Our Modern Living Room Reveal

Since the day we moved into our home the living room has been a source of decorating frustration for me, the semi-open layout only allows one spot for the sofa and the double-sided brick fireplace has caused me more confusion than I can even begin to tell you about.

To really explain the back story of this room I have to go back, way back to the week we closed on the house. Back then I really had no clue what I was doing decorating wise because I had always just kind of left everything to my mother because decorating wasn’t my thing, you can read more about that later.

But I had been so excited about purchasing our home that I vowed to do it all myself this time. You see I wanted our home to be a reflection of who we were as a family and who better to do that than me!

So off to the furniture store we went with every dime we had saved to furnish this new house, this is also where things went really wrong for us and we would spend years trying to pull ourselves out of the decorating nightmare we I had created.

Heres what our living area looked like before we got rid of everything.

We purchased items that were not at all what we wanted, we allowed others to influence our decisions and made so many stupid mistakes that it really makes me ill just thinking about it.

Fast forward six to nine months and we both not only hated the way our home looked but we were filled with guilt that we had wasted so much money on things we didn’t even like.

After figuring out what we actually wanted for our home we gradually began selling off pieces and little by little we started renovating our home.

So when it came time to start in the living room we knew that this space would be one of the most important in our home. You know how people say the kitchen is the heart of the home? Well, our living room is the heart of ours.

We spend so much time in this room whether its a weekend Netflix binge or curling up for a movie during the week, this is our go-to spot!

After we sold our old giant brown sofa set and purchased something more neutral it totally changed the style of the space and nearly every one of the old decor pieces had to go, but I can’t say I was sad to say goodbye.

As for the sofa let me just say that sofa shopping for me is probably one of the hardest parts when it comes to decorating.

Due to the amount of time we spend in here we had to have something with deep seats and the length had to be big enough for three to four people to sit comfortably.

The fact is they don’t make many oversized sofas that don’t look like they were birthed in a bachelor pad!

We had the hardest time finding one to fit our needs so after several trips we settled on this set by Bernhart and overall we have been happy with it and the light color has held up beautifully!

But just my luck as soon as we bought it I found ten others that would have fit the bill, guess that’s just life!

There is nothing like having a cozy place to rest your feet after a long day so getting rid of our beloved ottoman was out of the question that being said it made things a little more trick, due to the vibrant color I had to decide on a pillow combination that worked with it.

This is where Dekowe came in and completely made the entire process easy and I was able to pick a gorgeous combination of pillows that not only complimented our ottoman but gave the entire space a more modern feel.

Samantha was a pleasure to work with and she worked extra hard to get our items out in time for the reveal. Dekowe carries top of the line designer fabrics and the quality of the pillow covers is top notch which is huge when it comes to items you will be using daily.

After years of using crappy pillows, I made the switch to pillow covers with down inserts and I never looked back!

 Being able to unzip the cover and throw it in the wash when the kiddos have spilled something or the covers become dingy is wonderful and I love the fact that I am no longer wasting money throwing pillows away when they get a little worn.

If you’re looking to make the switch or your inserts need updating Dekowe also carries a full line of down inserts, it is a one-stop shop for all of your pillow needs.

Once we had the sofa situation out of the way we had to deal with the super difficult never-ending wall that the sofa sits against. The problem is this wall spans the entire length of our living room so it couldn’t be longer if it tried.

Often with that much space, you can easily feel the need to over decorate the walls because small items never seem to be enough so I knew we had to do something big and make a statement there without overdoing it.

So we went with a grid style gallery wall with triple sconces showcasing the grid. Not only was this a great way for us to incorporate family photos into our design but it also takes up enough space that leaving the rest of the wall bare was just fine.

Of course, sparkles had to make her usual appearance! She’s wondering where in the world her blankets are 

We updated our built-ins by painting them with Sherwin Williams Super White which instantly made them pop against the SW Repose Gray wall color.

We love this paint color so much that we have painted nearly every space in our home with it and it looks amazing everywhere! Finally a gray paint with no undertones!

The fireplace has been in constant limbo due to my inability to decide what we should do with it. After mulling over several ideas for months we have finally decided to tear down the brick mantel on the sides and paint the entire thing before we try anything else but that is a whole other post.

Even though we still have several things we plan to do like update the ceiling fans with a more modern option and replace the carpet with wood look tile, for now, this is as far as the budget will go and I honestly couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. It has no doubt been a long process but that is usually when a space turns out the best because it is filled with items you truly love!

We have tons to knock out this year and we’ve been gradually working our way into some of the more extensive projects which I am excited to share with you all in the coming months.

Our kitchen is number one on my hit list and honestly, I have no idea what I will even do with myself once it is finished because I have been dreaming about it for so long. So to say I am excited is a total understatement!

If you would like more info on my full decorating process from start to finish check out my other posts by following the link below!