I've been slowly changing/adding to the living room and it's finally close to being something that I really love.  I've shared the bigger changes, like the new "old" TV stand, the fauzdenza, and of course the purchase of a new rug.  And, I've been changing out things like the pillows, lighting, accessories over the six months or so.

I haven't shared anything in a while so here's how she looks now.



For comparison lets look at what we'll call Phase 1:




Phase 2 was when I changed the pillows out for some bright patterns.


It's kind of ironic, but I ended up bringing back three of the pillows from Phase 1 for this latest update.  I added the super popular Ikea LAPPLJUNG RUTA pillow and a kilim pillow that I found on eBay.  Truth Time: the Ikea pillow is really comfortable and soft, the kilim pillow is really rough and we turn it over or place another pillow on top of it to use.

The linen pillows came from Pier 1 and have a soft velvet on the other side and are really comfortable.  They came with a down insert but I really hate down and the little feathers kept poking through so, I replaced with 2 cheap Ikea inserts each.  They're super stuffed, but we use pillows a lot and they are comfortable to sit/lay on.


I also added a sheep skin rug to the ottoman.  Love them or hate them, I grew up with them in my grandparent's house, my parents house, and now I have them all over.  I used to have the faux ones, but they're just not as soft and seem to get dirty easily.  This is one of Benelli's favorite spots, so they are worth it for us.


I donated the old end tables to my sister and used a store credit to Levin to purchase the round table on the left side of the couch.  I found the gold lamp at Home Goods for $80 and can't believe that I actually left it the first time around because it was a little more than I usually spend on lamps.  It's one of my favorite things in the room now.


The floor basket is from Target and is great for holding blankets.  The box on the table is from Target also, and is from Nate Berkus' line, but only available online, it's really nice construction with a seed bead inlay detail and brass handle.


We use it to hold our TV and Roku remotes, as well as a coaster.  We're still in the habit of eating out here sometimes, so the one coaster works for whoever sits on this side of the couch.


On the other side of the couch is a new set-up as well.


The table was just added last week and is this one from World Market.  The lamp is from Target, which was a really good price and the fiddle leaf fig is from a local nursery.  The basket is from Ikea.

I've wanted a fiddle leaf fig for some time, and over the winter they had one at Home Depot on sale for $10, so I grabbed it.  But, the moment it got home it started to turn brown and lose some of it's leaves.  I think it was the shock of moving it during the super cold temperatures we had.  I had dreams of reviving it, but one day Benelli and Mike killed those dreams as well as the plant when Benelli jumped off of Mike while he was sitting on the couch and landed right on the poor plant.  He took off like 5 leaves, (when there was only about 7 still there), on his way down.  I finally called the time of death then and sat fiddle-less for a couple months until I found this beauty at the nursery for $29.

I water it only when the soil's dry, which is every 1-2 weeks and I open the blinds everyday when I wake up and we close them at night for privacy.  Fingers crossed this one will survive!

Moving further around the room, I updated the chair area, as well as the picture ledges.


I bought a pillow case from Etsy and brought back the white furry one from Pier 1.  I also grabbed the hexagon table, black lamp shade and hexagon lamp from Target.  They weren't exactly bought to be used all together, (even for me that's a lot of gold and hexagons), but two were on sale, and we love a good bee reference.  I had plans to paint the lamp base because I thought the gold from that as well as the inside of the shade might be too much, but I placed them all together and I like it the way it is.

The table worked perfectly in this little nook and the lamp was a good size, so they all went together.  I added a little green and white box from Home Goods which stores more coasters. 


I also bought a pouf!   I didn't tell Mike when I bought it because he's not a fan of the global influenced items that I've been adding, but we've had it for over 8 months now and he actually said he likes it.  He may have said something like, "it's not bad", but in Mike talk that's high praise!  The chair was not a preferred seating choice because it didn't have something to put your feet up on, so I wanted something small that could be set off to the side, or used for extra seating in a pinch.

It also was awesome during the kitchen renovation because it was so small and the living room/dining room/temp kitchen space we had going on was definitely short on space.


I bought it from Amazon and it came pre-stuffed, which I didn't know they sold them any other way.  My only complaint, although it's not really a complaint, is that it looks too "new".  Like, I wish the stuffing was worn down a little.  I guess I could take some out, but I'm too lazy!  I figure it'll just get better the more we use it.

The ledges also got some updating.


I grew tired of the all black and white and began collecting different frames, mostly Target Threshold frames, since they are awesome and such great prices, especially on sale!

I would buy a frame, then replace it on the ledge, and donate/store the old one.  It kind of looks like a hodge podge, but I prefer this look, the "collected over time" look, than what was there previsously.


As always, filling the frames took much longer and I can just now officially call them all complete.  I used a lot of wedding photos, a pic or two taken from magazines or calendars, as well as some wedding presents, including a painting I had commissioned of Mike.

I also added one of my favorite wedding photo booth photos to the TV stand in one of the Target frames I bought almost a year ago.

 
I could say I'm trying to keep continuity and adding little bits of gold all around the room, but the truth is just I like gold!  I haven't really used it in my decorating in the last several years because Mike doesn't like it, but with our relationship growing, and his interest in all the decorating details decreasing, it's safe to bring the gold back!  It also helps that it's trending right now, so there are so many cute gold things out there!

The last part of the room, (yes, we're almost done, thanks for sticking in there!), that got some updates was the fauxdenza.


I replaced the old paint swatch art with this more sophisticated art print, titled 'All The Cool Kids' by the Etsy shop GirlandParrot.


I bought it back in November, but had to wait until the kitchen was done and I found a frame.  The kitchen got done, but I didn't want to wait any longer so I stole a frame from upstairs, (an Ikea one), and used that.  I had originally thought I wanted Mike to make a wooden frame, but I realized that the wood on the fauxdenza might compete.  I'm thinking I might try spray painting the frame gold.  See, it's a sickness!


I also haven't really styled this yet, I just put some things up there for the photos, but I definitely have to add something behind that black and white box, (also from Target), for height. It'd be nice if my orchid would bloom again for some height on the other side, but I'll wait.  The rest will move around until I like it.

Finally, the big item I haven't talked about is the rug.


We've lived with it for a year now and I have to say I still love it!  When we first laid it down, it was really knobby and I thought I made a terrible choice.  It took about a week to get used to.  It's great at hiding dirt, I don't freak out when unannounced guests come over and I haven't vacuumed the rug, (come on, we've all been there).  To be honest, you can't tell the difference whether you just vacuum or not.

The only complaint is the rug does shed a lot, but only underneath.  When I do vacuum, I try to lift up as much as I can to fold over and get underneath.  It would probably be a good idea to move everything off of it and clean underneath a couple times a year, in my opinion.


It's crazy that I was so set on repainting this room because I thought that was the only way I could get it to a point that I liked.  Although, looking back it would have been the cheaper route to go, it still would have been a temporary fix, since a lot of the bigger items just weren't working.

With the kitchen complete, and the dining room coming around, our main floor is somewhere that I really enjoy entertaining, working, relaxing, and generally being in!

And, since this post doesn't have enough photos, (ha!), I'll leave you with some more of our living room!