Welcome to our new living room! A warm but monochromatic palette of white, off-white, brown and black. This sun-drenched space is the heart of our home - we entertain here, we lounge here, we traffic through here, often. Let’s start with the after photos before we get into the journey of how this eclectic space came to be…

Let’s dive in…

With the exception of the rug (which was new courtesy of the wonderful Atlas Weavers), 90% of everything else was sourced from pre-loved and vintage marketplaces. Including the lamps, both sofas, side & coffee tables, chess set, horse sculpture, wool blanket, oversized mirror and the base of the console table under the window.

My greatest challenges tackling this space:

1. How to accessorize the mantle - which is extremely deep - while concealing the cable box that lives on the wall behind the mirror and somehow integrating the white antique farmhouse-y built-in decorative feature at the top which cannot be removed.

2. How to create a circular shaped seating area (ideal for conversation), while honoring the cut through walkway between living and dining.

3. How to give this living room its own identity while ensuring it melds well with the other spaces in the home. The living room sits right off the kitchen, but is somewhat separate from the dining area (delineated by a few columns). I wanted neutral, but interesting, and I had the brown mosaic surround of the fireplace to take into account.

4. Curtains: I couldn’t decide if I should keep the look consistent between living and dining (dining also has 3 prominent windows) - or go with different styles for each space. After trying 3 rounds of options, I opted for different styles for each space. The irony is, I ended up buying the exact same ruffled curtains as I had for one of my New York City apartments - didn’t realize they were the same til they were installed… must mean I like them :)

Here come the before shots…

How It Came Together…

I found the brown suede curved sofa (for $125 off Facebook Marketplace… yes, you read that right) even before moving in and I immediately knew it would help me round out the seating area. A sofa (rather than a few chairs) maximizes the number of butts that can fit while keeping conversation feeling intimate. The curved shape allows the walkways between dining and kitchen to remain feeling open.

Next came the white couch ($325 off FB Marketplace), followed by the coffee tables ($35 off FB Marketplace) and the mirror ($40 off FB Marketplace) - although I thought I was going to use the mirror in our bedroom.

Fortunately this space required little DIY… I was maxed out after all of the work I put into our bedroom! I refinished the mirror and painted the base of the console table (both glossy black) which was previously in the entryway of our last apartment. I knew the black would give a nice contrast and carry through some of the design decisions I was making for other spaces.

My favorite elements are the side tables ($25 off FB Marketplace), the lamps ($20 off FB Marketplace), the horse ($60 from an antique shop) and the vintage throw blanket ($150 from an antique market) which all helped to aesthetically tie the space together.

My best decision was raising the curtain rods 6”… if you’ll notice in the before pictures, the curtain rods hung lower and the draperies of choice made the space feel heavy. By raising the height of the rods, I was able to choose longer curtains which accentuate the incredible ceiling height and make the space feel more grand. I opted for the white flowy curtains to soften the feel of the windows, add privacy while still letting an abundance of natural light in.

The console table top was gifted courtesy of Pinnacle Stoneworks in Denver - I couldn’t have envisioned a more beautiful piece of stone, I absolutely love how it turned out.

I have a few more ideas for this space that I’ll integrate over time (and of course share with you!), but thoughts on this space as is?! Thank you for walking this journey with me!

Until next time,

LG