Do you have a room in your home that you just can’t stand? It seems like it’s just that one room you’d hate for your friends to see, that’s just “blah” and adds nothing to your house? I think we’ve all got one. Our living room was that room for me. It was a dark man-cavey space with dark furniture, awkward spaces and odd paneling. It’s been one of the rooms in our home that I have always wanted to change but wasn’t sure how. I know I’m not alone here when I saw we have all felt at a loss with how to rehab a room, to make it more our own.
BEFORE: dark, man-cave atmosphere 
AFTER: Welcoming, bright living room!
Over the last couple months I’ve been working on the living room and everything I did to change it was small simple details that completely made over the room. Here is what I did, and tips for you that I’ve learned along the way!
First step in redoing a room- have an idea. Think of the color scheme and theme you want to go with and what pieces of furniture and decor you already have that will go with that. This will be a big money saver! Pieces of furniture (like a coffee table, end tables, bookshelf, etc.) can be completely changed with a coat of paint too. Soon I’ll be blogging about how to paint old furniture to give it a refresh! Once you’ve decided the layout you’re planning on and what pieces of furniture you can continue to use, you’re onto your next step. We had an old coffee table that was given to us that I completely refurbished to go with my grey/neutral theme.
Second step, paint. I know I wanted to have a grey and bright theme in my room, but not TOO much gray or it would have felt like one big gray slap in the face. I chose Behr Toasty Gray paint and two coats later, it already felt so much more refreshing in here! (This is one of my absolute favorite gray tones and we’ve used it in other parts of our house as well.) I’ll share with you my favorite gray tones for a home soon!
After painting, I already had the television on the wall with the white frame around it. My color palette for the living room was grays, whites, and neutral wood colors. I needed to fill in space on an empty wall, so we invested in an electric fireplace. This is the one we purchased, and I love it! It isn’t very wide so it doesn’t stick out much from the wall, but it adds a great homey feeling to the room.
When my husband and I started dating he had already bought furniture for this room. A lovely, man-ish, extremely dark brown couch. Let me tell you, I’ve been waiting for the day I could throw this thing out! The dogs have laid on it, the kids have spilt drinks and food on it, it’s seen enough for its time and it was time to go. Enter, my NEW couch!! Guys, this couch changed the entire outlook of my whole room. You know that feeling you used to get on Christmas morning when it was halfway dark out, you’d sneak out of your run down the stairs to see that huge pile of presents stacked under the tree that Santa left? That’s pure joy friends. . And that’s the feeling I have when I first saw my new couch. Silly to compare the two, but I guess that’s part of adulting.
A couple months ago my husband and I took a trip to Raymour and Flanigan. We searched and searched for the perfect couch and finally stumbled upon the Hazelton. We loved how you could customize the shape of it, add spaces, take certain things away, and CUSTOMIZE the fabric! The floor model was gray, which is what stopped me to check it out first, but then my salesperson told me I was able to change the fabrics and came back with about 1000 I could choose from. All different colors, all different fabrics. I felt like a real furniture designer! I chose a light grayish fabric that seemed like it would be durable enough for children to sit on, then even got to choose the pillow cushion colors I’ve attached a picture here so you can see the exact colors I ordered!
. This was my dream come true! When it was delivered a couple of weeks ago, it was absolutely perfect. Raymour and Flanigan did an outstanding job on this couch, everyone was extremely friendly and the delivery men were quick and put everything where I wanted it! They were truly a delight to work with and if you have a Raymour and Flanigan around you, I really recommend you go see them for furniture. I will definitely be back again.
After you’ve got your paint and main furniture pieces in, you can really add to the decor of the room. We love our farmhouse style look since our home is an old farmhouse, so I try to combine new with old, and keep it simple. I found an old mirror at Marshalls to put above the fireplace, along with two windows from our original house that I found in our barn. Throw a few pieces of greenery around and the room was complete.
There are so many different options and ways to go about changing that “blah” room in your home and I’d love to help you get your vision on paper! (or computer!) IF you’re ever struggling, shoot me a message! I’d love to show you how you can change any room and on a budget! It is simple to create a whole new space with minimal spending and I can’t wait to teach you how!
This post was sponsored by Raymour & Flanigan. #raymourflanigan_partner
You will be famous one day!!! I am excited to learn about the painting technique to transform the furniture. If you need a room for demo purposes I have several including a massage room.