Remember my living room? It looked like this last time we talked about it:
Something has been snoozing me out about this room ever since. Neutral upon neutral upon neutral.
And then I saw Emily Clark’s family room:
That navy and white was speaking to me. I loved every single inch of it.
And then I saw THIS:
More crisp navy and white with walnut-y trim. It gave me the same feeling as looking at Emily Clark’s living room.
So I spent the next month obsessing over researching Pinterest to make sure this was the right direction. It was hard waiting because I’m not known for patiently planning and thoughtfully considering. I typically just go for it. But I’m learning that sometimes that doesn’t turn out the best result.
Pinterest didn’t let me down…
(Source: HGTV Designers’ Portfolio)
(Source: ? Anyone know? It wasn’t attributed on Pinterest.)
(Source: http://dianebergeron.com)
So after much drooling and planning, stage one of my living room went from this:
to this…
The walls went from a dingy tan to Sherwin-Williams’ Gray Clouds in flat. It’s a cleaner more modern shade that works well with the yellow accents and the navy/white combo.
My favorite feature in this room is this wood slab that used to be a coffee table top. Here it’s used as a sculptural element, bringing in the warm wood tones to balance the room’s coffee table, leather chair and side table. It’s a full 5 feet tall.
Best of all, I found this in my neighborhood in somebody’s trash pile at the curb.
I know. Right?
The yellow pillows were made from $3.99 Target placemats using this tutorial from SAS Interiors.
The blue and white striped pillow was made from a twin sheet cut in half and assembled with this no-sew tutorial.
The most impactful piece in the new color scheme is the 6-paneled abstract painting. I needed color on that wall but didn’t want to assign too much of a theme by using an actual painting of something. (Not to mention I didn’t want to PAY for a giant painting.) So I bought six 18×24 canvases on sale at A.C. Moore for $7.50 TOTAL, used navy blue paint from the boy’s bedroom project and white paint from our family room makeover.
Behind the lampshade is an old barn wood frame that I lightly whitewashed and then hung to “frame” the light cast from the lampshade. When the room is dark it’s a really cool effect.
Cool things are happening on the other side of the room too, but they aren’t quite ready to show. I’m still layering and texturing.
For now, I like where we’re headed. And for $27.50 you can’t beat it.
That’s…
$7.50 – canvases
$8.00 – two placemats
$12.00 – twin sheet set (for blue/white pillow fabric)
