Excited isn’t even the word to describe the feeling we have to finally share this room.  It was the first room we tackled back when we first moved into this house in November ’16.  Why did it take us eight months to finally reveal it properly?  Well…let us tell you.

Anthropologie mirror | decorative feathers | vintage magazine rack (similar) | P.F. Candle Co. candle

This layout was tough for us.  We had been used to nice, neat living rooms with no intrusive door ways.  When we moved into this house, the layout used by the previous owners was on our minds.  When we saw the house for the first time, we loved everything about it including the placement of furniture.  It wasn’t until we got our things inside and placed them in their positions did they feel out of place.  The living space is a long rectangular shape and has the entryway door opening right into the room. We’re going to share more about our pseudo entryway in another post, but not having a defined entryway and living room really threw us for a loop. We didn’t love the idea of placing the sofa in a way that would feel funny or obtrusive when someone walked into the house.  It was at that point that we decided to put the sofa against the window where it is now.  The end, right?  Nope.  We didn’t love this layout at first and a friend of ours suggested moving the sofa to face the fire place.  It made sense and helped define the two spaces.  We did that for a while actually.  I’m pretty sure we were just convincing ourselves and each other that we actually liked it, because one day we woke up and both agreed to push it back to the window.  Three sofas, five area rugs, three sets of accent chairs, two credenzas, and four coffee tables later (thank goodness for return policies)…we have our living room!

Urban Outfitters side table | Framebridge frames | Q-Design Centre roman shades

No, we aren’t joking.  This room has been through a lot in eight months and it’s probably due to the fact that when we moved in it was the night before Thanksgiving followed by the holiday season.  It wasn’t like we could ignore that all, so we did what anyone would do and went Christmas crazy in the room to make it feel cozy.  It worked and we were totally able to ignore the fact we weren’t sure what exactly we wanted to do here.  From November to January we didn’t make too many changes to the room and that’s mainly because we loved the holiday vibes.  It wasn’t until all the holiday decor was put away that we realized the room needed a tremendous face lift.

As we mentioned in our recent home update, we definitely battled our “old style”.  We had really hit the boho, desert vibes hard in our last two apartments and loved it but we wanted a change in scenery.  Ditching the plants was the first thing we thought we’d do.  We figured we “did that whole thing” already, so our initial mindset was to go really Scandinavian with the room focusing on a monochrome palette. We tried that look for few months and truthfully it just never clicked.  We never felt at home.  The fun, vibrant feeling we used to have was no where to be found.

In March, when we were finally feeling creative again and in the midst of our renovations we kind of had to hold off on everything.  Since we were having all the texture from our walls removed and the whole house repainted, all the furniture was pushed to the middle of the room and our decor pieces were boxed up.  All of that momentum we had was gone, and we had to wait a little longer to shake up our style.  Fast-forward to May:  the house was finally being put back together, we decided on some big changes to the room and things started quickly falling into place.

Article sofa | West Elm pillow and coffee table | Rejuvenation rug | Q-Design Centre roman shades

In came the star of the show… the blue velvet beauty of a sofa from Article.  Injecting some color into the room made us both breathe a sigh of relief.  We were missing those blue tones that we had always loved having around, so it was love at first sight.  Article has quickly become a favorite of ours. Their pieces are affordable and stylish, and the Matrix sofa gave us major heart eyes. It’s design is a definite nod to the past, which we’re big fans of, and if Henry could talk he’d tell you how much he loves sleeping on it all day long.  It’s the best!  The room finally felt fun to hang out in again, we had a established a defined conversation area, and once we had the right sofa, everything else just seemed to work. It’s now a space we look forward to gathering with friends in, and just spending Sunday’s kicking back with a good book. It’s amazing what the right piece of furniture could do for a room.

vintage credenza (similar here) | Schoolhouse planter (similar here)

We definitely have a few favorite stores that are our usual go-to when buying furniture, but we were trying to be a bit more thoughtful this time with a touch of vintage.  One of our favorite shops in town, Modern Manor has some beautiful vintage furniture and home decor pieces.  We picked up some great first edition books for our mantel, as well as some small decor items that reminded us of pieces our grandparents had growing up. Our favorite find? The 1950s credenza that was part of an office furniture set. The matching desk still may be there. It’s been so exciting watching the room come into it’s own.  It was so important to us to have some one-of-a-kind pieces that we hand-picked to make it feel just a bit more unique.

What would the room be without some pops of pattern?  In a move that felt pretty bold for us, adding these accent chairs from Schoolhouse gave our living room some serious character.  The area rug from Rejuvenation pulled everything together with more of those blue tones that we love and complimented the sofa nicely. We now we have a room that we don’t ever want to leave.  While we wish we didn’t have to wait eight months to enjoy it, it’s certainly been worth the wait.

Schoolhouse chairs and clock | Rejuvenation floor lamp and table lamp | Article sofa | West Elm coffee table |  Anthropologie mirror | UO side table | World Market jute rug and Windsor chair | Q-Design Centre roman shades

Well there ya have it, our happy little living room. As the years pass our appreciation for different styles just grows more and more, and it’s nice to have the room compliment that. We’re honestly not sure how we would describe or “categorize” this room’s style. It’s been infused with places we’ve lived in and traveled to, memories from our childhood and pieces that inspire us for the future. Now, we’re ready for a party!

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