Living Room Love

Have you ever noticed how some people call their main room their "Living Room" and others call it their "Family Room?"  I've noticed that a lot, and I find it so interesting!  I think it depends on how you grow up, your geographic location, and the terminology you learn, don't you think?  Not that this is the right way, but I've just always called our main area/TV/relaxing room our family room, and the room in the front of our house, next to our dining room with a more formal feel is our living room.  I say it has a more "formal feel" because that's where the "fancy" furniture went in the house I grew up in, including the piano (pianos are fancy!).  As children, and actually even as adults, we didn't really spend time in the living room unless it was to practice the piano or open gifts on Christmas morning.

I think I've carried those same rules/feelings with me now that I have my own home, but the thing is, I don't want to; I want to create a space that is pretty to look at, yet still inviting and useful.  It was with this in mind that I started putting our Living Room together, piece by piece. 

Our living room is directly to the right of our front door when you enter our home, so I knew it needed to make a statement.  For a while, we just had extra couches from our apartment in that room, simply because we had nowhere else to put them. 

The first step I took to putting this room together was moving the couches out of the room.  After we pained the front rooms, I was on the hunt for the perfect accent chairs, which I talked about here: here.  These chairs were the jump-start I needed with this room, and everything else fell into place after I found them and put them in the room.  Does that ever happen to you?  Everything else in a room or space falls into place because of one item working out so well?  Love it when that happens!

Anyways, my next step was to find drapes - I love and dislike this process for any room I'm working on because I truly feel like draperies make a room, which is why I probably put more unnecessary pressure on myself to make them what I want.  I searched for draperies including all kinds of materials, textures, prints, solids, and colors, and found these ones from JCPenney:  

They were the perfect neutral color while still consisting of a formal fabric.

The last piece of this room was to find a sofa.  This is usually something that would take waaaay longer for me to pick out, but while we were at JCP picking out the curtains, we decided to take a stroll through the furniture department "just in case," and we found this gorgeous sofa:  

It has a woven texture and a curved back - love the curved back!  And it was the perfect color to compliment the already assembled accent chairs and curtains - sold!  Here are a few photos of the room all put together now:

I'm loving it so far!  I say "so far" because I still have a few other items on my list to tackle, like window treatments, a coffee table (I have big plans for that), and throw pillows for the couch.

Like I said earlier, some serious Living Room Love going on!!

- Lauren

Accent Chairs!

I'm not one to include an exclamation mark! in my titles very often, but this time I felt it was appropriate because the search is over!  The search for the perfect accent chairs for our front room/living room, that is...this search has been a while.  About a year-and-a-half to be exact.  Eeeek.

Without further ado, here they are:

Aren't they just precious?!  I found them on Overstock.com, and I couldn't be happier with both the chairs themselves and also the process of ordering and receiving them.  

I knew I didn't want two chunky couches taking up space in our front room and covering the big, beautiful windows in that room, so I thought accent chairs would compliment it nicely.  I looked everywhere, and I mean everywhere - in furniture stores, department stores, thrift stores, furniture websites - you name it, I looked there.  Until I found exactly what I was looking for on Overstock.com.  I found these 2 beauties and fell in love immediately:

I had never ordered anything from Overstock before, so I wasn't sure what to expect, especially with furniture, but I really had the best experience!  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the site, the shipping & handling is always $2.95, and sometimes, depending on it they're running a deal, it's free!  But $2.95?!  Come on, you can't beat that when shipping anything, including furniture! 

In addition to the chairs arriving 3 days after I placed the order, they were exactly how they looked on the website, and the assembly was easy peasy.  Plus, the coloring was true to their online photos, which is something I often feel misled by when shopping online so this was a relief.  Here are the chairs in their new spot up against the newly painted walls:

I only had one minor issue, and that was with one of the wooden legs on one of the chairs.  There were some minor scratches on it, so I called Overstock to find out what could be done, and not only did they send 2 replacement legs, but they also shipped them at no cost!  I even mentioned to the service representative that I didn't need 2 legs, just 1, but he insisted on sending both of them just to be safe; it was so nice and refreshing to have such a great customer service experience.  I must mention, this is not a sponsored post, and I was not compensated by Overstock to say these things; it's how I really and truly feel about them - they're wonderful!

And with that, our front room started to take shape:

The room reveal and source list is coming up soon!

-Lauren

Transitional Wall Chalkboard

We have a transitional wall that connects our kitchen to our dining room, and I've stared at the space for quite some time trying to figure out how to make use of it.  Here is the wall:

Of course, just like any good blogger, I decided a framed chalkboard was in order!  You see, I have no official chalkboard project that I've done on my own (gasp, I know), so I decided this was the perfect opportunity.

I searched all over for the perfect frame.  I looked at all kinds: framed artwork, empty frames, mirror kits, framed mirrors - you name it, I thought of it, as long as it had a framed structure.  I probably was a little too picky because I had a specific image in my mind of how it was going to look.  I was roaming the aisles of Hob Lob one day when I found this mirror:

This was exactly what I'd been envisioning!  Check out the ornate detail of the frame too:

Next, I taped off the edges using painter's tape and newspaper ads.  I sprayed 2 coats of Rustoleum Chalkboard spray paint.

Source

I then followed the directions on the can and let it it sit for 24 hours so it could completely dry.  The next day I cured it with chalk all over and then wiped it down with a damp cloth.  Then it was ready to hang!  Here she is in all her glory:

Just like I'd been picturing all along!  I'm already thinking of all the uses...a menu board when hosting, announcing special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries), and holiday-time messages.  The possibilities are endless!

Love it!!!

- Lauren