living room makeover

i love makeovers don't you? i love seeing women get makeovers and i am admittedly addicted to watching any home makeover. there's just something about how just a little change can make a huge difference.

i usually choose not to watch extreme makeover home edition. don't get me wrong, i love the great things they do to change a family's life. it's just that i get so emotionally wrapped up in those stories, i can't hardly sleep at night. i know my limitations. :)

i have no problem watching whatever is on HGTV. my favorites are design on a dime (because i am cheap), color splash with david bromstad (he does a lot of modern design) and especially design star (nothing like a design competition to get my heart pumping).

i think as a stay at home mom, my home is all that more significant to me. i am here a lot, this is where i work and i love that my family feels comfortable the most here. i am always rethinking how i can make a space more functional or change things up a bit for fun. i have painted every room since moving here 2 years ago with the exception of our master bathroom (that's a total of 9 separate spaces in our home) and i am working on that right now.

so the latest transformation has been our living area. it was painted this great shade of red from the ralph lauren line at home depot. we really liked this color when we first saw the house and were excited to be able to move in without an urgent need to repaint. we arranged the furniture in our living area almost the same way the previous owners had arranged theirs. it seemed to be the most functional and practical way of using the space.

i don't have any great before pictures because the transformation was not planned. i just decided to do it one day. so here are a few shots from our living area before. notice the red paint and the furniture shoved against the walls.

(the boys with uncle daniel)

(the boys opening christmas presents)

well after 2 years, i was itching to change things up. it took months for john and i to finally decide on a paint color. i wanted something a little lighter because our living area is so dark. we only have one window in the room and not much light comes through there because our patio is covered and this is where this window is located. with that decision made, i ruminated for weeks on how we could rearrange the furniture. i was constrained by leaving the television where it currently is because of wiring. so the boys and i finally summoned up enough energy and courage to move things (that's right! who says a 5 and 3 year old can't help scoot around furniture?!?!) while john was teaching latin camp, and we were all quite pleased with the result.


here are some after pictures.

this is coming down the hall from our front door. the walls are a lighter brown (can i put a plug in here for behr ultra premium paint and primer in one? it really only took one coat of that paint to cover over the red!) that great bookcase from ikea is now where our couch was. our desk is tucked away between it and the window for a little study space. our couch is now in front of the bookcase facing the television.

here's the view if you are looking to the left from the front hall. the coffee table is my $20 mid century find i talked about in this post. i did buy the new accent pillows on the sofa from walmart for $8!


here's a shot from the dining room looking back at the living area. the leaf pictures over the chair were pictures i had hanging above our buffet and hutch. i think they look even better here.



i scooted the t.v. to the right on the t.v. stand and added a little stick arrangement i made from things already in the house (but i did buy the sticks at hobby lobby). and here are our two comfy little chairs that lend to some sweet conversation. and that little table in between the chairs has a door that folds down to set your drinks on....love it!

and here's a shot from the dining room looking over at our study nook. we love having all our books with us in the living area, and that huge bookcase looks good on our really tall walls.


everything feels more cozy and conversation-friendly. i was so proud of myself and my ability to redecorrange, to borrow a term from this great blog. we just LOVE our new space, even though there really is not much new, just moved around and borrowed from other rooms.

what have you redecorranged lately? do you like to change things up or do you leave furniture in the same place for years? my next transformation will be that cute coffee table. but this time i will remember to take some before shots!