Do you remember my plan for the living room that I shared last week?
Step 1 was the perfect gray wall color with a bit of green in it – Sage Gray by Behr.
Ready to see how it turned out?
Please keep in mind that you are seeing unfinished work here, but you can get an idea for where I’m going with this room – the furniture placement, lamps, “new” antique buffet as TV console, etc.
How gorgeous is this antique French oak sideboard?! I found it on Craigslist right around my birthday and used that as an excuse to spend a little more than I normally would on a piece of furniture… It was $250, which is a splurge to me considering that I try to keep most purchases under $100. It’s also quite a departure from the mid-century pieces I am usually drawn to, but the gorgeous solid oak with beautiful graining and hand-carved details completely captivated me!
I responded to the posting expecting it to be of “average” sideboard dimensions (you know – 60” long, 30” tall – these are the dimensions I’ve come to generally associate with credenzas, buffets, and long dressers), so you can imagine my surprise when we showed up and it was SO MUCH BIGGER! 38” tall, 88” long and so heavy I couldn’t lift it a fraction of an inch off the ground. Thankfully, the sideboard was still full of the owners’ stuff and once emptied was manageably loaded into the back of our truck. Getting it off the truck and into the house was a completely different story that ended up with a pinched nerve in my shoulder rendering my left arm useless, a huge bruise on my collarbone, and me collapsing on the carpet unable to move a muscle and panting like a thirsty dog for about half an hour.
I simply believe that near death experiences make you love your furniture even more.
This is a good albeit awkward view of the living rom from the staircase. Those burl tables are actually waiting to be photographed for Brynne’s List and are simply place-holders for the perfectly boxy and midcentury-inspired pair of club chairs I’d like to find (and am daily scouring Craigslist for).
Keep in mind that the sofa will have a new base and turned wooden legs to raise it to a normal sofa height.
And a new entry-way light is pretty low on the priority list, but after seeing the above photo I’d love to find one that’s a little more in-scale with the rest of the room!
Haha. That picture is totally Pinterest-worthy, no? With those mismatched lamp shades and careless tangle of cords… These lamps will be getting new shades either in crisp white or covered with the remnant of my favorite floral fabric you see draped over the frame. The vintage Pace (?) glass console table was a $40 Craigslist score. I like that it keeps the “entry way” visually open.
No art has been hung yet except for my mini weavings that I tacked up for their photoshoot. This is the view looking straight in from the front door.
It’s not included in the plans for this room (during the Fall In Love time period), but I’d love to paint the wooden banister black to match the metal spindles and do something interesting on the as-yet-unpainted back staircase wall. Un-carpeting the stairs would be amazing as well, but who can dream that big?
I really love the emerald green with the sage gray – every other gray I tried skewed purple next to the emerald green. This color takes on different hues as lights and shadows hit it and depending on what color it’s next to, but thankfully it never looks purple.
This picture is looking into the currently unfurnished lounge – occupied only by the carved teak bar and some spare furniture (I keep spare coffee tables the way other people keep spare tires: you never know when you’re going to need one!). I still need to find a pair of leather club chairs for in there… Craigslist is being withholding again.
So, what do you think? This new wall color is definitely better than the old “dirty snow”, don’t you think? (Or maybe you can’t even tell because of how gray the walls look in the photo below!)
The direction this room is taking is definitely a new one for me, but since going with my gut instincts with my bold and colorful dining room makeover actually resulted in a room that I still adore, I decided I should go with the flow on this room as well. Sage gray, hot pink, sunflower yellow, emerald green, brass, neutral wood and leather tones… Here’s hoping I can pull it all together!
I have to say that I LOVE being in the room already. The medium gray wall color never feels too dark and I don’t regret my decision to lose the white walls at all. With the addition of the two lamps on the console table behind the sofa, the room’s lighting situation is headed in the right direction as well!
I’m pretty close to solving my two main challenges with the room:
1) A wall color that works in my low-light living room: Done! Check! Bazinga! (Sage Gray by Behr.)
2) Furniture placement: I’m floating a single [comfy] couch in front of the TV and searching for a pair of club chairs to accompany it. This helps to separate the “living” area from the entry way and optimizes our Netflix viewing. Win win.
