Our Living Room, Revisited

The last post before my blogging hiatus focused exclusively on our living room and, in the ten months since that write-up, the primary pieces remained while I've continued to refine the room with a few final additions. Let me show you around.

Our Living Room...Mostly Complete

Hello! It has been so long since I last opened blogger to start a post. I contemplated packing it up and riding quietly into the blogging sunset; but just like a magnet, something about blogging has pulled me back in and won't let me go, at least not yet.

Frankly, I missed our interactions! I really, truly did. If I could invite each and everyone of you over to my house, we'd probably sit in the living room and spend the day gabbing away about our favorite fabrics, what auctions we've been to lately and our best thrifting discovery of all time. The best rooms are the ones that spark these kinds of engrossing conversations, and that's just what I set out to do in our living room

In the past year (yes, year...we've been working on it for the past 12 months), I've tried to cultivate a warm, cozy, curated room that welcomes to any visitor and demonstrates a little bit about Adam and I. I'm happy to report that we're 99% of the way towards that goal, save for finalized curtains in the room's large bay window.

This space has undergone lots of changes--both big and small. Carpentry, painting, upholstery, new furniture...you get the idea. I love this room. I always feel a little uneasy sharing such personal rooms but I hope it's the kind of room that seems inviting to you, even across the computer screen.

Without further ado...here's our "mostly complete" living room!

(all images via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

In case you wanted to walk down memory lane, here are some of the projects that brought this living room to life:

Living Room Carpentry

The Tufted Sofa Before

Reupholstered Chairs and Sofa

Coffee Table Before and After

Thank you all for sticking with me during my frequent blogging breaks (and following me on Instagram in the interim)--I hope we can pick up where we've left off. I've saved up so many projects to share here on the blog, and I'm looking forward to catching up with each of you!

Hello, It's Me (and a Bit More of Our Living Room)

Hello, it's me. It's been an awfully long time, hasn't it? A whole summer, in fact, which was never my intention.

In the three months since my last blog post, I've vacillated a lot between recommitting myself to regular posting and quietly receding into the blogging sunset. Life's been hectic at best and, in particular, the job that I started in the spring turned into an intellectually-challenging role that often zapped me of my energy and creativity. I wondered often if I should just pack it up and close this chapter of my life as a blogger. 

In recent weeks, though, something changed. On my way to and from work, I started making lists of the next project I wanted to undertake around the house. My mind started configuring new plans and considering the details of things outside of my job, which hadn't happened for months. I would come home and, instead of nodding off halfway through dinner, I would walk around the house and scan each space for inspiration with what felt like a new set of eyes. That new perspective--and perhaps also a new appreciation--makes me feel fresh and new and ready to return to writing here.

When I was unemployed, I felt a constant joy and resentment for our home. I loved it and was tremendously grateful for it, but I also felt physically and mentally trapped by its walls and what it represented financially. Overwhelmed by the burden to "do this and do that" around the house while Adam worked, I needed to legitimize every hour, every minute.

Well, now that I don't have nearly as many hours or minutes, I think I love my house even more. It's true--absence does make the heart grow fonder, which is why I wanted to invite you all to see the changes that have been made to our living room in the last few months.  

You may remember that I wrote about my quest to find the perfect slate for our fireplace surround back in May. When that search stalled, I opted to paint the brick.

I didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I do, but I do.

I found the antique bench, now placed in front of the hearth, sometime last winter for $30 and had it reupholstered recently in Tilton Fenwick's charming "Gideon" stripe in mint/red.

 It took me awhile to decide how to approach our living room built-ins. I slowly relocated books from elsewhere in the house to the shelves here, now giving the space purpose, color and literary clout.

The seat of my favorite antique side chair, an auction find from Connecticut, has been reupholstered in sumptuous coral velvet too, accenting the color elsewhere in the room. 

Now, you're probably wondering where the sofa shot is...

The sofa is in process, as a matter of fact. It took me months and months (far too long, really) to decide which directly I wanted to go in, but I opted for a stain- and fade-resistant Sunbrella solid that I'm excited to see soon. 

I'm still working out the rug situation. We perused the natural rug options at a local carpet store but were mortified at the prices for the custom-sized and bound pattern we liked. Back to the drawing board, I suppose!

(all via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

Bit by bit, inch by inch, the living room (and life in general) is coming together.

P.S. An extra-special thank you to those who emailed and checked in after me in the last few months. 

I sure have missed you all. 

Our Newly-Reupholstered Living Room Chairs

Despite the unintended radio silence, life has continued to move along even if I fail to chronicle much of it here on the blog. The past weekend, though, I finally had a development worthy of writing about: the vintage open-arm chairs that I found for a song at an auction last year came back from the upholsterer's!

Decisions, Decisions

Before I was a homeowner, I never realized how many decisions person could possibly make during a lifetime of homeownership. From paint colors to hardware styles to fabrics, there are so many potential choices, so many directions, so many design crossroads a homeowner must cross in an attempt to make a house feel like home.

Lately, our living room fireplace has been the subject of intense deliberation around these parts.

In Progress: The Living Room Carpentry Projects

Hi, friends. This post--appearing promptly on Tuesday morning--was intended to be a Monday morning post...can you tell I'm a little out-of-sorts? After a week at my new job, I'm slowly settling into a work routine and trying my best to balance all of the things I have to do with all of the things I want to do; perhaps you know how that goes, too?Acknowledging my late start, I'm happy to share the progress that was made on our living room carpentry projects last weekend.

Let's get to it!

Plans for Living Room Carpentry Work

One of our 2014 home goals (perhaps the primary one) involves our formal living room. In its current state, it's pretty okay. Tolerable even. But, we've made plans to start improving the existing charm of the space starting next weekend, and it all starts with 3 much-needed carpentry improvements.

