Is it ok that finally updating our living room makes me feel like a true adult?!?!?
I have dreamed for so long about a new, clean, and beautiful couch for our living room space. You see, through marriage, we inherited my mother & father in law's old couch. Please do not think I am complaining. We couldn't afford a new couch when we got married so we were super grateful for the "hand me downs". I also must mention, that couch was the most comfortable couch I have ever had! I had many good nights sleep on that old thing {It was 25 years old when we gave it away a few weeks ago}!
I seriously started this idea with just buying a new couch. Which Stephen and I budgeted for so he was totally cool with me picking out whatever I wanted. I went to every furniture store in my area here in LA and even looked online. I ended up choosing our couch from Bob's Discount Furniture. Our living room is a large great room so I had been looking for a large sectional, one that would seat at least 5-7 people. We have a big family and we love to host so it was important for us to have a couch that could accommodate that. I'm so happy with our purchase!
My mother in law, Lynn, could not believe I chose a light colored sofa with a dog and young children! Ha! I did purchase a 5 year warranty though which includes cleaning and fixing anything & everything for the next 5 years. Plus, in reality, we live like this:
Once the couch was purchased, I kind of went wild. Hahahaha! I had this vision for the space that I really wanted to create! I have this love/hate relationship with Instagram, but this is a time when I loved it! I pretty much got all of my inspiration from looking at home decor through the social media app!
First up was a rug. We have really beautiful hardwood floors throughout the home. With that being said, I wanted a beautiful rug to compliment the new couch! I partnered with Rugs USA to choose the perfect rug for this space. I ended up going with the Oval Florid Dreams Rug in Peach, size 8 x 10. I love how the colors in the rug really pop! I also wanted some different shades so I could add cute throw pillows! Click on the photo to check out more rugs from Rugs USA.
As for the ottoman, I teamed up with Minda Living for these gorgeous pieces! Remember how I said I used Instagram for inspo? While searching for poufs to pair with our couch, I came across Minda Living on the app because they had such stunning living area photos on their Instagram page. What I love most about them is that they sell sustainable sourced materials for Home + Apparel. I chose a Long and two Rounds made with natural leather in the color "Earth" for our living room. I didn't want a traditional table in the space because I don't want anyone eating or drinking on the new couch. Ha! Call me crazy. Anyway, these were super easy to stuff with the fill. They have a convenient zipper on the bottom to easily open and stuff away. You can click on the photos below to learn more about Minda Living & the products they offer.
As far as the smaller details for the living room, I chose the gold floor lamp from a local furniture store, I added some framed 11 x14 photos from a photographer named Leah Ingersoll (She shot these photos last year & I feel like they capture who we are as a family perfectly), the frames are from Michaels, I picked up my throw pillows from HomeGoods, and the ceiling fan & window shades came from Lowe's. I chose the largest ceiling fan that Lowe's sells because our room is so big and we have at least a 20ft vaulted ceiling in our living room area. Thanks for all your help on Instagram with window coverings. Most of you suggested shades and I love them! They definitely help to keep it cooler in our home, especially during these 100+ temp days lately.
Since the space is so large, I decided to use the front portion of the home as a "learning area" for the kids because we are still doing 100% distance learning here in LA. I found it so difficult to be organized as well as keep Addison focused doing her school work while sitting at our kitchen table. I'm sure lots of Mama's out there can relate. So, back to Instagram...I began searching for kids desks and stumbled upon Work from Home Desks. They sell adult desks as well as kids desks. These desks are simple & require absolutely no tools to assemble. They shipped us two Kids at Home Desks with stools in the color Blonde. I love these the most because they have four height settings to suit ages 5-10 so these desks will grow with Addison and Austin over these coming years! They also come apart and lay flat for easy storage underneath a bed or in a closet. You can click the photos below to see more desks on their site.
I really wanted this to be their space and an area that they love. My sweet friend, Kaitlin Wilson, ordered some cute photos for her girls' room and when I asked her where she got them, she said Mixtiles. She said they were super easy to order and even easier to stick to the wall. So, I bought 10 tiles, all of which were photos of the kids with their cousins and friends. Addison loves telling her tutor who everyone is in the photos while she's taking a break from school work.
I wanted something to hang on the wall so that Addison and Austin could practice writing and math problems while doing their school work. I did not want the traditional "chalk board" or dry erase board. So, I went on to Etsy and ordered a Wall-mounted Butcher Paper Roller. I bought the largest I could find which is 24 inches in width. I love how it adds character to their learning area! And a big shout out to my friend, Kaitlin Wilson, for the cute detailed writing for their teacher, Mrs. Stag!
As for some of the smaller details in this space, I added our chalk boards from Chalk Full of Design (be on the look out on my Instagram page as we are doing a giveaway this week), gold shelving that I bought from Target, the standing basket for their books I found at Marshalls, & the adorable unicorn horn crayons from Art 2 The Extreme were from Addison's 5th birthday party.
I truly love how our living room turned out! I would not describe myself as having an eye for design, but I think I did pretty good!! I love all the colors, the new couch, and the kids learning area! And to think, this all started on a whim...thinking I was only purchasing a new couch. I guess I'll be adding Interior Designer to my resume. Thank you to my talented friend, Lily Ro Hernandez, for these beautiful photos.
What do you guys think?
Xoxo,
DeAnna {Interior Designer}
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