Extreme Makeover: Living Room Edition

About three weeks ago, Rob and I decided to redesign the living room to a more feng shui environment; a room where we could congregate with friends, relax, and actually live. At least that's what I wanted, so fast forward to tonight and the room is pretty much complete, except for a few odds and ends (ie. art to hang and more collectibles to showcase on our new twin bookcases). 

BEFORE

Firstly, here are some "before" photos of the living room. Notice how the living room and dining room are one conjoined room, but it was originally designed with the sofa dividing these two spaces. The gigantic entertainment center drew your eye immediately. It was much too large for the small space provided for a living room, but a great, solid wood piece that we eventually moved upstairs into the man cave. Originally, the soaring walls were an unpainted, bland white, but I didn't have photos before we started painting the fireplace. Everything else was pretty unremarkable: a couch that ate you when you sat down, a tan and red rug you couldn't vacuum (or the threads would pull), a brown leather recliner, some decorative red pillows, and a walnut colored coffee table and end table.

I'm standing in the dining room looking into the living room. The front door is to the left of the entertainment center.

View of the fireplace, the sofa, and the decorative red accents

The gi-normous entertainment center, a view of the front door, and the entryway table

The gas fireplace and hanging art

AFTER

Firstly, we painted the walls "Toasted Cashew" from Home Depot. This created more of a difference than I ever could have imagined. Second, no one even knew we had a huge window behind the gargantuan entertainment set!! This lets in a huge amount of light, which is much-needed in a middle condo unit. We also mounted the 50" Samsung flat screen TV above the fireplace to better utilize the space. Then, we bought a new taupe colored sofa and love seat (courtesy of American Signature) along with two matching espresso colored bookcases. I purchased a snazzy area rug (courtesy of Overstock.com), and decorative pillows and curtains (courtesy of Walmart). Rob purchased an espresso colored coffee table with two end tables, and a beautiful mantle to mount above the fireplace. And the end result....VIOLA!!!!

The gorgeous new living room!

Sofa/love seat, and a view of the front door.

Mounted TV and twin bookcases flanking the fireplace. We still need to register for some canvases to hang.

Aerial view of the room up to the edge of the dining room

Brown/Blue curtain panels

The brown leather recliner, bookshelf, and collectibles

My beautiful area rug :)

The view!

I decided to go with a neutral earth tone palate utilizing the browns and blues and every shade in between. I really love everything about the room now, and spend so much more time in it. The carpet is also being replaced throughout the entire condo in a couple weeks. More changes, more to love :) So, what do you think? Feel free to share!

Valentine's Day and What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope everyone felt some kind of love yesterday, cause I sure did. Here's what I'm loving on Valentine's Day and this Wednesday.

I'm loving these awesome flip flops Rob got me from the Island Slipper. When Rob and I were in Grand Cayman we found these Hawaiian flip flops, but decided to order them directly from the website. And it's a good thing we did, as it was much cheaper. They're made of a washable Ultrasuede material with a memory foam-like insole, so it's also super comfortable and contoured to your foot.

I loved having my diamond studs upgraded to big, beautiful, and FABULOUS. I wear my studs almost everyday, so definitely a nice Valentine's Day present that will get plenty of use.

I'm also loving the new furniture Rob and I just purchased at American Signature (aka Value City Furniture. Does anyone even like their new store title? I sure don't). We are completely redoing the living room (before and after pictures to come soon!) by adding new paint, new furniture, new accessories, new window treatments, and a new layout design. We are also redesigning the spare bedroom and the man cave/office/work-out room upstairs. Stay tuned for updates and photos! In the meantime, check out our first purchase together as a couple!

Gorgeous couch and love seat in taupe

And we ordered two of these modern bookshelves to flank the fireplace. Super chic, sophisticated, and snazzy!

I'm loving this new Garmin GPS watch my boss found in the woods and decided to give to me. It can calculate the distance traveled and route taken by GPS, and also monitor your heart rate. Pretty spiffy and FREE!



Kinda big, but I asked for one for Christmas and didn't get it. So, this is just PERFECT!

Lastly, I'm very much loving and looking forward to tonight's V-Day dinner celebration at the Melting Pot. It's one of Rob and my's favorite restaurants and I've been eating light all day so I can go crazy on the garlic cheddar cheese fondue :D YUM!

I love Valentine's Day!!

What are you loving this Wednesday?