Using what you have to redo a room and not fight it

That has to be the longest post title to date.


In the last post, I showed you this picture of our new rug.

Luckily, it was free, but in case you missed it, you can read all about it here.


Ok, so here is where we get a little tricky. With the addition of the new rug, came the task of getting everything to "match". Now, when I say match, I mean look cohesive. We don't really have a "style" for our house. It's a modge podge of hand-me downs along with a few items we've been gifted and some we've picked up along the way. The magic is trying to get them all to look natural to the space for a layered look that stays in tune with today.


Now, that that's out of the way. Let me go back a little further. Our living room in our apartment was bright, airy and hauuuuge. We called it the 'football field'. Because it was so bright I could afford to put dark colors in it and the room still looked bright and airy. However, when we moved into this house, our living room is small. I really wish it were larger, but without knocking down walls, adding more sq. footatge to the house and taking out a construction loan, we're just going to have to work with it.


Remember last year when I tried to make it a little more bright by painting the fireplace? And adding more Spring-like colors? I loved the look, it was great... until Fall came around. Then I was stuck once again trying to fit in colors and elements to match the season and what I was feeling with the weather. This process nearly killed John. He doesn't like furniture being moved all the time. But I just wasn't happy yet. It wasn't speaking to me like I wanted.

So off to the drawing board again. Sigh. I needed to change the room so I could let it flow seamlessly with the seasons. I needed it to be comfortable. I needed it to be us. Why was I fighting this so much? Finally, it hit me. Elizabeth, use what you already have and works! Duh. It was a lightbulb moment.


So, with one last urge and pleading with my husband to help me move furniture again it was accomplished.


I wanted symmetry on either side of the fireplace, so I moved the desk that was on the left side of the couch over to the right to balance the bookshelf. 

(Pickle really does try to get in every picture)

Then I added the pair of black lamps.

(Can you find Pickle in this one. I swear it's like Where's Waldo around here)

Now we're getting somewhere.

I needed a table to go where the desk was. I've mentioned it before, but this is my side of the couch, so I need a place to put the laptop and my sweet tea. Priorities first :) So I pulled a side table (that matches the coffee table) we'd been keeping upstairs to put in this spot. I don't love it, but it will work until we find something we love.

I apologize for the horrible wobbly picture above. No matter how I tried I couldn't get this shot to turn out, but it gives you an idea.

Nothing really changed in this corner of the room, but I added my little Goodwill lamp to the table.

There are still some things I'd love to change/add to the room.

1. We need a new couch. Desperately. The one we have now is a hand-me-down and it's so comfy. We have yet to find one we can both agree on, but we're working on it.

2. We need a new coffee table. The one we use now is cheap. I bought it (and 2 side tables, one is still upstairs, the other is beside the couch now) on Craigslist right before we moved into our apartment as we need something then and for $15 for all 3, the price was right.

3. New pillows for the couch. This is a really simple fix. The red ones on there now are actually left over from Christmas and never got put away. Oops. I'll be on the hunt for some cute napkins or fabric so I can make new ones.

So there you have it. We're done with the living room for now. Other than a few tweaks here and there :) I'll be getting to some new and fun projects coming up, with some never-before-seen rooms of our house. I know, EXCITED! But that's the great thing about a house, they evolve with you. I love watching ours change as we've settled into the space and how we live.

Hopefully I've inspired you to change what you don't like. Keep what you love. And enjoy the process.