I took a few minutes to photograph our living room to show you a before and after of the space. We’ve lived in our home for just over four years and we are slowly renovating. It’s all a process and nothing happens as quick as you think it will — even if you do this full time!

Here’s a photo from when we went to look at the house before we bought it.

And here’s the after, four years later.

What you don’t see is the giant mess behind the couch. The couch is hiding all of the stuff that was stored in our laundry room that has yet to be sorted (ordered baskets and waiting for those to arrive!). There’s also a kids table, a play kitchen just outside the frame to the right, and tons of baskets filled with dress up clothes, art supplies, and toys galore. I haven’t yet come up with a good storage solution that isn’t a temporary fix. So I need to think about it a little more and figure out what will work for us.

So what have we done in this space?

• Painted the walls and ceilings Dunn Edwards Droplets
• Painted the trim Dunn Edwards White
• Replaced the flooring with Aqua Guard water-resistant laminate in Gogh
• Replaced the baseboards with a 5.25″ minimal profile
• Added wooden bamboo roman shades and curtains

That’s all you can see in this picture. The other angle is our built-in shelves and cabinets and a new fireplace profile/frame. We’ll show you that angle next.

The most recent additions to this room are the rug and the newly-painted hutch that I picked up and refinished. I almost sold the piece (actually, I tried to!) but I’m so glad I didn’t. The black makes all the difference.

The rug also brings the entire space together with the color palette. Previously we had a gorgeous vintage rug but it was more pink-toned and didn’t really fit the space that well, even though it was a good pop of color. The rug has a really great pattern and looks worn/vintage, even though it’s just a print. I’m super happy with it.

I still want to add a leather ottoman/coffee table to make it a little more cozy and safe for kids. I have my eye on a coffee table, but think the softer surface will be better all around for a few more years yet. And maybe swap out some of the textiles and pillows (looking for an olive/dark green cover).

Sources: couch, pillows, rug, side stool, faux branches, fiddle leaf tree, curtains, bamboo shades