Living Room Makeover 2012

Our main floor living room/sitting room makeover is complete! I am absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out. It's been a couple months in the making and I'm excited to share the results. After living in our home for 5 years, I decided it was time for some new style. I wanted to start fresh, pick out a new couch and chairs for the first time, and design a room like the ones I salivate over in decorating magazines. New paint, new furniture, a new rug, window treatments and a new arrangement completely changed the whole space. I love walking into my living room, relaxing on the couch and feeling like I'm in a new place! 

The wall color made the biggest difference. I had my heart set on the perfect grey-blue. Finding the right one proved to be the biggest challenge of all! We finally landed on Home Depot's BEHR paint in "Gray Plank". It took a couple test colors before we got it right. 

The new couch and arm chairs are my favorite part. Picking out furniture is both exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Color, fabric, comfort, shape, size - it's a lot to consider, especially when you can only test it out in a showroom and you can't exactly return it if you change your mind. Aside from the fact that our cats like them a little too much (and I'm paranoid about spilling on them), I'm very happy with our selections.

Another nerve racking decision was ordering a rug online for the first time. It turned out to be perfect for the room - and it was on sale on black-Friday and arrived quickly. It's an indoor-outdoor rug which is thin and very easy to maintain. 

I'm accenting with pops of yellow and orange. I found a super soft yellow and white chevron throw blanket, which I use all the time. I made new lumbar pillow covers for our new chairs. 

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like our sitting room now. It used to be green, then we painted it brown, and now it matches the rest of the living room. There's much better flow now. Switching the window treatment and simply arranging the furniture differently makes it feel more purposeful and cohesive. The slipper chairs are acting as a little loveseat/bench. It might be time to re-cover them again in a fun new fabric...

The wall art also adds more personality to the room. The natural light makes it feel so bright and airy. 

Another pop of yellow with my spray-painted mirror. I'm still incorporating pieces from my milk glass collection. They look even prettier against the grey. 

I really like how the walls look with white trim as well as the wooden staircase, floors and furniture.

We also have the addition of my husband's bike on a stationary trainer, for riding indoors during the winter months. Not exactly the type of living room accent I was looking for, but after all the hard work Andrew did to make this room possible, he deserves to enjoy it too! 

I am so very happy with my new living space! I'll be sharing more of the makeover process and steps along the way. You can see what my living room used to look like in this post. And what my sitting room used to look like in this post. What home makeovers have you found created the greatest results?

Sources:
Couch - Ruby Gordon
Arm Chairs - Value City Furniture   
Rug - Ballard Designs
Paint - Home Depot BEHR, Gray Plank