When we first took possession of our little duplex, back in the fall of 2009, it looked something like this -
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| Living Room - Before |
I knew that the room was really a blank slate. The old carpet needed to go, but with new paint, baseboards and a fresh coat of paint - I knew we could do a lot with this room!
This picture was taken a few months after we moved in. We still had some things to finish off, but like I said - we move a little slow around here. But that's okay, I enjoy the process as much as the final result. I had just put up the new curtains, and I remember thinking it made such a difference in how the room felt! At the time, I was aiming for a "modern glam" feel.
The sofa you see here was from JYSK, which is the closest thing we have to an IKEA in this town! Not nearly as big as IKEA, but you can still find some good things from time to time. This couch was 300$, and it lasted us over five years, when I sold it online for 70$! The couch would also fold down into a double bed, so that was awesome for guests.
The curtains are from Rona, and the rod is from JYSK.
The two slipper chairs were garage sale finds that I re-upholstered, and painted the legs. I think the pillows on the chairs were from JYSK as well, 5$ each if I remember right.
The pillows on the couch are from Homesense(loooooove that store!!!), so are the lamps. The coffee table was actually something my dad built in shop class when he was in High School, back in the late 60's. I painted it black. The side tables are from Superstore - I think they were 50$ each. When my husband and I were first married, they were one of the first things we bought together, and we still have them today, almost nine years later.
The art above the couch is by moi. Just some very cheap canvases (10$ each from XS Cargo) and some leftover wall paint, that I mixed with black or white to make several different shades of grey. Then I just schmooshed(technical term) it around until I liked it.
The walls are painted Whiter Shade, by CIL.
This picture was taken in February of 2011, and not a whole lot changed in that time! Different lamps, the bases were on sale at Walmart, I think 10$ each. The shades are from Homesense, 14$ each. The grey slipper chairs, which you see here I sometimes push together to make a mini slipper sofa, are from Homesense, 150$ each. The silver floor lamp is from Homesense, and I switched out the shade on that too and added some ribbon trim. And yes - my love for Homesense runs deep and strong! Oh, we had also added the track lighting, you can kind of see a glimpse of it here.
Here is what our living room looks like today, in 2014. A few tweaks have been made. The baseboards and trim are finally finished, yay us! I painted the front door glossy black. Our rug is from Homesense.
Our media console is an old dresser I bought for 20$ locally and removed the top drawers to make little shelves. The finish was laminate, so I used a strong primer, leftover white paint from our kitchen cabinets, and followed that up with a coat of polycrylic. I spray painted the hardware oil rubbed bronze and she was done! Should have taken a before pic... wasn't thinking on that one! The gallery wall deserves it's own post, so I'll talk about that one later!
While we loved the look of our old JYSK couch, it wasn't very comfortable, especially after five years of use! So we picked up the IKEA Ektorp sofa on one of our trips. It wasn't such a pleasant ride driving home with that large box in the back of our SUV for 8 long hours, but we survived! I chose the white slipcover because I'm in love with white sofas, and I thought it would be super simple to throw the cover in the wash. The jury is still out on whether or not it's exactly "simple" to wash, but I do love the look.
The artwork is a canvas from Homesense (no big surprise there), and I love it! It was love at fist sight, but "Silver" (that's what we've named him) was a little pricey for my taste. I kept checking to see if he would go on sale, but no go. Finally after talking about him for a few months, my husband surprised me one day by bringing him home with him after work one day! I know, my husband is super sweet:)
The lamps have changed again, the bases are from Homesense, and I've played lampshade switcheroo again. The throw pillows are from Homesense as well... wow, I really should branch out and shop at some other stores;)
So there is a little before and after tour of our little living room! It feels good to actually take a look back and see what it looked like to begin with - it reminds me of how much we've accomplished! I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our home.
I'll be back with some more before and after pictures, next up - the dining room.
Kari
