Living Room Progression

The living room has had quite a few different looks, and we only moved here in July. The room pretty much started out as just a place to put stuff that no longer had a home. It's progressed to having a "new to us" sofa and freshly painted furniture to tie it together. Most of the changes were done using what we had. The only purchased items are the new painting, curtains and the sofa slipcover. Oh and the wall paint of course.

Here is the room from when we bought the house. Notice the dark yellow paint, this paint seems to be very common in this area.. we looked at a few different homes painted in what I call "Waldorf Yellow" I think the common thought it a sunny yellow will combat the feel of the dark and the gray outside. I find that yellow wall paint tends to change the other colors inside the house, making things look harsher and more reflective, including skin tone of people living in the house. The wood also blends into it, instead of complementing it.

Here is the room after I painted it with "Creamy Pebbles" and used a mossy brown as an accent. (later I regretted the accent wall and painted it over) The wood floor color is already looking warmer.

Next we moved our furniture into the house, and I tried to do what I could with what we had. It looked dark and had a very BoHo vibe to it. Appropriate for the island, probably.. but not really me. We placed the china hutch as close to the table as we could, on this wall it stuck out into the room a bit and made the space feel smaller. The painting was actually for my sewing room... but it was the only thing that fit the rather narrow wall space above the fireplace. The carpet is from a kids room.

Next came a re-arranging. I had in my mind that this space needed a sectional to truly work, but hubby was in doubt that one would fit. So I arranged the sofa and a chair into the dimensions of a sectional to get a sense of the space and try to win him over with the idea. The black shelf was moved to make a buffer between the dining space and living and the hutch was moved to the corner to allow for easier flow around the end of the sofa.

Next came a bit of good luck. I found this Bauhaus sofa on our local facebook group for free! I didn't have to talk hubby into plunking money for a sectional after all. The white canvas was stained but it was clean and had been washed, the foam under the covers was clean. I decided to give it a go, and it fit the room so prefectly. The lighter color added brightness to the room immediately. All it needed was a slipcover. I guessed that it was pretty close in shape and size to the Ikea Ektorp sectional and next trip to Seattle I picked one out to try.

I chose to get the Risane natural slipcover, It's kind of a drop cloth canvas look with cute buttons on the sides.

And it mostly fits.. there is just some extra on the sides of the bottom cushions and the main cover at the corner. These I can either live with... or tailor at some point if I feel like it. The best part is- it's machine washable. 

The important thing is it fit the arms and the back... and I get really lucky they did. I may have to buy another slipcover to swap and wash, so far i have a sofa that cost me $299.00. Not too shabby. 

Overall, I am quite happy with how the room is shaping up. The painted furniture and slipcover look is much more comfortable in this cottage home.