Living Room: How We Live (version 4)

We moved to the Cape Cod the very last days of March 2013.  That first week brought my husband's first days of work, Easter, my oldest son's first days at a new school, starting a new Cub Scouts Pack and racing in the Pinewood Derby, soccer practice, my youngest son's 4th birthday party, and lots of unpacking.  Of course, we did our best to settle the boys into their bedrooms, their new environments, and our new routines.  That said, it's not surprising that I didn't totally finish unpacking and decorating the first room until mid-April.

The last eighteen months have been a process of learning how we live in our living room.  I know my husband hopes this will be the final version.  Following I'll share updated pictures of version four. 


Right after we moved, I wrote about how I'd never decorated such a vanilla space.  We had vanilla walls, ceiling, carpet, and curtains in the living room.  See Pops of Color for pictures of our living room right after we settled in.  Also, I wrote about the ch-ch-ch-changes in our living room and kitchen over the last eighteen months.  There you can read about my rearranging and repurposing so that we can love the home we have.

Some changes specific to our family include: 

• Being gifted piano {an amazing blessing for our oldest who loves to play}
• Deciding to move the television to the basement family room {since we mostly use it for family movie night and Saturday morning cartoons}
• Moving the two green recliners to the basement {since movies need comfy seating & also the love seat downstairs fits two and there are four of us}
• Finding the best place to put my desk {no having a computer in front of a window does not work, the other wall had glare as well, & I didn't like having both the wood piano and wood desk on the same wall}   

Some changes we made that you might consider include:   

• Getting two smaller chairs {love the blue and having some pattern & they take up both less floor space and less visual space in front of the window}
• Moving in shelving from another room {adding storage, height, and more white to balance the browns}
• Incorporating more texture {yes more patterns all around & we're hiding seasonal learning activities, a ton of Matchbox cars, and many of our puzzles in all the cute bookcase boxes}
• Adding lamps {more lighting and in more functional places}
• Making sure there are hard surfaces by seating {tables on both sides of the sofa and a tray on the ottoman as well as a table between the blue chairs}
• Hanging a picture shelf {yes you can change up frames all the time and you won't have to worry about nail holes in your wall}

Following are current pictures of our living room. Version four is the result of changes to make the living room fit a different style and function how we really live.

While I know my husband would like me to be done rearranging and redecorating, I do still have a few incomplete living room projects.  Since I'm no longer using black accents, I plan on painting the black table in front of the window white.  Also, I want to update our family photos above the couch and need to hang something above my desk.  I don't think that's too much... right?!

In the end, I don't think a house is ever really done.  But we are down to the details in the living room.  In the end, I think a house is ever changing in little ways in response to living life.  But I do think our space reflects our style and needs in form and function.

• How do you live in your living room?
• Why do you change up your living room?
• Do you have other changes for better form and function that you can share?

Related Reading... 

the inspired room