A Budget Friendly Living Room Refresh

Well new year, new living room right!? Haha. Not quite 😉 After I took down our Christmas decor I started deep cleaning, and I’m a bit of a neat freak so I can get a little crazy when I clean, add to that the fact that I’m pregnant and all the nesting vibes are settling in and you can see how I got a little carried away. In fact, I literally took EVERYTHING off the shelves and walls, took off all the throw pillows and extra items laying around and just lived with a bare couch and chairs for about a week. It was blissful. I LOVE the cosyiness of Christmas decor but there’s just something so refreshing about that minimalist look that follows the take down of Christmas decor.

As I was cleaning I realized that a lot of things had just been piling up in the living room and I wasn’t really loving the combination of it all anymore. I hadn’t actually put in the time to make a design plan for this room either. It’s just been a bit experimental since we moved in a couple years ago. I keep trying different art and textiles here and there and finally felt like I had a solid idea of what I wanted this room to feel like and showcase. It’s the main living area in our home, so keeping it neutral for so long has allowed me to experiment in other rooms to really find the right aesthetic that would unify all our spaces.

Design takes time, and budgets and styles are always evolving, just like we are, and I think that’s the most important thing I want to convey, is that your home should showcase who YOU are and what you and your family love, so arrange your home in a way that works for you and your family! 🙂

Alright, now on to some of our living room stages!

Here is what our house looked like when we first moved in. The previous owners had repainted the whole main floor in a shade of “greige” that was satisfying to us and so we’ve kept it that way. The color is Sherwin Williams “Anew Gray”. It’s a really nice neutral gray that isn’t too warm or too cool, and goes great with either palette.

The only thing we painted in this room was the fireplace. My husband was convinced it was fine (and loathes painting) so I got my sister to come over one afternoon and we brought new life to it within a few hours. There is already a lot of natural light from the two bay windows but, it brightened up the room dramatically! It also really brought the room out of the 80’s!

The rest of the room kind of evolved over time as we found a few (mostly second hand) pieces here and there that we liked and could afford. This was basically where this room has been for the past couple years but I still wasn’t really proud of it and knew it was missing a few things. I try not to rush design and so I’ve just let the change come as we have had need for them.

After debating it for a while I decided that the upper half of the wall was just too bare and I wanted another picture ledge for display. I also inherited a few plants from family members that filled up the other corner.

Adding the second picture and tropical tree were the perfect additions to make this room feel balanced. Well, perfect for a few months until I decided to change my mind again. Haha. Here is what it ended up looking like after Christmas was all boxed back up.

And now for where we are today.

I realized that there was bit too much chaos in the color palette (for my liking anyway) and I wanted to refine and unify it a bit. I chose to keep blue as my accent color and leave the green accents just in the plants. I added a few throw pillows in blue and then kept the blue element continued in the artwork. The tie-dye pillow is one I made, the blue velvet one is from IKEA, and the faux leather one was found at my local Superstore. The room feels much more relaxing for me now and is also more functional to our family.

I reprinted our family pictures but all in black and white so that they were still on display but the colors weren’t distracting from the overall aesthetic I wanted to achieve. Then I chose to just display pictures and art in the other frames that told more of our story in regards to places and things my husband and I liked, but I still kept the color palette cohesive. I added a picture of New York, (one of my husbands’ favorite places) and a couple of England (one of my favorite places). The last few things I added were a few free art prints, and some blue sample fabric from Schumacher, that I loved.

I brought up the two grey storage ottomans from my kids’ playroom and filled them with a few select toys they can play with when we have company over or if we are just hanging out in here after dinner while my husband plays guitar or piano. I realized I had shunned all their toys to the playroom and they didn’t enjoy being in this room anymore. Now they have lots to keep them entertained while I’m cooking or when we are gathered as a family after dinner. I also brought the large basket from another room and added a few cozy throw blankets for taking naps with. It also holds a couple smaller blankets that I like to grab on the way out to the door, for my girls to wrap up in on those winter days when the car heater just isn’t enough.

The fireplace mantel is an ever changing display, but for now I put up a large family heirloom painting we have from my husband’s late Aunt. It is a beautiful winter scene so it fits the season and the colors blend perfectly with the rest of the artwork.

In all this little update only cost me about $40! I bought two new throw pillows and then reprinted some pictures. The rest of the items were just from shopping my house and making better use of items that weren’t being utilized in other rooms.

My style and preferences are always changing, but for now I am in love with this room again and most importantly it is functuoning again for the season of life our family is in now! 🙂

Thanks for reading!