Well that’s all for today folks! I’ve got a very exciting project in the works right now that I’m excited to unveil! It might be less of a tutorial and more of a “Look! I muddled through and made this!”, but I can’t wait to share it with you, so stay tuned!
UPDATE: see the secret project HERE!
P.S. We aren’t posting on any specific schedule for this Fall In Love series, but here are the other lovely ladies participating so you can check for updates (and enjoy their wonderful blogs)!
A Home Full of Color // Wills Casa // The Chronicles of Home //
The Gathered Home (Hi!) // Boxy Colonial // The Thriftress //
Home + Style Report // Bliss at Home // Eleven Gables //
Dwellings by Devore // Number Fifty Three // Brittany Makes //
Nalle’s House // Newly Woodwards // Go Haus Go
Im loving everything so far! I love the direction the room is taking. Glass console table is perfection, same with the antique buffet table.
Thank you Corinna! I have to say – I love the console table visually, but I'd trade it for the Pace waterfall version in a heartbeat – those sharp edges are deadly! (And I have the thigh bruise to prove it.)
Love the wall color and how the furniture placement is. Those yellow lamps are awesome and I want them
Thank you Julia! I'm glad it's becoming the room I hoped it could be!
oooh i didn't see that coming and i love the new color!!!! that couch gets me every single time.
Yay! I'm full of surprises 🙂 I love the new color too! I'm a color-loving kind of girl, I guess! Rainbows everywhere!
Brynne that wall color is AWESOME and I love the direction this room is going. What a beautiful credenza you found. Totally worth the trouble of getting it home with you. I LOVE your taste in furniture. So awesome!!
Thank you Katja! I agree – it was 100% worth the effort, but my husband swears he will never move it again! Silly man 😉
I recently pinched a nerve- of course not carrying beautiful furniture like you, but I feel your pain girl! I'd say its totally worth that gorgeous piece especially how its much larger than you anticipated! I'm madly in love with that glass console table and can't wait to see how you work those cords into the madness.
The room is turning out lovely and I know you'll pull it all together!
Haha, I agree – no pain, no gain! Um, your guess is as good as mine about the cord situation at the moment, but surely there is an elegant and surprising solution out there somewhere, right?!!
Thank you Trisha! 🙂
Love love love the room color. We have a similar color in our living room and it makes the whole room feel so homey. Also, I really like the oversized cabinet. Definitely a cool visual piece to the room. Love where it's going.
Thank you Ashley! I was trying to put my finger on what I love so much about the color and it does feel very enveloping (in a good way) and homey!
Funny tidbit: I think the green aspect of the gray brings in a very calming element that kind of makes me think of the way old-fashioned mental institutions had soft green walls, but in the best possible way you can associate the two! 😉
It's like xanax on the walls.
The space is coming along nicely!
Thank you so much Anna!
Ooooh, such a pretty color! I like how soothing it is. I really love your new furniture placement! I'm so jealous of all your Craigslist scores. I've pretty much given up on our Craigslist 🙁
Thank you so much Caitlin! With this new furniture arrangement, I feel like I have to relearn how to photograph the room, so I think it looks even better in person than I was able to capture in pictures 🙂
I will wish good Craigslist mojo for you! 😉
That color looks super pretty! It ties everything together so nicely! Loving the progress so far!! I need to get on it, so we can go shop for accessories.
Thank you Amber! Yay – can't wait for our accessory-shopping-extravaganza 🙂
Love the color! I think you kind of buried the lede, though, saving comparing it to the walls of a mental hospital for the comment section 😉
Shh, Gretchen – it didn't come to me until I was replying to that comment! I can't be brilliant all the time! 😉
Wow! It's looking like a different room already – what a difference a little furniture and wall color can do. I really dig the wall color and the television hutch is GORG.
Thanks Kim! It really does feel like a different space now. And I swear that hutch inspires me daily to be a better person. A+, would purchase again. 😉
It's looking good that's for sure…can't wait to see what's next…Deffo agree with you on the stair carpet. IMO it's too shaggy, I totes think a bold runner or some leopard will look slick!
E.