Tuesday, March 8, 2011

While we're on the subject of living rooms...Another Before & After

This is our current living room.(I mention "current" because of the recent blast from  the past posts about our first home)  Or should I say this was our current living room..have I lost you yet? This little space is the most used area of our house yet is so hard arrange in a way that makes sense for our family.  See that corner on the left?  Stuffed to the brim with toys!  That had become the toy box and free for all for the kids.  We had super large furniture that took up too much space and as you can see it also had to be butted up against the walls.  Ideally we would have had a sectional to put on the back wall that wrapped around onto the right wall but since we are always "about to put the house on the market" we didn't want to make the purchase.  Although I did search about a 1 1/2yrs ago for the perfect kid friendly gray sofa and believe it or not couldn't find one(one that didn't break the bank that is).  Now they are everywhere!  I even when to Bassett where you can pick your own fabrics and had no luck.  Crazy how much things change in a year.  Anywho, that wall there on the right has always driven me crazy.  It is really hard to decorate around a thermostat so we just threw something up and lived with it.  I mean we really lived with it....all three of the photos on that wall are of our first born child and we have two more that never got there pictures up;)
BEFORE

So back to the we are going to " put our house on the market" comment.  We have been thinking about selling for the past two years but the market in general has made us weary of making the move.  The builder is still building in the neighborhood and it is tough to compete with them.  So instead we have been in constant staging mode.  I took all of our family photos down over a year ago and we try not to add anything that would get in the way of it being staged to sell.  That being said we decided that it was time to move the big brown beasts out of the living room.  They were weighing it down and there were a couple of huge rips in the leather that we didn't want to spend the money on because we didn't know if we could use them in the new place or not.  So the big sofa is now in the garage and we moved the chair into the formalish living room.  Not wanting to spend a lot I scoured Craigslist for microfiber sofas (we have 3 kids a cat and a dog) I found these brand new looking sofas and an accent chair for $500 or 600 I can't remember.  The accent chair wouldn't fit and was too matchy matchy anyway so I sold it.  Even though I wasn't really looking for blue I felt these were a good enough deal that we could sell them after we sold the house and at the same time they would lighten things up a bit.  We had already bought the rug at the Crate and Barrel outlet and it has some aquaish blues in it and I apparently was in an aqua mood because I had bought the lamp for $30 at marshalls. So here we are with a ton of blue in the room.  This is not what I had envisioned at all but hey it lightens it up a bit and looks clean and tidy.
As for the toy corner..there is a small closet under a staircase over to the right and we placed a low bookcase from Ikea with 8 large containers full of "stuff".  The kids each have their own box labeled and it seems to be working out pretty well.  I recently threw those pillows on the sofa(they were here and there in other rooms) and they add a bit to the sea of blue that we find ourselves in.
AFTER
So that's how our current living area became the staged good enough living area!  I think it brightened it up for sure!



Now if it only always stayed like this!  This is what I had to throw into the formal living so I could get a decent picture;)!



Linked to:

24 comments:

Heavenly Savings said... Best Blogger Tips

very nice! I am not good at decorating! I love blogs that give me ideas! I’m a new follower Happy Wednesday!! I would love for you to stop and take a look at my blog as well! Thanks!
http://heavenlysavings.blogspot.com

Hello Jessica Lynn said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice decor!!

Happy Wednesday!!

I am blog hopping today and happy to be visiting your blog!!

Please stop by and follow (if you aren't already) either or both of my blogs:

So Stylilized is where I am currently offering FREE Custom Blog Designs http://sostylilized.blogspot.com

Jessicas Lil Corner is where I blog about family and life at http://jessicaslilcorner.blogspot.com

Have a very blessed Wednesday and hope to see you drop by my blogs!! :0)

Crafts a la Mode said... Best Blogger Tips

Your home is looking really nice. 3 kids and a cat and a dog? Oh, my!
Linda

Monica said... Best Blogger Tips

The blue furniture definitely lighten the room up! It looks so good. Looks like there's a nice flow to the space =)
I have to ask, where did you get the wall art behind the sofa?? It's beautiful!!

Ps.. I'm visiting from Somewhat Simple's blog hop and your newest follower!! Yay!! lol

Monica =)
http://ellabellabutterfly.blogspot.com
*visit anytime! ;)

Jessica said... Best Blogger Tips

Monica: Thanks for visiting and following! We actually made the wall art a couple of years ago..I am hoping to post about it soon!

Kari said... Best Blogger Tips

I've stopped by from It's a Hodgepodge Life - I'm loving the transformation! I also love your light blue couches - so pretty!!!

Brandy J. said... Best Blogger Tips

I'm new to your blog and completely in love with your redesign. The blue is beautiful! I also love the REAL picture with all the toys. :) Thanks for showing us the pretty and the realistic shots!

Katherine @ Grass Stains said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice job! We have a growing family (we're expecting #4), and we talk about moving from time to time. But every time we talk about it, I practically break out in hives! I don't want to pack up and move. :)

Ann-Marie ~ Brambly said... Best Blogger Tips

You did a wonderful job on your living room! Everything is tied together so nicely.Take care.

Ann-Marie

Heather said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow! What a difference! I am so jealous. It looks great.

At The Picket Fence said... Best Blogger Tips

Beautiful! Thanks for linking this one up too! :-)
Vanessa

simply fabulous said... Best Blogger Tips

I LOVE the new blue sofas! What a find!!!

Kate said... Best Blogger Tips

Nice makeover... what a difference! Thanks for linking Flaunt it Friday!

Sandy said... Best Blogger Tips

Such a nice job. Furniture placement can be tricky. Did you know that you can move the thermostat to the back of the wall? I had one that you saw as you came in the front door along with the doorbell, my dear hubby cut through the backside of the wall (not into a closet or anything) and reversed the positions. Then all we had to do was fix the hole.

Visual Reference Notebook said... Best Blogger Tips

you did a beautiful job pulling the room together on a budget! it looks peaceful and relaxed in there now. one thing i learned from living in a house that we were always going to sell, was that i never really decorated it the way i wanted and so always 'made do'. looking back now i wish i had decorated and lived to the fullest in the house.
just a 'pearl of wisdom' you didn't ask for!!! all the best, donna

Kelly said... Best Blogger Tips

Great room! I *think* we must have the same house. Ours looks the same way and it's SO hard to find a good layout with decent seating. I've also been looking at getting a sectional for eons, but of course, we also have the same thinking (why bother, we're just going to move, but never do).

The DeMille Family said... Best Blogger Tips

I love your curtains...i think good curtains are the icing on a room!--connie, measuredbytheheart.blogspot.com

the cape on the corner said... Best Blogger Tips

what a gorgeous after! love that new rug and your color combo with the blue couch!

Valerie said... Best Blogger Tips

Wow, what a great job! I love the after photos!

Mama Yo said... Best Blogger Tips

I think you need to come do my family room! I love the before and after pics!

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said... Best Blogger Tips

Great new furniture. Great color.

The Tall Chick said... Best Blogger Tips

Looks fabulous; great job!!! I'll be sure to follow you.

If you get a minute, check out the blog I just started! I would love your feedback. http://thetallchick.blogspot.com/2011/03/rods-rods-and-more-rods.html

Andy Porter said... Best Blogger Tips

Such an improvement! It looks amazing!

Thanks for linking!
Andy
Poppies at Play

Ela said... Best Blogger Tips

I love the transformation. Love the light color of the sofa.

I am your new follower and found you at Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop. Hope you can visit / follow me at http://scrapidoodlelicious.blogspot.com/