The benefit of blogging about home remodeling, design, and decorating, is that it helps me to really process what I want my house to look like. Truthfully, if I’m stumped on a room or if a room is unseen, I can easily push away from actually doing anything to it for a very very long time. I can pin beautiful spaces to my hearts content and still be a stumped and stubborn as before to finish a project.
Right now, said project is my living room. I have furniture, wall pictures, and even a plant but the room is just not there. So today, I’m going to share the space with you in hopes that my decorating powers will be rekindled again!
I’ve already shared our Expedit Hack with you. It’s functional, but probably not the TV area that I see for the future. I’d love to see a floating sideboard there with a mounted TV.
I changed this lamp shade from a wide square shade to this drum I got at Lowes. It flowed so much better. I designed the “coat of arms” and printed it at Costco.
Then there’s the beautiful mid century couch we found on craigslist this past summer. It was one of those “puppy eye/ask my husband 50 times what he thought of it” for 2 hours craiglist finds. The couch was 2 years old, well taken care of, comfortable and EXACTLY (tufted, grey, woven, tapered legs, sectional) what I was looking for. It’s made by Modern Design Sofas, here’s where you can find it online. Couldn’t have asked for a better couch!
The pillows are tufted on both sides too which is amazing.
This sweet tray was made by a family friend for a Christmas gift from my mom last year. It’s beautiful and special.
So here is my problem. The art on the wall is wrong. Hung too high, and feels… stiff, unkind, and consuming.
My brainstorming is looking like this: How do I add more character, but not clutter to the walls? Where should I get quality frames for inspiring art of different sizes? Should I add shelves or picture ledges to any of the walls? What other things could add character to this space other than pictures?
It’s too easy to skim over this room’s needs, so I needed to get it out in the open! And I think this is a good starting point to solving my conundrum. I got the bug while writing this to actually find spaces I admire for a living room. Somehow I stumbled onto the absolute perfect site!! I found on a new favorite blog, My Scandinavian Home, that I’m loving and hope to draw inspiration from..
Check out her Pinterest page for gorgeous Scandinavian Living rooms.
Gorgeous right?! Just move me over to Norway right now… Alright, so the interior design inspiration I receive from these pictures:
Varied (thin frame) sizes and colors with mats of varying sizes. Hanging pictures in large wall collages. Metal bracket hung shelves in white or wood that reach to the ceiling. Long white floating sideboards with varied objects (magazine stacks, metal lamps, books and pictures) on top. Hanging posters and pictures on lines across the wall. Two tone walls.
I’m feeling energized already! The only thing holding me back much is the $$. So we’ll see what I can start doing on Craigslist and thrift stores for good frames and art, and think more about shelving and that floating side board. Can’t wait to see what we come up with! What do you love about your living room? What would you like to see done with it? As always, any tips on where to buy things for this space are greatly appreciated!
Emily @ Table & Hearth says
I feel like this about our master bedroom right now, maybe I should do a post like this after Christmas to get input and make me focus again :)
Yes to the floating console, yes to dipped walls, and I instantly thought of Chris Loves Julia’s picture ledge they just did for your art pieces on that back wall: http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2014/11/a-massive-wood-picture-ledge-for-the-living-room.html
That couch is such a score!!
Petite Modern Life says
Emily! This is exactly why I put that room out there! Thanks for the link! I absolutely love that idea and to see there living room transformation look so similar to what we have! Can’t wait to see you put that master bedroom out there! ;) :)
Anna @Annabode says
First off, I absolutely love the artwork you’ve chosen. And that coat of arms is fabulous! LOVE the couch. I think what your room really needs is a rug (maybe black and white patterned, like that great striped Ikea rug from your inspo photo) and a different coffee table. Something round, in a light color or glass, and with longer legs to open up the space. And then maybe some pillows for the couch in whatever color palette you’re going for?
I think I’d actually move the artwork to behind the couch; I know the space is small, but that’ll create more of a focal point. I don’t know what the rest of that exterior wall looks like, but you could even paint that little area with a bright color or a deep gray to make the art pop. I really like your idea of the floating credenza for the TV area!
