Before & After Home: Living & Dining Room

Last time, I showed you our entry and kitchen. Our living and dining room is next. We liked the existing color scheme and re-painted with similar colors. Sherwin-Williams "Blonde," a light honey yellow and "Nuthatch," a chocolate brown (also used in our bedroom). This room, out of all the rooms in our house, has had the most furniture configurations and rearranging. And is the most-used room in the house. I think we've finally found a set-up that works.

First, let's take a look at the BEFORE:

This is where the previous owners had their large TV. It was the focal point of the room. I like the cut-out glass shelving in the wall.

This is a view through to the dining room and the second front door and closet.



I'm sure the previous owners weren't expecting us to take photos of their stuff that day, much less display them on a blog, but this is the best BEFORE photo I have of the other side of the living room. The couches were far away from the TV, on the other side of the room in fact. The open floor plan, multiple entrances to the room, window placement and TV hookup, made arranging this room a bit of a challenge.

This is a look back at OUR  FIRST ARRANGEMENT when we moved in:

We pretty much put our furniture in the exact same places they had theirs. This was before I ever laid eyes on Young House Love, and became the decorator I am today. Yes, we needed rabbit ears on our TV. Cable is expensive!

Our couches were under the windows on the other side of the room too. These couches were gifted to us by my parents from the house I grew up in. They are the most comfortable couches ever. I just wish they weren't so floral. That's why I recovered the love seat. I never ended up recovering the couch, but it works for now.

We used to have a recliner in there too, but it was a little awkward. You can see the old purple kitchen in the background.

Now, a look at THE ROOM TODAY:

How did I not notice the dish towel on the kitchen floor? I love the side table, clock and mirror arrangement. It's the perfect size for this amount of wall space, between two doorways. I talk more about where I got them here and here.

I was completely inspired by Young House Love's multifunctional living and dining room (below).

So, I moved our dining room table out of our "dining room" (which is a whole other story), into this corner, where the TV previously was.

I removed one of the glass shelves to allow for taller display items.

And I designed a wall of white frames, also inspired by YHL.

I purchased a pair of chairs from Target.com to provide more flexible seating options. I love the look and size of the chairs, but I am not very happy with the fabric or the quality. I definitely foresee a chair-covering project in the future. I haven't been able to find an area rug that I love, in the size I need, at an affordable price. So, I used two smaller cream-colored area rugs that we had, and put them side by side for now. I added a smaller accent rug in brown, for a little rug-on-rug action.

To beef up the window treatment, I added two chocolate brown panels, that were $6 at Marshalls! The light tan swag came with the house.

I like the TV in front the window. It creates a more intimate seating area. I can also see it while I'm in the kitchen cooking. Win.

The floral couch "blends in" a little more, since the rest of the room and elements are neutral tans and browns. I really like this seating arrangement and our multipurpose dining room. If we need to extend the dining room table to accommodate 8 people, we can just move the accent chairs.  This room feels a lot more pulled together and functional now.

 

What do you think? Have you faced any furniture arranging challenges? Ever moved a room around a hundred times? Don't loose heart. You'll find a setup that works. Look for inspiration in magazines, furniture catalogs and blogs. A room you love could be easier to achieve than you think!