Living Room Sprucing

Yesterday I mentioned that I had a little living room redo that I wanted to share.  Redo might be too strong of a word.  Let's call it The Living Room Sprucing.  I liked my LR before, but there were things that just felt a little off to me.  

Here's what I mean: When I first got married, I would take anything free.  I would get anything on sale.  My house felt a little college-ish to me.  Not that decorating on the cheap is bad, but I wasn't doing it right.  Here is how I spruced up my living room slowly, overtime, without any major costs:

Here is what I did:

1. Since I learned to sew this summer, I was able to make my own pillows.  Two regular pillows, and a very saucy ruffle/flower pillow.

2. I got matching end tables.  The ones before were functional, but the honey color wasn't working, they were too low, and oh yeah, one side wasn't actually a table, just some wooden boxes stacked on each other.  I made the burlap tablecloths for $12.  More on the tables later.

3. I replaced the big coffee table with a bench (that my dad made for me a while back).  I don't LOVE this as the coffee table, but for now it works because I can easily move it when there are kids over to play.

4. With some birthday money, I bought two glass lamps from Ikea.  This was the biggest purchase, but much needed.  I love good lamps, read more about that HERE.  

5. I turned out that one chair.  I originally did this for the shower, but decided to keep it this way after seeing how it made the room feel more open and a bit bigger.

6. I think that I need a bigger rug, but that's going to be a bit down the road seeing that rugs ain't cheap.

  

The mantel/window:

1. I moved the green side table into another room and moved the coffee table in front of the window.  This again was for the shower.  I loved that it let more light in the room and Burl loves standing at it, so I'm keeping the swap for now. (I love how hosting parties turns into home sprucing.)

2. I'm not a huge mantel girl.  I know that some people love to decorate a good mantel, and I used to love to do it, but now I'm not into it.  I'm so afraid that it is going to look cluttery and random, so I just give up.  But, the shower was happening, my friend was there, and I needed to do something.  I added some color and natural elements.  (that little brown thing by the vase is an actual bird's nest that John found for me.  There were still some eggs in it that hadn't hatched, so he set them in a warm-looking spot on the ground and brought me the nest.  Isn't that so sweet and considerate of him?  Kidding.  Don't call Peta...it was long vacant when he got it.)

I love a table filled with pictures:  I love to go to other people's houses and see them and I love them displayed in my house.

1. I added some larger frames, which made the scale of this table a bit larger.  Larger is always better and I think it looks less random and more intentional.  We all love intentional.

2. I added some greenery, a jade plant to be specific.  If there is one thing that I've noticed about myself, then it's this: I always gravitate towards homes with greenery.  Even though I'm learning what looks cute and how to keep things alive, I know that I always feel better if there is a little classy mother nature sitting in my home.  

The entry table:

This is a very narrow table that is really just for looks and a little extra storage.  I'm not sure if it crowds the room or helps it, but I know one thing:

1. It helped me love it a bit more when I cleared it off and fought the urge to space out my stuff so that it covered the entire surface.  Less is more, am I right ladies?

My neighbor came over yesterday.  She doesn't come over much (because she's a mother to 10 children!), but when she walked in she wanted to know what I had done in that room.  She said that it looked bigger, brighter, and I think that she said another word, but I can't remember.  I think she's right.  The little changes made the LR something that I liked into something that I loved.

Even though I didn't do much to the room, didn't spend a lot of money, or change the layout much, I still think it's a much better room.  I love to go in there and sit and read or play with Burl.  If you see any little changes that could make a big difference, then please let me know!