Another thought I had was flipping the room so that the couch is where the TV is and the TV is in front of the window. That way you could really hang all the art above the couch, and the room would be more inviting because the sectional part of your sofa would be against the wall, not cutting into the room. I actually really like the frames you have now, but if you’re looking for new ones you might want to try simplyframed.com. Sorry those were a lot of thoughts! I think you have some really great pieces and I hope you find the inspiration you’re looking for :)
Petite Modern Life says
Anna you’re sweet! I LOVE the input! I’m interested to see if the couch would fit on the opposite wall now… It was a bit of a stretch putting that massive beauty in our little house, but I loved it so much I was determined to make it work! The door to the garage is near the TV stand, so I might run into a space issue there.. I wish we could move the door down! I like the idea of color that makes frames pop out, and thanks for the tip on where to buy frames! Pillows. YES! I have some red “greek herringbone” fabric that would look fabulous against the gray. Woo hoo for fellow brainstormers! Thanks so much haha, I’m elated!
Ashley@Biggerthanthethreeofus says
I can’t believe you found that couch on Craigslist! Totally jealous! I love the direction that you are taking your living room and adore the legs that you put on the ikea piece. Could you DIY some doors for the console to make it more of what you are wanting? Just an idea!
Petite Modern Life says
Ashley I totally did think about doors, but my husband was only ready for the feet part of the project haha ;) Thanks for stopping by!
Bunny White says
Okay, so I’m obviously a crazy person. Two days ago I was working on a job for a client when my Pinterest research led me to your blog, where I found this post. I immediately got excited about your living room and just could not help myself, I had to help brainstorm solutions. But I really needed to get back to my paying gig before I had completed typing, editing, and re-typing my comment. However, I did not forget about this post, so I’m back… like the crazy decorating lady I am :)
A few things jump out at me about your space: 1) the sofa and flooring are having an awesome party together with their excellent depth and texture, 2) the console put on awesome “shoes” and really wants to join the party, but is just too small for this grown up shin-dig 3) the ceiling is low and seems to be crowding the space (party fowl!), and 4) even with the artwork both the walls and the ceiling look like they have shown up naked!!!
Party analogies aside, I have a few suggestions to offer :)
First, definitely get that floating console!!! It will be so worth it. (and get it as long/wide as you can)
Next, to address the low ceiling and add character to the walls (which will help how well your artwork displays), I have a few ideas:
1) Option 1…do a strie paint treatment on the walls in whites/creams to add texture and create a vertical line that suggests height. ()
2) Option 2… instead of painting all the walls, do wallpaper. You can go with the strie look again or go with a subtle tone on tone modern design.
3) Option 3… skip the textural treatments and just go for graphic. Paint a diagonal on the wall to carry the eye up and let the artwork extend onto the walls in a more obvious way. You could even consider matching the angle of the diagonal to the angle of the line in the large art piece.
4) Option 4… no fancy stuff, just paint your walls a shade of white/cream darker than the ceiling, and then to arrange the art… put the large piece where the coat of arms is (letting it be no higher on the wall than the COA is)… hang the triangle/mountain piece to the right of the large picture, and line it’s top edge up so it sits at the same height as the large one… relocate the COA either to the wall behind the sofa, or placed next to the tv and the sweet new console you’ll be getting.
Last, dress up the ceiling with a sexy surface/flush-mount fixture.
Aaaannnnd, that does it for my post, I mean comment. I hope this helps you find your motivation to keep going with your living room, because you’re off to a great start so far!! Cheers!
P.S. I LOVE the look of your blog, which is part of why I got so excited. I’ve been researching my blog design for months and this comes very close to what I’m going for.
Petite Modern Life says
YOU’RE A GODSENT! Seriously. THANK YOU. I love all your ideas! The paint ideas the most. I brought up to my husband no even a month ago that I think a diagonal painted wall would be so cool in the space. You’re right about texture. This house lacks it in so many ways. I wanted to add a vertical plank wall for height or a faux concrete wall- something to stop the naked party (hahah, or however you so well put it.) I’m going to investigate all your paint options that would add some interest. And I totally love doing something crazy like a diagonally painted wall, so perfect encouragement! Thanks for the ideas of where to put the artwork too! And you’re sweet about the blog design. I might be switching up a few things here in the next few days to get the look I really want. This is the “Hemingway Theme” by Anders Noren. He does great work and is a huge help in troubleshooting. http://www.andersnoren.se/teman/hemingway-wordpress-theme/ Cheers and bests to you girl! Thanks for stopping by!
Bunny White says
Well, my post formatting went cuh-ray-zee after I submitted it, but…. Yay! I’m so glad my suggestions were helpful, and that you were already diggin’ the wall diagonal idea! I hope you go for it and I can oohh and ahhh at it here on your lovely blog :D
Also, thanks for the theme info!