I’m good at a lot of things. I’m organized, I cook yummy meals, I blog, obviously.
But I’m a big fat failure at some things. For one…
Decorating.
I already showed you the horrifying pictures of my son’s room. Which is on the (extremely slow) path to improvement. But my skills are seriously lacking, and the house is crying out for help. It won’t bother me until once a month (hmm…about the same time every month…suspicious…). During this time, I throw a fit to my husband that sounds something like this:
me: Todd, this is horrible. We have to do something about this house.
Todd (laughing): What’s wrong with our house?
Me: It’s horrible. It looks awful. I hate it.
Todd: It’s a little messy. We could have it clean in 30 minutes.
Me: No, not that. Look all over. There’s nothing on the walls. I hate this bookshelf. This paint is horrible. We are going to Lowe’s right now to get primer. Do we really need primer? Let’s just paint it. Right now. Where are the keys?
And then I remember. Oh, wait…We budgeted $50 for home decor. For the year. And we spent it. On air filters.
And then I also remember. Oh, wait. I actually have no clue what to do. And I start perspiring and feeling tense inside, and then I eat some chocolate, and the house stays like it is. Sigh.
But today the solution dawned on me. You guys are geniuses in decorating, I bet! I’ll ask you!!! But I guess first I have to show you…Here goes.
This is the world’s ugliest shelf in the world’s most undecorated room. The shelf is cleverly decorated with books no one has read since 1998, and toys that are dumped out into a ginormous pile every eight days.
This is what you see when you enter my house from the garage, which everyone does. As you can see, the view of the back of the couch is extremely welcoming. So is the plopped pile of shoes and bags. Could I be crying out any louder for a entry bench from Pottery Barn???
These are the monkeys I live with (minus one). They sure are cute, but why do I feel like no one takes me seriously?!?
Just another view of the ultra-decorated living room. And yes, that is a piano. And why yes, it sort of doubles as a TV stand. That makes perfect sense. Obviously.
This is a view of a favorite toy, the Dress-Up Box. It’s hidden-but-not-really behind a chair and the outfits are NEVER in the box. So obviously, it adds a lot to the overall calming ambiance of the room.
Here’s a wall. Cleverly decorated with…nothing.
Oh, this is another wall. Still nothing. Except two hooks that I hung in the wrong spot.
More ugly, blank wall. Good thing Sam made these two smoke detectors to liven up the place.
So what exactly do I need help with? Oh, besides everything, here’s my goal:
- Find a paint color that makes the house look warm, bright, and happy. A whitish neutral, I think?
- Rearrange the furniture. Do I remove the shelves? Where do I put the toys? How do I make the arrangement more welcoming?
- Figure out what to put on the walls to make it feel more like a home, less like a dorm room. That someone forgot to put up posters in.
- Basically make the room warm and inviting. I spent 18 waking hours staring at this space. Darn it, I should like it more.
- Do this all on a negative $50 budget.
I know it’s hard to get the whole feel with a few pictures, but you super-decorators, when you look at these pictures, what is obvious? What am I missing? Help. Me. Now!!!!
oh, and ps. there is a prize. For everyone who comments, I’ll put your name in a hat to win a prize. I promise it will not be one of those books on the shelf that no one has read since 1998.
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Can’t help with the non-existant budget, but here is what I would go for:
I would go for a bright sunny yellow (not too dark though, fairly light) on the walls, probably with a strip of white along the top and bottom. Or in the middle. Or something.
I would say adios to the carpet, it is mismatched with the armchair and very un-calming for a room. It makes it very busy= messy. A uni-coloured floor would look more calm and as you seem to have wood that is warm and goes well with the yellow walls.
Can the bookshelf be painted?White? Anything? Within the budget?
I would say in itself it is not a bad shelf. It would look better if you take the back off and stand it against a coloured wall, plus paint it white. Maybe you need to think of the improvement of this room as a project in stages. And do a bit each year as your budget allows.
The cheapest art projects can be found on pinterest. Covering cardboard rectangles or squares in pretty fabric or even gift wrapping paper and hanging them on a wall is popular as basic wall decorating goes. Or if you are the family photo type, make a family photo collage on a black or white background and hang it in a large old frame (yard sales?). Or you can of course always choose to hang your kids artwork in frames. Or make a family tree out of colourful paper, and add family photos to the branches.
As for the furniture, that tv bugs me as otherwise you could move the shelf or sofa there….as it is your only option to get rid of the back of the sofa is to try and get bookshelf and sofa next to each other on the right wall…if that works. Hard to tell via pictures. You could then use the dresser as an entryway table, and put the armchair on the other side of the fireplace.
