We have officially lived in our house one year!  In honor of this little anniversary, I’d like to share a year of progress…

Before

*Before photos were taken prior to move in.  

After

Living Room: A Year in Progress

I knew upon moving in that I wanted our living room very light and airy.  I wasn’t necessarily opposed to the initial wall color, but it was darker than I would have liked, and in the late afternoon/evening, could take on on an ugly army green.  Thus I dealt with it until I could stand it no longer, and then painted the room with one of my favorite colors: Valspar’s Winter in Paris.   It was the main color in our previous home, and I knew it would be beautiful.  The majority of the furniture, with the exception of the bar, was purchased new.  The Regent Place Sofa we found at Rooms to Go.  I bought various fabrics from Hawthorne Threads to recover the pillows, but as you can see, I have only done one (and that one didn’t even come with the couch–it’s an Ikea filler).  The Safavieh Natural Fiber Ivory Rug, as well as the Java Coffee Table and Pillar End Tables, we bought online at Wayfair.  The tables are part of the International Concepts collection and came unfinished.  They are solid wood and were super easy to put together.  Hubs and I stained them using  from Amazon.  They stained gorgeously, and due to the grey undertones in the stain, I was able to incorporate a lighter wood look with the rest of our dark furniture without it looking mix-matched.  I stalked those two Temani Wicker Chairs from Pier 1 all summer and swooped them up when they went on sale.  My mom and I made the three sets of curtains for this room.  We bought yards and yards of cheap Muslim and stitch tape, and set up a sweat shop right here in the living room.  I don’t necessarily recommend this, but it did save money!  The most difficult decorating aspect of this room was either side of the fireplace.  I knew I did not want shelving or anything that would look too heavy in the room.  The bar sort of bounced back and forth from one side to the other, but I finally decided on the left-hand side once the end tables arrived because there simply wasn’t enough room between bar and end table.

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