Living Room Makeover!

We kicked off Operation House to Home by making over the first room people see: the mudroom. Baby steps. Well, until the second step: the living room.

While the furniture was functional, the green vinyl was starting to get on our nerves, and it was slowly being destroyed by dog nails. The walls were white, and our style was...well, we didn't really have one. Time to upgrade.

I fell in love with this lamp after I saw the design at Backyards in Mishawaka on my first ride to work last year. It had been on my mind ever since, and I was ecstatic when I got my dream lamp as a gift. This lamp, from Eangee, is handmade out of cocoa leaves and bamboo! It stayed front and center in our minds as we put together the rest of the room.

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For the walls we chose a color called "Dolphin Cove," a blue-gray that is not white but is just as safe. We replaced our green sofa with a long, brown sofa from Ikea and added a lounger to the end. The room is long and narrow, so this was an easy way to add extra seating. In lieu of the loveseat, we picked up a simple chair, also from Ikea. We chose the green cover to add a splash of color to go with the lamp. Unlike the big, bulky loveseat, our new chair leaves the front end of the room open and gives us with more usable space...or at least the illusion of more usable space.

I love how affordable Ikea is without having to sacrifice quality or style. The assembly can be daunting, but it's worth it! Everything we bought was assembled in just a couple hours. The sofa and ottoman have removable covers, so they can be washed, and, if we move or change color schemes, we can change all of the furniture for just a couple hundred dollars - the cost of new covers.

Our Buddha is something Matt found while we were visiting his brother in El Paso, TX. He mentioned liking it, but it wasn't something we wanted to fly home with. So, for Matt's birthday, his brother was kind enough to ship it up. Since that birthday, over two years ago, Buddha has been on the floor, leaning against a wall, homeless. Finally, he is hanging and looks great - a gentle reminder to stay calm and carry on ;)

There you have it. January's project is just about done. It's February now, and we still have a couple more ideas we're tossing around. For example, I'd like to paint the dining table and chairs; I'm just not sure what color. Nevertheless, I'm proud of our progress. On the downside...our new, welcoming, comfortable living room has turned me into a couch potato...