So excited to finally be sharing our living room updates!! This room was soooo dark when we bought this house (hello tan walls and black bookshelf)! This room has no overhead lights and one small window on the farthest side of the room so my main goal was to brighten this whole space up as much as possible, without adding a ton of lamps! Here’s what it looked like before I got started!

First order of business: paint.everything.white! That black bookshelf took seven coats of white paint you guys. SEVEN. But in the end, this room opened up so much with just some paint!

We had some old burgundy couches that my in-laws gave us a few years ago. It was 24 years old so we figured it was time to get some new stuff. All white rooms have a way of feeling clinical/like a sterile environment so I wanted to make sure we added color through furniture, plants, pictures, etc., to tone down the bright white to make the room feel inviting. We got grey furniture and blush pink throw pillows which helped make the room feel more cozy and inviting.

Also styled bookshelves give me life.

This room taught me the importance of mixing old and new pieces. We have an 93 year old house so a straight up modern look wouldn’t work in this space. Our sectional couch is a little more modern, but the arm chairs have an older vibe to them. There’s a big gallery wall (more modern), but also old wooden floors, candle sticks and a radiator. A mixture of old and new!

One of my favorite parts of this room?? The fact that our living room has a closet for all of our games and puzzles. Nothing in the world has ever made me feel more adult than having a “Puzzle and Game Closet”!!!

I’ll link all of the products I used at the bottom of this post!

Lessons Learned:

If you’re going to paint a room bright white, you HAVE TO ADD TEXTURE. Plants, canvas prints, thick frames, throw pillows, blankets. An absolute necessity.

If you’re painting over black paint, do a better job sanding than I did and use a GOOD primer.

Don’t leave your steam mop in one place on wood floors for any length of time. I left ours leaned against the wall in one spot for about 3 minutes and now we have a steam mop shaped area where the wood coloring is completely different.

Products:

White Paint: https://www.lowes.com/pl/Valspar-Signature–Interior-paint-Paints-primers-Paint/4294729373?refinement=4294394145,4294965540

Sleeper Sectional Couch: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79216813/#/S69216757

Arm Chairs + Ottomans: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40361052/#/90359829

Gallery Wall Frames: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80382175/#/80382175

Throw Pillows: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20426356/

Quote Sign: Custom Design from https://www.smallwoodhome.com/