May of this year marked three years in our first house. If you took a look around before late last month though, you would think we just moved in. There weren’t boxes everywhere, but we really hadn’t settled in or made any permanent changes to the way it looked as an empty potential purchase. Over the last couple of years, I have created Pinterest boards galore for each and every room in the house, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to actually get to work making the house feel like our own.
I wanted a theme for our living room, but not something that wasn’t in your face or super loud. I don’t know what it was that made me think “space,” but I just decided I’d go with it. There aren’t currently many wall pieces, and nothing too obvious, so I think it’s a little hard to see at the moment, but I tried as hard as I could to make sure each major player reminded me of something space related – even if it seems like a bit of a stretch to see why.
Here’s a run down of the furniture we had before our “makeover” was completed:
Lamp I caught it on sale for 80.00 and it’s an amazing dupe for a much more expensive west elm lamp. It’s the sun to my mini galaxy and while it doesn’t provide a large amount of light, it gives the room a nice subtle glow that isn’t too distracting if you’re trying to watch TV at night.
Rug I wanted something that looked like the surface of the moon and this rug killed it! It’s held up super well despite our cat using it as a way to sharpen his claws and as the occasional hairball catcher. It’s ever so slightly too small for the space we have it in but they no longer sell the exact rug, so I’m making it work.
Sofa I found this couch through an Instagram ad. The couch this one replaced was probably twice as big and made the room feel cramped… but this one was too small to really chill on. It was expandable, so that was cool, but because of that, the bits that held it together flexed and didn’t really feel that solid over time.
Chair Like the couch purchase, we ordered this chair sight unseen, but it was actually super comfortable and fit really well into our space. It was spacious enough to completely curl up in it, but never felt like it was a huge arm chair. I would love to purchase a new one, but with our new set up, there wouldn’t be anywhere for it to go.
Table If we’re on the moon we have to have a lunar rover… right? Maybe? That’s a stretch, but I have to tie it in somehow! This table took me some hunting to find because I really wanted something triangular and with that antique brass accent to it.
Mirror – No longer sold but two similar vibes available through All Modern. This mirror reminds me of a telescope lens and it’s pretty neutral, but the small pops of gold tie it in to the floor lamp and coffee table. It was a little tricky to hang up, but it’s a nice accent that makes the area above the fireplace feel less empty.
TV stand – We got our TV stand on Amazon, so, I don’t really care to link it because I’m not trying to give them more money, but here are a few very similar options on All Modern. Really, any low Mid Century Modern stand will do. I will say, the nice thing about this one is that is has soft close doors.
Major change 1: Painting the room
Behr Marquee One Coat in Platinum
I knew I wanted to go with grey for the wall color. Some people like more warm colors for their homes and home decor, but I have always leaned into more cool color palettes. We narrowed the grey options down to three paints, all from Behr – Platinum, Fast as the Wind, and French Silver. I really wanted to make sure I loved the color we would go with, so I painted three large squares in various areas of the front of house. This allowed me to see each one in the different lighting and see if they looked true to their swatches. That totally worked and it really showcased each option’s undertones, but boy did it suck to sand the two colors we didn’t go with down when we decided on the lightest option. Apparently they sell large squares you can paint that stick to the wall and can be removed when you go to paint… so the more you know.
We began with one section of wall and the area around the fireplace because I’d previously ordered our new couch and it was being delivered the Saturday of the weekend we began painting and lord knows I didn’t want to have to worry about moving it around and paint maybe getting on it. That worked out nicely because we got the first layer up on that half of the living room on a Friday, the second coat Saturday morning and then Saturday evening and Sunday, we got the first and final coat up on the other half of the room.
Because painting the whole room wasn’t enough of a project, I decided on a whim that I wanted to try my hand at removing the pop corning that was on the ceiling of our bay window. I initially wanted to remove the pop corning on all of the ceilings in our house, so I thought trying it out in the area above the bay window would be a good test for how that would work. I watched a handful of Youtube videos and with a spray bottle of water and wide metal scraper, got the entire area pretty smooth. It’s beautiful and we continued the grey onto that ceiling section, so it really fits seamlessly into the room, but it created so much dust and mess that I don’t want to ever do it again.
We tackled the dining area and kitchen the following weekend and really, the whole process overall was pretty fuss free. We did have to run out and get more paint at one point, but in total we only used two and a half cans. The paint we chose is advertised as only needing one coat, but it really did need two full coats to be completely opaque. Perhaps you could make it work with better paint applicators, but I like how solid it looks with both coats.
We’ll eventually move on to the hall way and other rooms, but we’re pretty painted out at the moment.
Aside from painting, the biggest change to the room was our new couch, ottoman, and larger TV. The couch is west elm’s Harmony sofa and we went with the large matching ottoman, both in Ash Grey, to make our own mini sectional. They were an investment, even with the sale price that I snagged them at, but oh man, they are worth the price. If I could live on the couch I would without hesitation. It’s such an improvement over the small couch we had previously, both in terms of sitable space and in the level of comfort. Sadly, the ottoman arrived in the incorrect fabric, but west elm had a replacement ordered for us at no cost the same day we got ours in. The TV is just a larger, newer version of the LG NanoCell TV we had previously, but the additional size is mind-blowing. Viewing The Mandalorian on it feels like we’re at the movies. We likely won’t be upgrading again any time soon, but when we do I’m going true OLED. They are gorgeous!
Plans for the future
We currently have the TV sitting on our TV stand, but eventually, I’d like to mount it to the wall. The area above the TV looks so empty right now, so mounting it would help break up that wall.
The area rug we have right now is just too small for the room. It doesn’t do an effective job of dividing the living room from the dining area while still anchoring the furniture we have set up. Ideally, I wanted to just get the bigger version of the rug we currently have, but since they no longer sell it, I have to find another.
The only empty wall in the room is the largest and I really want a nice piece of art to take up that space. One of our really good friends, Brooklyn’s (check out her Youtube channel!) mom does incredible abstract art, so I’m hoping to commission a piece that really ties the whole room together. Please check out her art over on Instagram, it’s breathtaking!
Nesting is, without a doubt, one of my favorite past times, so I am really excited to finally lean into that and try out some basic interior design. We only painted and swapped out some okay furniture for what will hopefully be our living room set for years to come, but it really feels like we’re in a whole new house! I’m thinking our next project will be our dining space and kitchen, but whatever it is, I will make sure to document it.
C'est la moot 