My Living Room Makeover

More days than not, my entire house looks like it was hit by a category 5 hurricane. I've always been OCD about clutter and misc. things being out of place but having an infant took things to a whole new level. I've been trying my best to just accept that the floor in our Family room won't be visible for the next few years, at least until Ronan is old enough to play with all of his toys in the basement. But in the meantime, while we live in a neon-colored toy circus, I decided I could justify having at least ONE room in the house that's made for adults only. A space I could open the windows and sit with a book and cup of coffee whenever I'm granted 20 minutes of silence. That's fair, right?

Our front room is my favorite space in the house: It's the first thing you see when you walk in and with slanted vaulted ceilings and a loft area up above, I've always felt like it makes a big statement. However, it's also one of the rooms we've spent he least time in over the years, especially after the baby arrived, so we never seemed to make it a priority in terms of decor and design. My husband and parents will tell you how much this has always pissed me off - Much like my clutter OCD problem, I can't stand a beautiful space going to waste so I've been dying to give it a make over for a while now. It simply needed to look cohesive instead of pieced together with different things we had when we moved in. We were 26 when we bought the house, happy to have any furniture at all and I was in a "spray paint everything teal" phase which I quickly outgrew. Tastes have matured and I was more than ready for a grown up space that suits who we are now.

Here is what the room looked like when we bought the house 5+ years ago:

Here is what the room looked like about a year ago (busy and a little all over the place!):

And HERE is what the room looks like NOW:

It's cohesive. Simple. Welcoming. Fresh. Modern. Not too trendy...Not too basic.

I was so excited about this project because I actually worked with a very talented interior designer to help me gather inspiration for the room and pull it all together, something I've learned I'm not the best at doing. I know what I like and how I want it to look but I'm not always able to make it all work hand in hand but Kate really has an eye for this. I always thought working with a designer was out of the question because I assumed it would be ridiculously overpriced but Kate did everything within my budget and reallllly stretched my dollars to make the most of what I had. She also asked me to take pictures of all the misc. items in my house that could possibly work in this space which was awesome because she re-purposed a few things I already owned and gave them new life which I never would've thought to do.

We started with a vision board and a discussion of the type of style I like. I told her I would like a mix of modern and Scandinavian decor but I didn't want it to be TOO trendy in case I hated everything in two years. Also, I wanted to be able to re-use the pieces in other places in my house down the road, should we choose to utilize this room differently. The minute I saw the vision board she created, I knew she understood exactly what I was looking for.

SHOP THE ROOM:

After I gave Kate my budget, it was no more than 2 weeks before she was done shopping for everything and ready to come set up the room for me. She and her husband Sandy are a dynamic design & install duo - rivaling Chip and Joanna for sure! They put everything together on a Saturday morning while I entertained the baby, not letting me look until it was finished. When I saw how it all come together, my jaw dropped to the floor - It was the same room with many pieces we already owned but had been re-configured and updated a bit, making it look like a completely different space. I was SO excited! After so many years of piecing random things together, it finally had a cohesive feel to it and was definitely more adult living room than college dorm room ;)

I am so happy with the room and want to sit in here all the time. Now, if I can keep the baby and dog away from the beautiful new drapes, we'll be golden...

P.S. Fun story about this window - I purchased it from the Twill Cottage, a home decor store near my lake house. It came from an old house in Williams Bay, Wisconsin and is more than 100 years old. Deb, the Owner of Twill Cottage, added her own touch with the vintage milk bottles and twine and suddenly, it took on a whole new face. I saw it on Instagram and literally bought it minutes later...I wasn't even sure where it was going to go but I knew I had to have it. Not only because I have a thing for windows, but I love having pieces that remind me of our lake house in our home here, because that is my happy place. Kate switched out the original lavender stems for yellow ones to match a few yellow/gold accents in the room and it worked out perfectly.

Also, can we talk about what a DIFFERENCE it made raising the curtain rod above the in-set window, changing out the rod color and hanging longer curtains? Look at the window before...

And after...

Now, your eyes are really drawn to the ceiling, which makes the most of the height of the room and feels so much more grand and spacious. Full disclosure, my husband always told me this would look better and I just couldn't picture it. TBH, I thought he was crazy but I will admit it, he was definitely right. This is a big moment, so I hope he enjoys it! ;)