Apartment Living Room

The Living Room

We’ve graduated from silk flowers to fresh ones! These make such a difference in this room. Plants, herbs, and flowers are my favorite way to bring the happiness from outside in. 

Also, couch slipcovers do wonders when you have young children that tend to spit up and get everything everywhere—including plant soil. This slipcover has lasted us for years and just gets tossed in the wash with bleach, and it’s ready for another round of family life. I put mine on our couch right after it comes out of the dryer and fit it tightly to get all the wrinkles out, and it keeps it looking great. 

When deciding what to put above our couch, for almost a year I kept coming back to a large vintage sailboat print I saw in a Pottery Barn catalog. I wanted something to fill the space and serve as a focal point. The size was bold, the tones were classic, and I was convinced the white frame would be perfect. After reviews said the price was outrageous for what you get, it became my DIY project. If this DI thrift store frame were more hideous or pepto-bismol pink, I might have missed that it was the right size, already matted, and the glass was in great condition! This is the magical result of spray-painting. I found a perfect alternative large vintage photograph of a sailboat on Zazzle. This DIY saved us over $350.

The hubs was skeptical when he learned that the throw pillows would be mismatched (with no pairs) on purpose. I told him it’s because we like things that go together without being the same… I chose all the prints and even made some because pillows are awesome beginner’s sewing projects! The goal was to bring some color, pattern, and texture to an otherwise blank canvas of a couch—while also keeping it comfortable and not overrun with pillows.

In baby-proofing our living room, we decided we needed to replace our coffee table because Lily would start walking and furniture cruising. We were really tired of getting bumped and bruised by our coffee table’s corners and dreaded the potential hazards it would cause an active baby. I researched options that were round (no corners or edges), would serve as extra seating and a tabletop, provided storage, and supported our tired feet at couch level. It was a long list of requirements, but it paid off because we found the perfect match in these Safavieh tufted ottomans. We started out with one, but Jeremy decided it was awesome enough that we needed a matching pair. It turned out to be a super smart investment because they are both adorable, functional, and safe. One houses all of our electronic stuff like video camera, photo camera, cords, and sewing material. The other stores Lily’s toys, diapers, and changing station stuff.

I’m a firm believer that a rug completes a room, especially in an apartment where the floor is covered with generic old carpet in a much darker shade than we would have chosen. With such neutral colors in every piece of furniture we have, I decided to go bold on the rug. I obsessed for months over that gorgeous West Elm rug that had a Moroccan flair and cheery disposition until it finally went on sale and I felt okay with splurging to make our living room complete. The citrus hue breathed life into our muted color palette and brought a festive pattern I could tie into the pillows. It truly made a huge difference in our home because Lily could crawl to her heart’s content without scratching her little knees.

Yes, our television is awesome—and seriously outdated. But it was free (and works for our needs)! Since we only have one window in this room, I wanted to maximize the light. I decided that one major thing we needed was curtains! To maintain our privacy but still allow light to filter in, we chose sheer white curtains (Walmart) and hung them really high near the ceiling to make the room visually larger. This Ikea coffee table is still being used as a console with open storage and a tabletop for our dated television and some plants.

Sheer Curtains: Walmart

The Reading Corner

I found the perfect club chair in a color that suited him. I attempted to get him to like a round white side table that matched the height of the couch so he could store some books and accessories in it, but he opted for a taller traditional piece in an espresso finish with a drawer and shelf (pictured next to the couch). Turns out it matched the chair’s legs perfectly! 

The Dresser

Fell in love with the details on this dresser while putting together our daughter’s nursery. Beading, scalloped edges, legs, color, and beach cottage vibes… Alas, at $300 it was out of our budget. After weeks of coming back to it, the listing finally disappeared and resurfaced on KSL (stuff usually goes fast), so the hubs and I bought it from a nice painter who had refinished it in this baby blue color and even gave us a $100 discount. It now lives in the corner of our living room and does double-duty as an entry table. So cute for an extremely functional piece we can use for many years to come! The vintage window was free from his job replacing windows, and was his gift to me for our first anniversary with the intent that we’d put a large print from our wedding day behind it.

Love our edited library collection. This started as just our daughter’s books, and now also holds books we read together for Family Home Evening. All were gifts or on sale.

Mirror: TJ Maxx
Dresser: Stanley Furniture, KSL
Reversible Table Runner: Bed Bath & Beyond
Resin Coral: Z-Gallerie, Craigslist
Collage frame: JoAnn’s fabric