The Chronicles of Home



Living Room Revisited

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If my living room had a theme song it would be, to the tune of The Wheels On the Bus, “The things in the room go round and round, round and round, round and round.  The things in the room go round and round, all through the years.”  I just can’t seem to stop pushing the furniture around.  I think this is the fifth furniture arrangement in five years.

Anyway…here we go, round five!  I wanted to center the arrangement on the fireplace and also bring the couch and two chairs closer together to make for a better conversation area.

Here’s a reminder of how the furniture was situated just last week:

 
And here we are with the furniture pulled together and centered on the fireplace.  Notice my little DIY X benches peeking out behind the coffee table!

The downside is that it makes the room feel a bit smaller.  The upside, for me at least, is that things feel balanced now.  It’s also much better for sitting and talking when we have people over.

I added a few new pillows to the room this fall as well.  Scott claims I have purchased a pillow a week since we moved into the house.  I said to him, “That would mean we had over 450 pillows by now,” to which he replied, “Sounds about right.”  Hilarious.

The blue crewelwork pillow on the couch (above) is from West Elm and the back pillows on the chairs (below), also in crewelwork, were recent Home Goods finds.

I made a little reading nook for Ada and Ellie in the back of the room, to the left of the tan chair, with a vintage toy chest, their book basket, and the two little-person rockers we have.  The green leather one is an exact replica of the chair my upholsterer great-grandfather made for my mom’s first birthday.  My parents had it made for Ada when she turned one.  The patterned rocker was a thrifted chair I pulled apart and reupholstered.

So what do you think?  Better before or better now?  Do you like symmetry in your rooms or do you play by your own rules?  I like the new setup but miss the open space in the center just a bit.

The big dilemma remaining in this room is what to do with the couch, which has a gigantic hole in the leather on the center cushion.  I’ve been toying with the idea of reupholstering it but am a bit overwhelmed at what I think the time commitment would be.  Have any of you ever reupholstered a couch?  Am I nuts to be considering this? 

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Update – I did it!!  You can see the reupholstered sofa here!



Comments

  1. I am a fan of the symmetry! But almost everything has gone by the way side because of my boys’ intent on cracking their heads on furniture in my home (so we maintain more open spaces). How do you keep little hands off of your lovely things? I can’t seem to leave anything accessible, so our home’s look these days is “sparse”.

    • I’ve had some things broken for sure! Mostly my girls know that some things are off limits for playing with. But anything really precious is up high :)

  2. Another serial furniture mover here, so much so that my hubs insists we keep “sliders” under the larger pieces of furniture so that (1) I can do my arranging on my own time without needing him, and (2) I don’t end up with a sore back or other. Have to admit the sliders also take away any excuse for not being able to clean under / behind something. Your version of “wheels on the bus” is a hoot :) I way prefer your current arrangement of furniture cause without comfortable conversation groupings in a living room its just gonna be the tv all the time or simply not used. I too recently pulled my sofa way off the way into the room (about 4 feet) to achieve better balance and conversation and the room feels so much more comfy. Yours too? Robin @ happilyhomeafter.blogspot.com

  3. i love it now- i think it felt maybe a little too spread out before and now it feels like a great cozy room perfect for intimate gatherings of friends and family… it feels much more apt for conversation. :)

  4. I like the open floor space – but then you’ve seen my family room! :)

  5. I like it much better now.

  6. I like the layout now, feels a bit cozier. I also have a pillow (and lamp!) problem! :)

  7. I consider you have created some genuin points with useful information. I must thank you for sharing yours ideas on furniture. Thanks for sharing this interior designs.home furniture india

  8. Jennifer – I love the camel color on your living room walls. Could you tell me the name and brand? I struggle with picking the right color and have spent a small fortune on repainting over and over….

    • Hi Wanda – It’s by Behr and is called Desert Camel (or Desert Sand, but I think it’s Camel). Good luck!

The Chronicles of Home