Living Room Progress - Part IV

It's been exactly 5 months since my last progress report on the living room and I'm ready to show you what we've done since. It's not much because we've been working on a few other areas of the house as well plus, life gets in the way sometimes. You know?

Here was my to-do list back after the last update:

Short Term: Art above bar, feature above sofa, planter for free
Long Term: Bigger TV, hardwood floors, built-in entertainment unit / bookcases

To recap, this is how the room looked before we moved in:

This is how it looks today:

Art above the bar and planter for the tree can be crossed off the short term list but I still haven't found a feature for above the white sofa. I had planned to try the large mirror we currently have standing in the kitchen but am too lazy to tackle the whole let's-try-hanging-a-gazillion-pounds-on-the-wall project. My other plan to paint a giant canvas has not come to fruition either. Again, that laziness. It got to me.

But...I can also now cross 1.5 items off the long term list which in my opinion trumps my one fail on the short term. You may notice that our TV has grown a bit. It's now a 42 1080P LCD up from a 32 720P LCD. And since we got an amazing deal on it, I don't feel so guilty for skipping ahead on the plans.

Same goes for the bookcases. I eventually want built-in bookcases for this wall but that can't happen until we install hardwood and that can't happen until we magically pull some cash out of....nowhere. So for the time being, I found these for a steal ($30 each!).

Just for fun and because it never gets old (at least for the person trying to show off) here's another photo of the room so far in a Before/After comparison:

I probably won't be working on this room for a while and turning my attention towards the master bedroom and sorely neglected kitchen and office room. But never fear, I do have some plans for this space once I'm back at it:

Short Term:feature above white sofa, pillows for brown sofa
Long Term: new matching sofas, built-in bookcases and perhaps fireplace?, crown moulding, hardwood floors

As you can see, I dreamed big with the long term plans because well, since it's going to really long term, I might as well dream big!

Previous living room posts: Potential Layout | Progress Report: Part I | Progress Report: Part II |

Living Room Progress - Part III

This is part three of the progress report and I suspect it will be a work-in-progress for a while yet so expect progress reports like a never-ending Hollywood franchise. This is post-cleanup because we were having guests over. It's still not magazine-perfect but whatever! It's much better than the before (which no one needs to see).

As a refresher, here's the BEFORE of our living room taken before the previous owner moved out.



Looks just sooo cozy, right? This is what it looks like now...

From the hallway


From the kitchen


From the living room looking out


This is with full sunshine outside. As soon as it's a little overcast, the room becomes quite dark. But I decided to embrace the lack of light and create a cozier place rather than go all white. I find it's difficult to get that picturesque all-white look without help from natural and studio lights anyway.

There's a few short term improvements I'd like to make:

-Art above the bar
-A feature above the sofa (we have a giant mirror that may work)
-A planter for the tree

Long term wishlist (in order)?

-Bigger TV
-Hardwood floors
-Built-in entertainment unit / bookcases

Previous living room posts: Potential Layout | Progress Report: Part I | Progress Report: Part II |

Living Room Progress - Part II - Lights, Curtains, Action!

If you read my living room progress post in mid-January: Living Room Progress - Paint, Layout, To-Buys, you'll know that ceiling lights were on the list of to-buys.

Behold Restoration Hardware's Polyhedron Pendant:



It comes in 3 sizes (small/medium/large) and 2 finishes (steel/wood). The steel version starts at $395 for the smallest size.

Two big problems with that. First, it would cost us $900 after tax for a pair since we have two ceiling lights in the living room. We still have the rest of the house to do. Secondly, our living room is small with standard 8-foot ceilings and cozy medium taupe walls. Even the smallest size at 21.5 inches in diameter would be quite overpowering.

I've seen it since on decor blogs and in magazines and low and behold, Aritzia's "Wilfred" brand sports a coral version in its storefront as well:


image via Google

Homesense was advertising a lighting and rug event on their website recently so Friday after work I asked Cam to drive us to the one in Leaside. I've been to several others in the GTA and have to say this is the best location. It's incredibly organized, spacious, and chock full of great home goods.

This trip did not disappoint. I found a number of mirrors, art prints, vases, and other miscellaneous items. I didn't leave home with any because I ended up finding someone even better. Yes, that's right, I found the polyhedron pendant lights at Homesense!!!

...For $79.99!!

Not $395US. Not $200. Not even $100. BEST FIND EVER!!

And here they are in all their glory:


(Above photo cropped as my husband's intense Gran Turismo 5 game face would've scared you away)

This is the before photo when we visited our house:




The curtains are the "Rivta" from IKEA and the rods are by Levolor, which is available at Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, and a lot of other reno and discount department stores.

Still lots to do but it's coming together!

HomeSense Finds

Cam and I went for a nightstand hunt Saturday. We didn't have much luck at Value Village (where I was hoping for a DIY project!) nor Home Sense. But I did snap these shots of pretty home finds at HomeSense.









And my absolute FAVOURITES below....

I really wish we had hardwood flooring because I am in love with this carpet. Unfortunately, we have carpet and I hate the carpet-on-carpet look.



Those zebra-print chairs with the velvety stripes have been taunting me for the past month! I've seen them in a few stores in blue and hot pink (they look so glam!) for $150 which is not a bad price. Unfortunately, I can't think of a place to put them and really, should I be spending $300 on a pair of chairs when we have a gazillion other must-gets?