The Gathered Home

A Blog about Finding and Making

Fall In Love Living Room Reveal

by

Drumroll please…

It’s “reveal week” for the Fall In Love series I’ve been participating in with 17 other ultra-talented bloggers! Seriously, you guys – can you believe that it’s been six weeks already?!

If you remember, the room I chose to makeover for this challenge is my living room and I had two main issues I wanted to address – the low-lighting situation and figuring out the best furniture placement for the room.

I’m happy to share that despite the fact that the room isn’t actually “finished” yet, I was able to accomplish my two goals!

When we moved in, I painted the walls white to try to brighten up the room, but unfortunately that just seemed to make the room feel even more shaded. So I decided to accept the fact that my living room would probably never be the light bright sun-filled room I originally wanted and embrace its inherent moodiness with my new sage gray wall color. It seemed counterintuitive to paint a darker shade in a low-light room, but it feels so much more cozy and polished now.

In addition to choosing a better paint color, I added some more sources of light to the room with my DIY agate slice sconces flanking the TV, and the two yellow lamps on the console table behind the sofa. In conjunction with my midcentury floor lamp, another table lamp, and the entryway light, the room has plenty of illumination in the evening now!

I also lucked out at the absolute last minute and found a pair of Ikea arm chairs on Craigslist at an extremely reasonable price. I had been planning on playing the Craigslist waiting game and leaving that section of the room bare for as long as it took me to land my dream pair of midcentury club chairs, but realism and a desire to just finish the room already set in and I started brainstorming other options. The chairs got an extreme (and extremely last minute) makeover before they were ready for this room reveal and I can’t wait to share all the details with you soon!

So let’s talk about doing a room makeover in six weeks… You might have noticed that some things didn’t get done, like adding legs to the sofa. (Or sewing new sofa pillows. Or fine-tuning more art choices/placement. But who’s keeping track?)

I was starting to feel bad that I hadn’t been able to accomplish all my goals for the room – that time and money were lacking to achieve my vision – but then I realized that the honest truth is: This is real life. Or at least, this is MY real life.

And sometimes this isn’t the picture we get from Pinterest or some décor blogs. The idea is that you have your perfect inspiration, your curate your perfect mood board, you collect your perfect items, and then, within a reasonable (read: extraordinarily short) timeline, voila – a finished room!

But MY real life has budgets that might preclude shopping retail and involve waiting for something second-hand to come along. Real life has crazy events that pop up and totally exhaust you and derail your projects. Real life means sometimes you commit to a project that takes 10x longer than you expected (those chairs, oh my word!) and leaves you panicked and scrambling for more time. Real life means that sometimes you don’t have all the perfect finishing touches on hand yet because you like to collect things over time or because you need to spread out your home décor purchases.

So I’m okay with waiting. When you furnish your home 98% with thrifted and Craigslist finds, you get used to decorating being a lengthy, ever-evolving process. This Fall In Love challenge was just what I needed to get me moving and thinking and dreaming and planning and actually accomplishing a great deal in this room, so I’m fine with getting it perhaps 85% of the way there and taking my time with the remaining pieces.

There’s a little honesty for you today!

Now, more pretty pictures…

Fall In Love Living Room Makeover: The Final Reveal

Fall In Love Living Room Makeover: The Final Reveal

Fall In Love Living Room Makeover: The Final Reveal

Fall In Love Living Room Makeover: The Final Reveal

Living Room Sources:

Wall color: Sage Gray by Behr | Malachite curtains: DIY | Gold curtain rod: Home Depot, discontinued – similar here | Brass curtain rings; Target | Brass floor lamp: vintage via Craigslist | Sideboard: Antique via Craigslist | Agate Sconces: DIY | Brass coffee table: Karl Springer, vintage via Craigslist | Leather sofa: Craigslist score | Brass chair: vintage via Craigslist | Black and cream chairs: Ikea hack, DIY coming soon | Zebra pillow: H&M, no longer available | Needlepoint pillow: thrift store | Yellow lamps: thrift store | Glass console table: Craigslist | Black & gold leaf art: DIY | Fight Club quote art: my own design via Canvas People | Leopard rug: bound Stark carpet remnant via Craigslist.

And now, I’m super excited to send you off to check out the other Fall In Love room makeover reveals debuting this week!

