garland in our window was a holiday decoration that I never took down (oops). I like how the light reflects through the feathers on a sunny day.
Our mantel is always a work in progress. We try to change it up often. Right now there is a blueprint copy of one of our first photos. I wanted to give it a more graphic look for a photo shoot, so we cut out black paper triangles and taped them up on the wall. It's temporary, but looks cool from a distance.
I collect vintage soda bottles to use as vases. I love collecting but have to be careful, because in my last home I collected WAY too much for our space. I've learned to be very choosy, only bringing home my very favorite pieces and donating unused items each season.Thanks for taking a look at our living room. We're thankful that it's a space that can be used for so many things…relaxing, work, photo shoots and (most importantly) a play space for my doggies. 🙂 These photos were taken about a month ago, and already the space has changed a lot. I can't wait to share more phases, projects and updates with you. It's definitely a work in progress!
xo. Elsie
*Photos by Janae Hardy. Thanks so much to Grazia Magazine for featuring my home (it's in the current issue).
Source List: Couch/Thrive Furniture, Pink Chair, Ottoman, Green shelf/Vintage, White Rocker/Amazon, Rug/Nate Berkus for Target, Lamp c/o Lamps.com, Curtains/Ikea, Hanging Chair/Amazon, Fireplace Screen/ came with the house, Couple Portrait and bearded man art/Ashley G., Turntable c/o ModCloth, Bird pillow/Anthropologie (it was a wedding gift!), DIY Projects- Ladder Shelves, Gold Table, Bench. Blankets/West Elm & Ikea. Please let me know if I've missed anything! 🙂
I love yellow and grey together, such a cool combination!
10 bedroom decorations
Your living room is beautiful! I was wondering, though, could you tell me what kind of plants you have living in this room? I am wanting to bring the outdoors in a bit, and need some ideas for plants that would work well indoors. Thanks so much!
much better 🙂
So beautiful – you did such a wonderful job, and in a very impressive short space of time!
The Before and After pictures are just stunning! Love your style!
Diana- our metal shelves are from a local flea market. 🙂
Where’d you find the metal shelving unit? Love it!
Can we do a house swap? 🙂
No, seriously. Your living room is amazing, I could just move right in and start living there. The sofa is one of my favorites as well as the Dr Pepper side table.
I also hate blocking out natural light. We have chosen to have no curtains at all, except for the bed room. I want to feel ‘connected’ to the world outside.
Oh Elsie, you have made the place look stunning! LOVE all that light coming through, and the yellow sofa is fab.
Where did you get the black and white pillow?
love, love, love! 🙂
So in love with your living room. i can’t get enough of the sweet details.
Allison
http://www.alliray.com/
I’m in love with white on white walls and trim and everything. I also LOVE your couch!! Such a great color!
Lydia
lupinelydia.blogspot.com
Your livingroom looks beautiful! Love, love LOVE the colour pallet and the bright feeling of the room. And what a great idea with the bottles and picture on the wall. Maybe I have to do a little re-decorating myself now…. Thanks for sharing:-)
A very inspiring space. I love the idea of keeping the walls neutral and bringing in the color with furniture. That way when you get sick of a color you don’t have to repaint your whole home, you can just re-upholster your sofa or buy new throw pillows!
xox
Bailey
http://akabailey.blogspot.com
Your house makes me so happy 🙂 I’m in love with your hanging chair and couch, and the fact that (as far as I can tell) there is no tv. I dont even like tv very much and i hate having to look at/decorate around ours. ha!
I really like all the details. The succulents and the bottle vases, the FEATHERS, OMG!
Amazing reveal.
xo
LesliMarie
www.linenandtulle.com
love the ladder shelf and hanging chair, great inspiration for future deco xo
http://noise-and-confusionn.blogspot.co.uk/
WOW ! love the after…
Check out my new outfit post :
http://hidinginheaven.blogspot.fr/2013/05/the-one-with-acid-wash.html
your living room looks amazing, Elsie! I love the little hints of yellow here and there and how cozy the whole space looks 🙂