A Look at the Living Room

These pictures took a while and I have to warn you... there are a LOT of them from every possible angle too haha. I had to wait for the curtains to be ripped apart and resewn in order to take them-- the room looked skanky without them.

If you remember wayyyy back to June when we lived in our old rented townhouse, I had these lovely dotted curtains that my Nana sewed for me 3 years ago from Ikea fabric (they no longer sell it, sorry!).

Well they were basically just 3 panels sewn together since they were originally made to cover sliding glass doors... about 2 apartments ago. I still LOVE these curtains. I looked around for months to see if I liked anything else more (since they ARE getting a bit old), but no, nothing compared to the big happy ikea dots. So I asked my Nana to seam rip them, and somehow make 3 panels into 4 for my two living room windows. So she did, because she's the best ever. 

Anywho, as you walk in the front door, 

Once at the TV, if you turn around and look back at the front door, 

This was SO difficult to arrange. It's basically a square room (17 x 18), and we needed it to do double duty as a living room and a dining room, plus we had to keep a consistent path through to the kitchen. We sort of managed.

The pictures make everything look smaller and more closed in, but there is a large 5 foot gap between the couch and the table and chairs. 

See? And our couches always look wrinkled, I blame the leather. We got both of them for $200 from my aunt when she upgraded. They're 10 year old Sealy down topped couches and they're the comfiest couch you'll ever sit on. I like the camel color of them, it's much better than dark brown leather would be. Plus, they look good from their backs, which was useful in figuring out our layout!

The $4.50 oiled coffee table. I am still on the lookout for a better fitting table, mid century modern is gorgeous but it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the furniture. I'm thinking of turning it into an ottoman too. Tufted!

The walls are crying for stuff to be put on them :) And paint. It needs paint so bad, the walls look OK in these pictures, but in real life they've got all different sheens since we scrubbed them with TSP, and there are patches in the drywall everywhere! It looks crazy. 

That ceiling fan is the devil! We are going to have to do something about the lighting in here now. One ceiling fan won't work for the two different areas of the room.

I dislike the speakers, but that TV has awful muffled sound without them. That's a 42 in. plasma. We got it on craigslist last fall for $300 from an old man who never used it (meaning it has it's full life still). :) It is awesome for playing Black Ops on (hence the xbox hooked up to it). I play Call of Duty with Rob and I rock the G11. Did you know that plasmas are the best for gaming? Plasmas have better black levels, which means the picture quality is crisper with less shadows... just don't leave something paused on the screen for a few days. Newer plasmas don't have such an issue with burn in though. Sorry, I dorked out for a minute there... moving on, 

I want to paint the inside of the door too... Rob thinks I am crazy. It might be alright once the walls are painted though. Don't mind the random bookcase behind the sofa, I'm not sure what to do with that yet. 

There is about 5 ft. between the front door and the back of the sofa. It's actually kinda nice as it's like a little entry area. It looks tight in the pictures, but again, there is loads of room and it looks normal in person. So, there is a path to the kitchen, but you do have to initially walk around the one sofa. 

The table is about the only piece of furniture that did not get bumped or bruised in the 3 month hiatus in storage world.

I want to add a small side board/buffet at the head of the table to store dinner stuff in and to look pretty. 

We also have this giant pile of frames waiting to be painted/art-ified/ hung on walls. When we get the pictures moved, a ficus tree is going to take their place.

The curtains are 3 panels magically turned into 4, they have a 4 inch hem at the top and are clipped up. The bottom hem is about 10 inches. I like them thick and meaty. ;)

Those rods were difficult. They're the not Allen-roth brand from Lowes and I had to saw off some of their length. I was worried there was some metal rod in it since it took ages to saw through it. It's nice to know they use tough wood though. I don't normally shorten rods but I had a 4 ft pole and a 6 foot pole on hand, so I cut off two feet to make them both 4 ft. :) 

And no worries, Franklin the turtle is being moved into the mancave soon. I know his tank is less than lovely.

Do you like his base? I got that for $1 at the Restore! It will look good after it has a makeover :)

Whew that's a long, picture heavy post. Enjoy!