Living Room- flooring and Paint

We never really know what to call this room.  It's the room right as you walk in the house.  Sometimes I call it living room- usually just the front room.  We knew when we bought the house that our main living areas we not very big.  This front room really isn't big enough to have two seating areas- you know for when people come over and you only want them to see one clean room.  Nope- I usually have to walk them through to the bigger couch where all the real mess happens.  Matt wants to turn it into a den/man cave with a big tv/love sack/ sectional couch.  I want a sitting room/library/piano room with a cute love seat and a pair of matching chairs in some fun pattern.  So far I think I'm winning this one but the couch is the compromise.

Before we bought the house

I think they had it decorated cuter than I ever will.

 Before- with us living here

We replaced the carpet when we moved in but didn't paint this room. We "inherited" everything in the room until we bought the bookcase and piano.  I joke that the front living room is where our hand-me-down furniture goes to die.  Everyone should put the free stuff they get in their front room.  This coffee table Matt got when he helped someone move.  It was way too big for the room but perfect for playing games/puzzles/trains with the kids.  When we cleaned the carpet I just couldn't bring myself to put it back. You know it's bad when leaving a piece of furniture out of a room makes the room SO much better!  I do miss a spot to keep my magazines and set things but I love the room being more open...

The dirty carpet pictures.  

It would get so dirty by the front door.  I would clean it with carpet cleaner and water but it never stayed clean.

Hmm can you guess where the couch was?  The carpet looked brand new under there so we used it to make a rug.

If you thought that was dirty take a look at the rug from the family room.  The carpet guy says rugs get extra dirty because it's not pulled tight like the wall to wall carpet. 

Ripping it out

After seeing how dirty the carpet was before cleaning Matt ripped it out and the baseboards and did a little scraping prep to save some time/money for the flooring guy.  We still have a few fairly large sections of the newly cleaned carpet if anyone needs some!

Orange Paint Phase

I wanted to have it painted before we put in the new flooring but I couldn't make up my mind that fast.  I went through an orange phase for a few weeks.  I even bought 4 sample cans and painted poster boards! I had it narrowed down to Benjamin Moore Buttered Yam or Firenze or Audubon Russet.   I thought staying in the fall color scheme would make a nice transition. I wanted to make a bold statement.  I read that people get tired of more neutral colors faster than they get tired of bold color choices.   This room in Gilmore Girls inspired the orange phase. I figured it's easier to get a neutral couch at some point and try a fun color on the walls, that's cheaper/easier to change, than the other way around!  In the end I decided the orange wouldn't look good with our current hand-me-down green couch, and who knows when we will get a new one.  It's hard to re-do a room that you know you want new furniture in, but you can't get it yet. It made sense to paint it when we had all the furniture out.  Matt really loved the idea of doing a darker gray and it turned out well.  We did Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray- I had it color matched at Lowe's because I didn't want to shell out the big $ if I decide to change it when I do get new furniture.  Very sophisticated and it still makes a statement.  Don't be surprised if I have some orange walls some day after all that orange paint research.

Gray Paint

It was ridiculous how long it took to get this room painted and the edges touched-up with a nursing baby.  I thought it was never going to be done.  It is SO much harder to get projects done with a new baby and I had my husband and sister to help too! It looks dark at night without the sunlight coming through...

Here's how it looked at Christmas time. The first time we put our tree by the big front window now that we didn't have carpet right there.  We turned the rug this direction to make room for the tree.

Magical!

It's hard to see the paint difference in the bright morning light and with the shadow in the hall but you can see the darker and lighter grays here.

Welcome to our house!  No dingy carpet spot RIGHT by the front door!

We rearranged the furniture/rug after painting and Christmas!

We tried to leave a pathway from the door to the next room but still have a large area of carpet.  I love the wood look around the room!  I probably need to paint that door white until we replace it- painting doors intimidates me.  Want to give me pointers anyone (Alyn)?  We will replace the front door at some point- we have different ideas about what makes a good front door!

We originally planned for this bookcase to go on this wall, but with the baseboards it would hang over a tiny bit.  If we don't put baseboards on this section of wall the bookcase fits perfectly and almost looks built-in.  It's a much better focal point from the front door, uses the space well, and makes me so happy!

We got this piano for Christmas for ourselves and with help from Matt's parents.  We are so thrilled to have a piano again!  I took piano for about 3 years and am basically barely above a beginner, Matt is actually quite good which almost no one knew- even some of my family!  I wish I was skilled enough to at least play at church.  I'm tempted to take lessons again when my kids do- is that weird?  We had a nice digital piano on loan like this in Tucson when we were first married and LOVED it.  It feels and sounds like an acoustic piano without the weight or tuning.  Plus it has cool features like headphones (practice as loud as you want while kids are sleeping, tv/piano in the same room!, painful beginner), you can also record what you play and it has some other sounds/songs you can use.  I read that a house isn't a home until you have a piano.  When Matt is playing it- I believe it- the kids not so much yet!  Charlotte can pound out Mary had a Little Lamb and will start keyboard next year in her Let's Play Music class.

We inherited this couch a few months before we got married.  It is so comfortable for afternoon naps.  It's also a hide-a-bed or a great couch for a guest to sleep but it is falling apart and ripping.  I'd love to get a small love seat and a pair of cute patterned chairs but it's hard to give up my reading/napping spot.

  Now that the Christmas tree is gone and we've decided to not put the broken blinds back up we REALLY need some window covering.  I would love to do indoor shutters like this but in the mean time we want to hang a curtain rod close to the ceiling and have curtains we can close across the whole window at night.  Should we do a double rod and also have a sheer curtain?  I love the open look but it does face the street and I don't like having that much eye contact with my UPS guy while I nurse on the couch.... Curtains are hard.  I'm having the issue between what works right now and what I would like long term with a different couch...

I've been inspired to keep my front room cleaner.  It will look awesome with the baseboards!  I'm really loving the changes!