Our living room has been evolving since we moved in. It’s among the top spaces we rearrange the most – for the longest time we couldn’t find the *right* layout, but we think we have it now! Now that we have the layout we plan to keep (for now) I am going to make a few small changes to the decor!
Over the 4 years we’ve lived in our house I have been honing in on what my style truly is. I went through a rustic phase, then I moved into bolder colors and shiny decor pieces. Now my style has really evolved into a mix of modern and traditional elements with mostly neutral colors, layered in with moody and dusty accent colors, and a focus on natural materials, especially in decor pieces and textiles. I’ve slowly collected furniture and decor over time and I’m not generally one to completely “overhaul” a room, unless there isn’t much in it to begin with. Rather, I like to try to use what I have, repurpose something in a different way, and maybe get a few new pieces.
Creating a home you love takes time and lots of trial and error. I thought it’d be fun to show you the evolution of our living room so you can see the many phases it has had.
The Evolution of the Living Room
When we first moved in. Yikes.
A few months after moving in. Still using furniture from our old house. Looking much better!
We got a new sofa! Honing in my style a little bit better at this point. Was really leaning more into the modern pieces and bolder colors.
A new rug and layered in a few more traditional pieces! Getting much, much closer to the feel I want.
Here we are today. I swapped back in the lighter rug and darker curtains for a change. I like it, but still doesn’t feel exactly right to me.
The living room has come a loooong way! I’ve had fun tweaking it and making changes along the way. I’m excited to make a few additional small changes!
Changes to Come
These changes were really sparked by the new family member we’ll have joining us in a few short months! The dresser that is currently our media console is going in the nursery – it’s such a nice piece and has a lot of storage for teeny baby clothes! As a result, we’ll be getting a new media console for the living room. I’m currently looking at options that are more of an open media console, with plenty of room for basket storage – I’m trying to think ahead to the easiest possible storage solutions for baby things and putting blankets/toy in baskets seems like the easiest option to me! I could have bought a new dresser for the nursery, but this was one gifted to us by Nathan’s parents as a wedding present and I think it will be so special to have in the nursery.
Another bigger item that will be changing is the coffee table. I bang my knee on the corner of the coffee table at least 2 times a week, and I know it’s a ways off, but I don’t imagine those sharp corners doing well for a toddling baby. I would love a more kid friendly coffee table so I think I am going to repurpose an existing square ottoman I have! It used to be in the den, but now that the room is used as my office it doesn’t really have use. I loved the dark green color in the den, but if I think I’d prefer it to be more neutral if I put it in the living room (if you looked closely above it’s been in the living room before, but I think the color is a bit too bold for my liking in our living room!). My hope is to recover it in a more neutral fabric and leave the green fabric intact underneath – in case I want it to be green again in the future!
The changes aren’t anything drastic – the the console and ottoman will be new and I plan on swapping back in the vintage style rug and white curtains, but I think it will change the feel of the room quite a bit!
Now to decide – do I go darker or lighter on the ottoman? It will really depend the fabrics I can find.
