For today's post I wanted to share a glimpse of my latest home decor updates. We have been in our home for about a year and a half now and it was really at the one year mark that I finally started to feel reinvigorated to begin the fine tuning process with our living room home decor. As I have mentioned in previous posts, when we initially purchased our condo there were the immediate needs that had to be addressed like the bathroom renovation, painting, replacing appliances and window treatments.
Around the start of early spring, it was actually our dog Dolly who decided to kick off the second round of decorating by destroying our living room rug with a series of accidents that weren't really her fault (I'm going to stop there with describing, but hopefully you get the gist…). The biggest lesson learned thanks to Dolly: Even though they are significantly less expensive than wool rugs, avoid purchasing jute or sisal rugs if you own pets or have children. One false move (aka stain) and the rug is done.
Replacing the living room rug was all the inspiration I needed to feel reinvigorated to kick off this mini project.The second round of home decorating was focused on fine-tuning the living room, primarily adjusting the furnishings to better fit the space. After an almost 7-month long revamp, my living room is finally coming together and looking like everything was meant for the space.
Scale
My living room decor has been evolving ever since my husband and I first moved in together. Our first place together was small and had low ceilings. Even though we were beginning to purchase furniture together, we made an effort to avoid purchasing furniture to fit our first place. Reason being, it was temporary and our nice new furniture pieces were permanent, so our new furniture would need to work in our next house. At the time of our move, we had simply transferred the furniture from our old living room to our new living room. While certain pieces like our couch, bookshelf and media center fit in the living room perfectly, our pair of blue professor's chairs were too small for a room with such tall ceilings.
Swapping out the chairs for a larger/taller pair was necessary to fit the scale of the room. When shopping for the chairs, I knew that I wanted the chairs to be a little less predictable, so I opted for a winged-back chair in the corner for a little height and then a larger club chair on one end of the coffee table. To tie the chairs together, I had them upholstered in the same mocha vintage velvet fabric. The new chairs fit the space beautifully and luckily we have been able to re-home the little blue chairs in our bedroom and loft.
Function & Comfort
In addition to designing a room that's proportional to the space, it's important to make sure that the furnishings are both comfortable and functional. The first issue I needed to tackle was the rug. Our living room is a high traffic area and we have a dog. When we first moved in we opted for a chunky jute rug because it fit the space, was neutral in color and cost $199 for an 8x10. While at the time it did the trick, it was a temporary solution.
When the time came to replace it (exactly 1 year after we bought it…thanks Dolls!), I knew I needed to find a rug that was comfortable, durable, neutral in color and easy to clean. I ended up finding our rug on final sale at Restoration Hardware, which was a little scary since I only had pictures to go off of and wouldn't be able to return it. Luckily it turned out great and it is the perfect foundation for this space.
The second function/comfort component of this living room re-do that needed to be addressed was the coffee table. Our original coffee table was a piece that I had inherited from my parents and painted gold to match the decor in our first house. When we moved, the length of our new living room was slightly smaller and so it immediately became apparent that the coffee table was too large for the space.
We entertain frequently in our living room, so it was important to find a table that would still have a substantial surface area, but would afford additional leg room for those guests seated on either end of the coffee table. After a long search we ended up purchasing the Clairemont Oval Coffee Table from Crate & Barrel. I love the unique oval shape, sophisticated mirrored shelf that provides additional storage and the fact that it is 6 inches shorter than our old table, giving guests plenty of leg room.
Finishing Touches
My sister has always had an eye for home decor aesthetics. When she was first decorating her NYC loft with her husband, I remember talking to her throughout her decorating process trying to gain any insights on decorating and how to put a room together. The one phone call I specifically remember was when she told me that she was on a hunt for tchotchkes, "because finishing off a room's decor aesthetic is all about the knick knacks." It was a slightly funny way of saying it, but boy was she right! Sure, there's a lot of thought that goes into picking out fabrics and furniture pieces for a space, but I have spent significantly more time arranging and rearranging my throw pillows, living room bookshelf and coffee table decor. All of these little items are essential pieces for bringing any space together and it takes time to get everything situated in a way that finally works.
I am not sure if I am happier about the way the room turned out or the fact that I am finally done with this project. It was certainly a great experience with plenty of lessons learned, but the best part is definitely the fact that I get to come home every day to this cozy and completed space. Now it's time to get going on to the next project!
If you have any questions regarding today's post, I would love to hear from you!