I love this stuff! Do you want to keep the current decor/style? I would classify my personal style as Scandi Chic. You can google it. haha That said, I would (eventually) white wash the brick on the fireplace, swap out the pulls on the little dresser to its left, paint the large bookshelf a white-ish, and buy a few inexpensive natural baskets for the toys on it. Purge the books, keeping your favorites. I’d slipcover the chair – maybe find a girlfriend who loves to sew and make a project/coffee date out of it! If you could find a nutrual pinstripe that incorporates the green from the couch, but is mostly white, that may be pretty! Make easy pillow covers for what you already have on the couch. Find a piece of art you love (possibly shop from your own house – is there something somewhere else that deserves to be a focal point in there?) Or make your own…pinterest is awesome for that! We have really cheap Ikea curtains (white sheer that are about $15 a set, I think). You can stencil them to resemble expensive West Elm ones… I’ll get back to you on wall color, b/c my favorite is Serena & Lily’s ‘Rain’, but I’m not sure how it’d look w/the couch. Gonna go hunting! Thanks for sharing your space – I should really be getting a shower, but this is more fun… 🙂
I am no expert but I think you can definitely do a lot with what you have. Changing the room color, painting the bookshelf?(although I don’t think it is bad at all) and re-arranging the furniture will help a lot. Craigslist Craigslist Craigslist!!!! I have found some really nice pieces for our house simply by checking CL for a couple of weeks until I find something. It saves a ton of money and I don’t have to worry if the kids draw crayon all over my $100 PB coffee table that would have normally cost be $600! I would go with a different rug for sure and those can be expensive….but Target has some really cute ones these days for a fraction of the price! I would love to come over and try to help anyway I can…and totally wouldn’t be offended if you hate my ideas. Either way-good luck…and your house is super cute!
🙂 Just a note to say that it looks super welcoming to me. 🙂 I love your bookshelf! I have always heard to just stick with 3 colors- 2 main ones & then a “pop” . I think its like 50% first color, 40 % second color & 10% third color or something like that & you should carry it throughout the house. Ours is light (ocean) blue & beige with white & beige. Neutral, but I love beachy things, so our house is all ‘beachy’ 🙂 LOL.
Ps- playdate soon? Allie is sick this week, so maybe in like a week or 2?
I don’t have any advice because my living room looks exactly like yours!
I think your living room has lots of potential. A few thoughts that came to mind when looking at the pictures…
1. Replace the rug. I think a neutral would simplify the colors and patterns in the room and lighten things up a bit. We bought our 8 by 10 rug at Lowes for around $150 and it has held up very well!
2. I would ditch the plants above the bookshelf. I think it just makes it look a little more cluttered when the bookshelf already has so much going on.
3. I’d look at white curtains for Ikea. They are cheap, washable and would lighten up the room. I’d hang them up higher because that’s what Pinterest says these days 🙂
4. the mantel. I think a big clock or picture hanging above the fireplace would look good. if you got something bigger and bolder you could declutter the top of the mantel as well. i love painted brick, maybe look on pinterest for that?
5. i love the idea of baskets for the bookshelves.
6. white frames from ikea with matting and black and white pictures for the wall.
those are my ideas. we all know mine needs help too! good luck…we’ve lived in our house 4 years and it looks practically the same as when we moved in. SO ready for a change and more pops of color.
With the budget you have, I would do this in phases. Start with the larger pieces like painting the bookshelf the same color as the coffee table and covering the chair/ottoman. The rug would probably be fine if it weren’t competing with other patterns. Maybe choose a color in the rug (maybe the light blue) to use as a wall color or accent pillows. Is your couch brown or green? That may depend on the color you choose to match the rug. I have a fabric staple gun if you need to use it to temporarily cover the chair/ottoman (sheet/comforter from Goodwill) and also could sew you some envelope pillow covers. As for the walls I have a pallet that you could turn into something if you want it and also you could find different style frames at Goodwill to paint and make a family picture wall. A large mirror would look great above the mantel. Moving furniture around can also make a difference. I would probably use the table with drawers that is by the window under the tv instead of the piano, but then you have to find another place for the piano. I am all for finding deals and cheap projects on pinterest so let me know if you want me to help. Of course this all depends too on what your style is.
I really like the fireplace brick color/wall color/curtains/and rug.
I think if you toned down the chair with a plain slipcover that would help.
You could paint the bookshelf to match the coffee table, but I don’t think it would be necessary and might be overly dark.
Would the dresser work as a console table behind the couch as a place to put hats/mittens/keys etc. when you come in from the garage? That would break up the view of the back of the couch.
I have found that it can be hard to work around a fireplace and big windows, but I love them =)
we should do a photo shoot and you should hang a large family photo over the fireplace!! (and not spend too much on it so that you can replace it/update it every couple of years without guilt.