This room has been a tricky one for me to figure out. It has so many doorways and odd walls that I had to play around with several configurations before I got it the way I liked. When we first moved in the owner had it set up a bit different.
But my husband is pretty strongly against having the TV up high, so that wasn't an option.
My absolute most favorite part of the room is the corner swinging chair we got. I love the color and texture that it adds to the room, but honestly the best part is sitting in it. It's really great for rocking little ones late at night, because it doesn't make any sounds at all. The kids also love sitting in it. Here is the link to this chair. The price drops drastically sometimes, so keep an eye on it.
The TV wall took me a while to plan out. I didn't want to have to purchase a new TV stand, since the one we had worked just fine. So the plan was to make and stain our own shelves for the top part. One day as I was strolling through Walmart I saw the exact type of floating shelf I wanted, with a stain close enough to the TV stand. Since I wasn't having any luck finding a stain to match myself, I was super excited! I bought two of them, planning to have my husband cut them to size, but they fit perfectly!
The black frames are two different sizes from Target. I like being able to switch the pictures out for the different seasons or as the girls grow. The hand painted picture was something I wanted to include to make the display a little more personal. I like the thought of included my personal touch up there. It was a simple painting that was really fun to do and I like how it turned out. One flower for each of us :)
I took all of our DVD's (that were taking up WAY too much space) and took them out of their covers and placed them in these black cases I bought on Amazon. They were filling up about 5 plastic bins, but once I took them out of their cases, they filled these three books very nicely. They are also much easier to go through and access.
On the wall over by the fireplace I have a table and simple decor. Eventually I would love to put a used piano in this spot. I called a local piano tuner and asked him to keep an ear out for me to see if anyone has a piano they are getting rid of. I saw several on Facebook for sale or even for free, but that comes with a lot of unknowns. By the time you get it retuned, keys fixed and moved to your place it can get really expensive and no longer free. But this local tuner knows pianos and he contacted me with a church getting rid of theirs. He has tuned it for the last ten years so he know it works well and would be a good starter piano for our family. So we just have to go and get it! I'll probably move this table over to the entry way and keep the pictures above. They are from Hobby Lobby.
Here's a picture of my assistants... they love to test out the stain resistance of the items I buy.
Can you tell which one helps out the most with the stains?
I try to make sure each wall has something different. The items I usually choose from are frames, art work, mirrors, clocks, or what I did on this wall, shelving. My husband/handyman and I went to Home Depot and found these pre-painted pieces of wood, that were the right size and shape for the space I had planned for the shelves. We purchased two black metal brackets for each shelf and he installed them for me. The first wall we had planned didn't work, there was something inside the wall that wouldn't allow him to screw into a stud. So we switched walls and the shelves aren't in the exact center of the wall, but I still think the look great and they are super sturdy.
I like to save images from Pinterest and Instagram for different ideas of what to put on the actual shelves. I am always changing things around on here, and adding fresh flowers every now and then to add some pops of color. Here are some more details from the shelf.
The stack of books I found at a local thrift store. The plant was on sale at the grocery, so since I knew I would probably kill it swiftly, I should buy it cheap. Hobby Lobby is a great place for little things to put on the shelves. And I love to take pictures of things around my area and frame them for display. The bear picture was during a trip through Cades Cove, this mama bear and her two cubs were literally climbing the tree next to the road.
This may be my favorite part of the room (besides the swinging chair). I ordered these matching chairs on here (Wayfair). They come in over a hundred colors. Since I knew the color of the leather couch we were going to get, I ordered around 20 samples of colors I thought may go well in the room. They came quickly and were really nicely sized so I could compare them to to wall color, leather color, and different items I had already purchased for the room. The different swatches also showed the different feel of certain materials and some I knew right away wouldn't be the comfiest to sit in. Others seemed really vulnerable to stain or stains not coming out easily. I can say the color I chose (Zula Linen) looks exactly how I wanted it to, and is in fact easy to clean up when stained (see picture above for culprit).
The swivel of the chairs is nice because you can easily turn to watch a show or talk to different people in the room.
Click the item for link:
Plant from TJ MAXX
Picture (from Target 2014)
Lamp (from my mother-in-law)
The biggest project for this room was probably getting the mantle how I wanted it. In a dream world I would probably have a big slab of wood for the mantle, and some different tiles around the fireplace. When we first moved in, I had my husband paint everything white. Then my most recent project was to have him install shiplap above the mantel and paint it white. I made sure to have him use a flat finish paint so there wouldn't be any shine to the wood. I have tried several different mirrors and clocks above the fireplace, but never really felt like they were right. Most were too small for the spot. I knew I wanted a simple modern farmhouse type look. I found this mirror at World Market (click here). The stain on this one matches the stain on our flooring, which I thought had a nice balance and contrast to all the white. This mirror was also substantial enough to keep it simple as far as decorations went. So I added these glass vases, also from World Market (click here). And some simple greenery I found at Target. Every once in a while I add some fresh flowers up there for a little more color.
Our couch we got from pottery barn. Black Friday was a good time for this purchase. It is super deep and cleans up very easily, which was one of my biggest concerns. We have already spilled plenty of things on it, and it wipes right up.
Items Pictured (click for link):
Couch (burnished leather walnut)
Pillows (from Target various years)
Thanks for reading about my living room decorating adventure with me! I can't wait for my next project. We hope to move the girls together in their room soon, so I'm thinking the playroom/guest room next! Hope you have a great day!
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