Here’s our schedule:

Monday:
Decor and the Dog // Home + Style Report // Dwellings by Devore // A Home Full of Color

Tuesday:
Shift Ctrl Art // The Gathered Home // Go Haus Go // The Thriftress

Wednesday:
Primitive & Proper // Wills Casa // Nalle’s House // Brittany Makes // Number Fifty-Three

Thursday:
Boxy Colonial // Bliss at Home // Eleven Gables // Newly Woodwards // The Chronicles of Home

I hope you’ve enjoyed following along with this challenge as much as I have enjoyed participating in it!

Brynne

P.S. Today, I’m also over on Remodelaholic sharing a collection of 25 Free Natural History Images for Fall! So many lovelies – I hope you have a chance to stop by!

Comments

  1. Ashley Mayes says

    Those arm chairs looks fabulous there! I'm so glad you were able to find some. Love how the paint color warms up the room. Totally gorgeous. Can I come over?

    • brynne@thegatheredhome.com says

      Any time, Ashley! Those chairs prove my Craigslist mantra yet again – I didn't find what I was looking for, but I found exactly what I needed. (Um, I think there's a really famous song with a similar message somewhere out there…)

  4. Emily May says

    All three of those chairs are out of this world amazing. You did such a great job job with this space. I would have had no idea it's "incomplete"… it looks like a finished, cozy space to me.

  5. Kayla Louise says

    Looks amazing! Of course those chairs really look great. I am anxious to see how you add the legs to your sofa! We have the same issue with our chesterfield, (were people just shorter back then?) It will be fun to see what you pick!

    • brynne@thegatheredhome.com says

      I know – vintage sofas just tend to be so low to the ground! And without legs, the seat height on this sofa is a ridiculous 11" off the ground, so we're basically sitting on the floor to watch tv 😉

      I'm ordering 6.5" turned wooden legs and will be rebuilding the base with the help of my dad – I'll be sure to share the process once we're finished!

  6. House of Hipsters says

    Okay this looks so so so so so so good! I love the green drapes and those chairs! Ahhh! Craigslist! Gotta love it! The typewriter is so great. I think you've inspired me to haul mine out. I have it tucked away in a closet right now and have been meaning to give it a home. Kyla @ http://houseofhipsters.com/

    • brynne@thegatheredhome.com says

      Thank you so much Kyla! I'm glad I found a place to keep the typewriter on display – I dream of getting it back in working condition (I have no idea what it needs… more ink somehow…) and keeping it as a little guest book of sorts for when friends come over!

  8. Jenn - HomeStyleReport says

    This room is awesome and that couch has me drooling! I love your honesty with this post. I think my struggles with blogging lately happened because I felt like I couldn't keep up with everything. Sometimes I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to get things perfect when we really just need to go with the flow!

  10. Kimberly Duran says

    Oh shush with the excuses 😉 It looks UTTERLY FABULOUS!! Seriously, it's beautiful and if you hadn't said it wasn't 'finished' I would not have sat there thinking, 'is that it?!' 😉 In my head, my rooms are NEVER done because, well, good stuff takes time but this? This right here is GOOD STUFF. Love it, seriously – it looks so grown up and sexy! Love!! xxx

  12. GnomeLover says

    It looks amazing! I LOVE the placement of everything. That light fixture on the wall is the coolest. The room looks so welcoming, lush, bright, and perfect. It makes me want to clean my house!

    Jenni

  23. Katja Kromann says

    Brynne!!!!! That room. I am so in love. Those chairs are perfection. I love the black piping so much and those pillows. So good. I love the sconces and the table and oh my that sofa – once again – I just love how it looks 🙂 Do you ever get tired of hearing me say that? The curtains really shine in this space. They are so fabulous!!

  26. Mallory says

    This is AMAZING! I seriously love every detail!!!!! The malachite and brass and fabby upholstery all make me SO happy. Whats the source for your rug???

  27. Amber Wills says

    Seriously Brynne it's so good! I love those chairs! It all works together so well. Love how moody it is with the colors and touches of gold! LOVE!!

  31. Megan {Splendid Design} says

    Beautiful room! I love the pops of color in a very sophisticated way! And that type writer! I really need to get one for myself. We loved the room so much that it's being featured tomorrow on Outside [The Box] link party!