Yay! I’m finally getting around to this! I’m starting in the living room because it was the cleanest room besides the kitchen and dining room, and I’m waiting to show those rooms until the counter tops come (hopefully) early next week.

Here is the empty living room before we moved in:

Here is this awkward wall without furniture.

Here is the living room painted and furnished! The couch used to cut the room in half, but now it faces this half wall that leads in the dining room through one door and the future office through the sliding barn door (post on that project here).

Here is our frumpy couch that we purchased when we first got married. At the time, we were really only concerned about price, but I now know that it is totally worth it to spend the money on quality furniture. Oh, and now that we have a Golden puppy, dark furniture it OUT. My vision for this room is to brighten it up with a neutral sectional, colorful pillows, a new coffee table and a soft rug (the current rug will go in  either a future nursery or the guest room. It is from Target and has not held up well to puppy paws and daily traffic). I recovered our current coffee table myself, and I have never liked how the fabric wrapped around the straight legs at each corner. The fabric also seems to hold onto dirt from feet resting on top.

I would love something like this industrial dolly for a coffee table. I like to think my decorating style is cottagey with some industrial elements, but I tend to play it safe with my decor and furniture purchases. I want to inject some more interesting pieces into each room as we update from desperate newlyweds, to settled adults. This was 1 of 2 carts I discovered at our local antique shop, Knitting Mill Antiques. I think they date back to about the 50’s. The cart is fairly low for a coffee table, but with some comfy poufs scattered around the living room to prop our feet on, the cart will be more for remotes, pretty books, and for setting drinks on.

Although its hard to see in this horrible photo below, the piece of furniture holding the TV is new to me. I purchased it at one of my favorites here in Chattanooga, Merchants on Main. It’s the perfect size for holding electronic items and the perfect height for TV viewing. We purchased our Samsung Smart TV on Black Friday, but I’m kinda thinking the huge blue speakers to either side need to go! I’m considering some vintage botanical prints framed in rows above the TV in the future. I want some visual interest that doesn’t look cluttered or distracting. I’m picturing something like this or this.

I made over this inexpensive bench a while ago (you can see before photos here). I’ve done nothing with the wall above since then. I was planning on putting up some coat hooks, but we have several other places to hang things around the house (mudroom off the kitchen, bedroom door hooks, closet door hooks, bathroom door hooks, and the closet itself), and they just seem to get really cluttered really quickly. Plus, I don’t want to spend any more time searching for that one specific sweater/scarf/jacket in any of the 5 places it may be hanging… it’s just getting out of control. Maybe I’ll do a nice mirror here and a shelf or some simple wall storage for keys, sunglasses, dog leash, etc.

I collected these frames from several thrift stores and painted some in a taupe/gray chalk paint and some in Snowy Mount white by Olympic. The purple chair in this room isn’t staying. I’ve had that since before I was married, but it’s here now for extra seating since we just have one small couch in the room. Someday we hope to purchase a nice sectional for the main living room area and 2 small upholstered chairs to sit against the wall under the frames as a little sitting area.

So many plans, so much time and work to make it happen, but we’re getting there. At least it’s not a long empty room with white walls and chocolate brown sheer curtains on every window and door. Progress has been made! More rooms to tour in the near future, and hopefully some finished counter tops and a fresh face-lift on the mudroom cabinetry! Lots of fun stuff happening.

In other news, Daniel is moving on from Aramark in about 2 weeks and will be officially working on his own full-time. It is a decision that has been long awaited, but it’s also really scary to be stepping away from the security of a big company like he is. I am proud and excited and ready for it to be here! I’m so proud of what he has accomplished while working for Aramark  and I can’t wait to see his business explode with the time he can now commit to it!