We LOVE this house, don’t get me wrong. It’s big and open and has a fantastic kitchen with a huge walk-in pantry.
The only thing that’s been kind of awkward is the living room/dining room area. It’s basically a long rectangle. On one side, there is a 5 foot wide entrance to the kitchen, and on the other side, there’s the hallway. The living room is carpeted, and the dining room is not.
We like for some manner of flow-age to be able to happen, so when we have dinner parties or game nights, extra chairs can be easily incorporated and everyone can see/talk with/ play games with everyone else, regardless of the room they’re in. Our last house (in Milton, FL) was perfect for this. The kitchen was even part of the action, because it was only separated from the “great room” by a counter/bar, which also offered more seating.
So… this was the first arrangement of our living room. a few feet to the right of the window is the front door. Then, on the wall to the right of this photo, we had the school cubbies/bulletin board, etc (second picture). Then we decided to move the TV console to the area between the window and the front door (flat against the wall). Zora’s crate went in the corner in this photo, with a wicker storage box for more school stuff beside it. That worked well to better utilize the space, but the couch’s position really cut the living room off from the dining room.
So today we sacrificed our coat closet, and moved the couch in front of it.Our TV console went where the school stuff used to be (I love that since we don’t have cable, we have more flexibility in furniture placement.), and the school stuff moved to the area between the window and the front door. This really worked well to allow flow from the living room to the dining room and vice versa. However, because the couch wasn’t visually dividing the living room from the hallway, it looked kinda weird. We decided that a rug would help to better define the living room (and also be prettier than the industrial carpet in our house).
Armed with Bed Bath and Beyond coupons, a list, and paint chips (remember we’re planning on painting too?), we headed to BB&B and Lowe’s. (The crossed out thing on the list is drop cloths… we figured we could just use the tarps we already have.)
The rug is wrinkly though, from being rolled up, so we’re trying to flatten it now with the school table.
Zora is really intrigued by it. It makes the floor soft! She lay on it for a while just enjoying its plushness.
This is where the school stuff used to be. We moved the airplane picture (a T-34 turbomentor) from the dining room to in here… and where it WAS in the dining room, we’re going to put framed pictures of our families in a wall-collagey type thing. That’s what the picture frame set on our list was for. Right now they’re on our island/buffet in mis-matched frames (which has been bugging me), and a lot of the pictures are really outdated. So I sent out an email to lots of family members requesting current photos. It’ll be nice to have the wall-o-photos of people we love, all in matching frames.
And this picture frame is exactly where it was before, but it was all alone before. The wall shelf thingy helps to make it more of a focal point, I think.
Plus I got a yummy spiced pumpkin scented Yankee candle. It was a good excuse to get a new candle, right?
So here’s the room as it is right now (well, we did move the coffee table back in front of the couch). This room is going to be painted the terra-cotta color that was in the paint chips above (the middle shade, not the light one). We’ll paint next weekend! The green color is for the dining room (just 1 wall in the dining room, plus the adjoining wall that points into the kitchen).
Also on the list I posted above was a hook thingy for Zora’s leashes. We found one and put it up near the back door, and hung my new painting above it (which I bought at the art show I meant to write about 2 weeks ago). I wonder what my preschoolers will think of the new setup and the new rug tomorrow! I’m looking forward to their reactions.
It’s exciting to get everything really well positioned and decorated! I am hosting the spouse club meeting in a couple of weeks, then having an Joyful Abode open house the next weekend, and after that is Thanksgiving (where we invite everyone we know so anyone who doesn’t have family coming or isn’t traveling can come and have a family dinner here).
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
[...] week I wrote about how we rearranged the living room furniture to make the space flow a bit better. To remind you, this is the [...]
Everying looks like it’s coming along great! I really like your set up with the photos of you and Topher with the willow figure.
Kim – Thanks so much! Those bright cards are my new favorites too. I’m definitely going to be using them year-round. From your pictures, I wouldn’t know that your house is small… it looks so light and open! I LOVE the way you’ve decorated, too… and Haley’s little kitchen never ceases to amaze me.
Lisa – Thanks!
looks great!!
Ah! I`ve been a bad friend but I just wanted to let u know that I love your new christmas card line, especially the bright set with the white background! How lovely! I am so jealous of your living space. My whole downstairs must be the size of that area, haha, and it most certainly isn’t that open! I can’t wait to see the complete renovation. I like the color you chose a lot. Our bathroom is a very similiar color (which i need to change cause its the size of a closet and makes the space feel extra small) Anyway, in a room as grand as yours i think it will add that extra coziness