Living & Dining Room Makeover

Dear Em,
Remember when I posted about our entryway makeover & said that we were pretty much done with home improvements for a while? Little did I know, I was really just getting started. Surprisingly, it was sort of your Daddy's fault.

We were sitting in our living room one evening, & your Daddy remarked that a sectional would make much better use of the space than the bulky leather couches we had in the room. It was like a lightbulb went on in my head, & there was no turning it off. Daddy thought he was just making a casual remark. I was already looking at sectionals online. Up until this point we had NO PLANS of buying new living room furniture. We loved our comfy leather couches, but I had dreams of more seating taking up less space.

I begged Daddy for weeks, told him the new sectional could be my birthday & Mother's Day gift, & talked up how comfy and masculine the leather couches would be down in mantown. I finally wore him down convinced him, & he agreed. We used a tape measure to to plan out everything before I went to to five different furniture stores with exact dimensions. I narrowed the selections down to two different couches in two different stores to show your Daddy. In the end we chose a sectional at Jordan's Furniture because we were able to add pieces to make it a perfect fit for the room & our family.

Since we were updating the couches, I began looking at paint colors to update our TV stand. Your Daddy admitted that he hated the TV stand, because it was a little unstable. Little did he know he was basically giving me his blessing to buy a new TV stand. I searched everywhere for something that was white, functional, sturdy, & included an electric fireplace (up until this point we'd been using a small electric fireplace next to our TV stand), & found one that was perfect for our space (I actually taped the dimensions on the floor of our living room to see how everything would fit before we purchased anything). Now I can't imagine the space without our new TV stand. The fireplace adds warmth during the cooler months & ambiance (without the heat) during the warmer months. It adds such coziness to our room.

Our new TV stand is also larger, which gave me more room to add plants & art & accents of color. I've been wanting an M to put somewhere in our house, & the TV stand provided an excellent spot. Although Daddy looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I wanted an M for our home, I bought a large cardboard M from JoAnn Fabrics & a 2 oz bottle of mustard yellow paint for around $10. After painting it, our M looks amazing on the TV stand (even Daddy likes it, but you tell me that we also need an E, J, & B).

I used a lot of pieces that we already had to add pops of color to the room.

A small clock has been the only thing hung on the wall behind our TV since we moved in, but I wanted to dress up the wall a little bit. I found this clock at Ikea for a great price. We moved the smaller clock into the Family Room (which didn't have a clock previously). I love how well the new clock matches the color scheme of the living room, & while your Daddy laughed & said it would be much too large for the wall, he agrees that it's actually a much better fit for the wall than our old clock.

I wanted to add a little artwork to the wall as well. There were a couple of Etsy shops I've been crushing on, & the bare wall behind the TV was just the space I needed. Pitter Patter Print turned your newborn footprints into an amazing sunshine print that we framed & hung. Then I worked with Jenna Sue Design to have mine & Daddy's wedding vows made into a custom work of art. I am beyond thrilled with how the artwork came out. It makes me smile when I look at the wall & think about two of the most special days of my life, the day you were born & the day I married your Daddy.

I was really supposed to be done at that point. We still weren't quite sure about what we were going to do about the cherry hutch that no longer matched our dining room table, but I was OK with that for now. I found what I started to refer to as my dream hutch online, but I was pretty sure Daddy would have an aneurism if I bought one more piece of furniture. So, I filed it under future home improvements. I should have never casually mentioned it to Nonnie, because she gifted it to us moments later (I told her I won't be accepting Christmas or birthday gifts for the next two years at least).

The table, chairs, & hutch all came from completely different furniture companies, but I love how well they go together. We turned the dining table sideways, placed the hutch on the opposite wall, & couldn't believe the transformation. Daddy was right. A sectional does make much more sense in the space we have. I can't believe how much more seating we have, while also having more space to move around. I mean, the dining chairs no longer bump into the back of our couches! The two rooms seem so light and airy & they flow so well from one room to another.

As a last little touch, I painted our stools a mustard color to bring a little extra pop of yellow in the room.

This summer was a happy one, living & enjoying our transformed living & dining room space. It's amazing how furniture & artwork can really change a room. Just think, it all started with a casual comment from your Daddy (he is my inspiration!). I think he'll a little more careful of his future casual comments about furniture...unless he's ready to start buying. Ha!

I love you so,

Mommy