Living Room Update

Our living room was a complete disaster when we purchased this home.  I thought it would be fun to show you what we have brought it to now.  While it is not where we want it to be, it is livable + comfortable!

Here are some before pictures to remind you what a hot mess this space was!

It was shown just like that, but with a couch tossed in there to make the room appear more livable.  When, in fact, it was soaked in cat pee, lacking flooring and looked like it was untouched for years.

Ripping out the nail strips had to have been the smelliest most gag worthy experience of my life.  I’d change 300 dirty diapers in a day than go back to doing that again!

 I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that we walked into the front door of this home and actually got excited over the potential of the room – Really, Dan and I need to get a reality show and do this for a living.  Give us all of the nasty houses!

I have always had an eye for red.  Red stickers that is.  I can spot clearance stickers from a mile away.  I can find that sliver of red sticking out behind a stack of pillows.  I know how to properly follow (stalk) an item I want over a few weeks and watch the price climb down until I make it climb into my cart.  There are items that can wait, where the risk factor is worth the $$, and there are pieces that I would rather not wait for and I snag regardless if I know it will get marked down further.

During the renovation stage of this house I had found 3 large mat frames at Home Goods.  Each on sale for $22 with a bright colored print inside.  I wanted the frames more than the print but I tried to keep that a secret when I came home with the frames.  Dan saw the prints and hated them! ha.  So I acted like I loved them, even more when I realized the backs did not open to change the print.  GULP! whoops.  The frames sat in Dans office for months and months collecting dust until I mustered up the courage to tell Dan it was too late to make the return and we were stuck with this 70’s colored print.

But behold, where there is will there is a way.  My go go gadget guy tore the frames apart and removed the print – allowing for us to implement our favorite pieces of art work to date.  Our little men.

The living room is our odd ball out.  The black sheep of the house if you will.  Whatever furniture we had, what we have picked up at estate sales and craigslist along the way.  It is a mod podge of bits and pieces and definitely needing a cohesive look, and a lottery win to make it happen.

 But, for now …. we have done our best to create a cozy living room for the fam to unwind in after a long day!

 Here is an up close look at the art work we did.  Simply enlarged prints we had on our computer at Staples + for less than $20 later we had pictures that will help us freeze time on these baby faces..

While I love to get rid of these green couches – they also are beyond comfortable and have stood the test of time (6 yrs and counting).  For now, we keep hunting for oversize slipcovers (if you find them, let me know) these couches are on steroids!

Bits and pieces of this room each hold a certain memory for us.  A few dating back to our very first purchases at our first home.  So while this room lay lack our current style, it sure holds a few treasures that we will not let go of.