Living Room

Our living room has gone through many changes over the past two years - mainly because we had a cat that peed on every piece of furniture we owned! We went through a few couches and love seats... and finally, after purchasing really nice "sectionals" (or whatever the heck they are) - at a yard sale, of course - I covered them in plastic when we weren't using them. Cleaning little yellow puddles of cat pee in the plastic was getting really old... so we eventually had to give the cat away; so no more plastic furniture!

I don't have very good "BEFORE" pictures of the living room, as it was just a bare room to begin with. So here's a look:



______________________________________________


AFTER PICTURES! Now, here are some pictures of what it looks like now!

1) We lightened and brightened the walls - with a bright yellow... that I didn't like at first. In fact, I almost cried because it was not exactly what I had envisioned. I'm still not completely happy with it (even though it's yellow, and yellow is supposed to make people happy). It looked good in the daylight- but once florescent light hit the walls- it turned into a harsh yellow. I recently changed the bulbs and am now using "natural / daylight" type of bulbs - and that really made a huge difference. I actually don't mind it anymore.

This picture is a bit crooked; i was trying to get as far back as possible and had to put the camera over my head...


2) Pictures: There are nine 8x10 pictures hung on the far wall. I found the frames at Wal-Mart for $1.00 each. We had recently toured on Europe and because it had such a huge impact on us, I decided to implement the trip into our home. A few pictures were taken in Ireland, one of Westminster Abbey, one of the London Eye, one of the train station in Amsterdam, one of a guy on the street in Dublin...

3) On the wall to the left of the television: For the longest time I didn't know what to do with the space. I had some picture frames, but they didn't seem to work for me. So I decided I could just find some material - and create my own piece. I found some material on sale at JoAnne's -- and bought some canvas/frames at Hobby Lobby. (With the canvas frames -- you can create your own sizes!) I think my total cost was about $15 for the project - and that includes the new stapler I bought to staple the material to the frame.

4) Plants on my TV -- they died. But they looked really cool when they were watered. (.99 a piece at Wal-Mart)

5) Couch / seats -- I bought these at an Estate sale last summer- and LOVE them. They are so comfortable! The living room is very long and narrow; i think it's a very hard room to work with, especially with 2 sliding glass doors taking up a whole side wall. These sectionals are PERFECT for this room. I can arrange and re-arrange to my little hearts desire!



6) Curtains: These are also homemade! I found some basice white lining material- for $1.00/yard - and sewed 4 panels. The curtain rod is from Big Lots (about $5 each) - and then i found rings with clips- to hang the material. Very simple and easy to make. I'm required to have white curtains on the outside- according to home owners association rules. But I wanted to add a bit of color inside. After quite a few months, I finally found exactly what I was looking for. I hit a sale at Hobby Lobby- and they had some shear green material- that acutally worked.

7) Armoir - Dave & I found this at one of our first yard sales when we first moved to Nashville. The lady who sold it to us was moving, and didn't want to take it with her (it is H-E-A-V-Y!) -- She originally paid over $850 for it -- and sold it to us for $75! And one of my favorite pieces we own.

8) I almost forgot to mention - the new floors we put in! (Yes- Dave & I bought it through a company we found on e-bay - and installed it completely by ourselves!)

9) Book shelves (on either side of the armoir) - Another yard sale item! - They were $15 for both. I stained them to match the armoir. They still need a coat of gloss...