Let's chat about them, shall we? 

Tufted Sofas with Fitted Seats

Before I get into today's post, let me thank everyone who commented on Tuesday's post on the "New Domesticity" phenomenon. Your comments and perspectives were so smart, and gave me a lot more food for thought that I had to respond to each commenter by email. You never disappoint, dear readers. Anyway...on to the topic of sofas!

Almost one year ago (on Valentine's Day, to be exact), my husband and I brought a vintage velvet tufted sofa home from the thrift store. The piece was solid and the price was right, even if the color wasn't. In the last year, I've given a lot of thought to reupholstering the sofa, which will be the cornerstone of our living room design.

Well, almost 365 days with it, I think I've come up with a plan for our tufted sofa and it involves abandoning its detached cushion. Let me show you what I'm talking about...

Make Your Own: Rope Side Tables

About two weeks ago, the latest Ballard Designs catalog arrived at our door. It didn't take me long to zero in on a woven garden seat that was versatile enough to double as a side table for our living room or den...but I balked at the cost: $160/seat! I needed two, and $320 for small pieces felt like an extravagance.

With some brainstorming, I came up with a much less expensive solution that a) met the need for an accent table and b) mimicked the look of woven rope. Let's me show you how I DIY'd it.

Pair of Vintage Open-Arm Chairs

Friends, I benefited from my own auction tips last week. Last Monday afternoon--despite nursing a bad cough and cold--I drove to an auction preview and left an absentee bid on a pair of upholstered arm chairs for the living room. In their current state, they weren't pretty; but my reasonable bid was enough to bring them home (I got them for $130!). Their open-arm style was calling my name even if their fabric left a lot to be desired.

Let's start musing inspiration for the transformation of these cool chairs, shall we?

Stripping and Liming a Vintage Desk

I've turned over a new leaf when it comes to painting vintage furniture. I'm increasingly more interested in seeing the grain and the texture of wood furniture, so I recently reworked a thrifted desk that I had, giving it new life and a new look for the living room.

Colors and Fabrics for the Living Room

Are you tired of hearing about our living room yet? Well sorry, friends, you'll have to get used to it because it's the one space in our house that's getting a lot of my attention. Today, I thought it would be fun to chat about fabric choices for our tufted sofa.

New Round Coffee Table for the Living Room

Last Thursday was my birthday. My husband and I opted for a low-key day without a lot of fanfare or big presents because, after all, we bought a house only a month ago! But, I couldn't help treating myself to an inexpensive birthday present to myself: a coffee table.

A Coffee Table Becomes a Bench

Moving into our house has inspired me to creatively reimagine some of the furniture we had in our apartment for new purposes, so today I thought I'd share how my mom and I turned a coffee table into a brass-and-velvet bench during her recent visit.

New Hardware on Living Room Built-ins

Sometimes, it doesn't take a full-scale renovation to customize a space into one that reflects our taste, and today I'm going to share details on how a simple change of hardware in our living room (as shown above) transformed a set of built-ins from dated to classic.

Our Tufted Sofa

My husband and I celebrated Valentine's Day unlike most. Instead of chocolates, roses or greeting cards, we brought home a pretty, soft velvet tufted sofa for our living room.

...for $75! For less than the price of a fancy dinner!

Framed Feather Art

In the same vein as other forms of specimen artwork (like butterflies, insects and leaves), feathers are an example of the beauty of the natural world and a reminder that design can be found all around. I took advantage of this inspiration from nature to add artwork to our living room walls.

Decorating Our Home, One Corner at a Time

Welcome to my favorite spot--a single decorated corner in our mostly-empty living room. 

Needing a New Chair for the Living Room

Ever get fixated on replacing or revamping something in your home? 

Me? I'm currently obsessed with replacing this chair in my living room for a more cozier, comfy option.

Waaaaaaaay back when I began this blog, I wrote about finding this chair for $15 at the thrift store and recovering the seat with a scrap of Alan Campbell fabric. Time has marched on though, and I'd really like to have a soft upholstered chair for this space.

I'm zeroing in on some kind of rolled arm chair, preferably in a solid.

The "London" chair from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams would look fabulous in cream in my space:

(via MGBW)

Or, what about a Lee Industries option?

(via Lee Industries)

How about the Essex chair from Crate and Barrel?

(via Crate and Barrel)

I thought I'd never consider a skirted arm chair in a vibrant print but never say never. 

I love this beauty from Kathryn M. Ireland's shop:

(via Kathryn M. Ireland)

Clearly I haven't exactly honed in on what I want. 

Perhaps the perfect solid-colored chair will pop up in an antique shop in the near future...right?

Have you seen any other roll arm chair options that I should consider?

Light it Up

I've been on the search recently for a pair of floor lamps with some visual interest for our living room to add some light and much-needed symmetry to the space. My husband Adam and I had been holding on to many gift cards from stores like Crate and Barrel since our wedding last year, so imagine my happiness when I found a reasonably priced pair from CB2 that could be bought for no money out of pocket!

I opted for the X white floor lamp from CB2, which is currently on sale for $99, but quickly decided that the lamp's all-white appearance just wouldn't do.

Here's the basic change I decided to make to each lamp base:

(X white floor lamp via CB2 & Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint via Home Depot)

Why spray paint the lamp?
Because, let's be real, is there anything that isn't made better with a touch of gold? I think not.

After a rapid bath of gold, the lamps were ready to be moved back into the living room.

The x-base lamps add a subtle gilded accent, great height, and symmetry to the corners of the room while looking much more expensive than they actually cost me (nothing!).
Hallelujah for gift cards and sales, am I right?