As much as I adored my green vintage sectional sofa it was not practical for our family of 6. It came apart so easy and my children thought it was so neat that they could split them up in two rows to make "theater seats". While I love their creativity and ideas, our living room is so small that it was a bit impractical. :)
Recently I stumbled upon The Old Painted Cottage and her blog was a HUGE motivator in my living room makeover. In fact I used her living room as my inspiration While my makeover is nothing compared to hers, I am really satisfied with the outcome.
Last year our tax return went to paying for the new baby, new bed, you can read my article about our amazing bed here, paying off the rest of our debt, and a new (used) vehicle. This year we budgeted some of it to a new couch.
We are not finished but I thought I would show you all my progress thus far.
And here is the finished product, while there are two of my children in the before picture I would like to assure you that I did not get rid of my girls, they just so happened to not be around when I snapped the after pic. :)
Let me tell you a little about what we did here
- New wall color is Glidden's Natural Linen (I just love the name, so soft and comfy sounding). Exactly what I wanted.
- The trim: Wal-mart's Table Linen White
- The sofa is a chaise sofa by Ashley. I really wanted a white couch (I know call me crazy, especially with four kiddos, but....I new that wasn't possible so I opted for a neutral color sofa and I purchase a $20 Queen size blanket to throw over it, this can be easily washed again and again. (I already have once) :) But not because of the children.... I do have a couple rules. No one is allowed to eat on the sofa...AT ALL and you can't sit on it if you've been playing outside, clothes must be changed. We had those rules with the vintage green sofa and it stayed very nice and I was able to sell it.
- The front door is brushed on chalk board paint, if you are considering doing this it took three coats and was done in a day. Super easy. In chalk I wrote I Corinthians 13:4 "Charity suffering long, and is kind..." When chalkboard writing be sure to dot your I's and cross your T's. I say that because I forgot to cross my T in charity and long arms hubby fixed that for me. :)
- The clock is something I adore and I'd like to thank my brother for talking me in to getting it. I bought it at the strangest of places, if you ask me. A furniture rental store. I don't shop those places but happened to be in one searching for a sofa in a small town and it was one of my only options. The bad part about those rental places is they don't like to come down on the price. So I paid full price for this very large tin clock. My brother was like, "Aren't you going to buy it?" That was just the encouragement I needed....hahaha.
- I had the Live, Laugh, Love sign already and the home interiors mirror candle sconces, these were moved from my kitchen.
- The door was lovingly made by my Amazing husband as a Christmas/anniversary gift. Our anniversary is on the 29th of December (I know weren't we crazy, two love birds wanting to marry in between college semesters). This door belonged to the old rock house my Daddy grew up in. Hubby inset old tin off the barn in the door and wood burned our names, childrens names and birthdays, and wrote 'Livin on Love' on it. I cried huge grateful tears with this gift. I love gifts made by hand that take time and thought. They mean so much.
So there you have it. Still a work in progress. As I thrift store and flea market shop I am hoping to find some end tables to paint black, and a bookcase or armoire.
Are you working on any makeovers in your home?
~Marie
Linked to Liz Marie Blog