Living Room Reveal Part 2… Finally!

First Up, Soz For The Delay

This post feels like it has been a long time coming. Probably because it has. Yes, after weeks of me saying ‘next week’ the Living room reveal has arrived. I hope you think it was worth the wait! Eek!

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a few little snippets over the last week or so. Although these pics may have looked lovely, behind the camera, the room was a bloody midden. The reason the living room reveal has taken so long is that I decided to change a few areas that weren’t quite working for me. Of course, when you do that, it tends to have a knock on effect, and you inevitably end up changing something else….and so on! To read more about this and see how I transformed the radiators, check the first half of this week’s living room reveal post (here).

Let’s Look Back…

Of all the rooms in the house, this was the one that I really had a clear image of as a finished room. I knew that I wanted the big ‘ole grand fireplace (see the how I did that here), dark walls and some sort of built in storage/shelving, I also knew that I didn’t want it to feel overly ‘styled’. Really, I was aiming for an eclectic, yet cohesive room that was both elegant and relaxed.

Check out the before pics;

The Plan

I like to start my room schemes by playing about with colour, fabrics and objects, seeing what works well with what (full post here). Not that I need an excuse to draw, but I also like to sketch up room plans too.

The Living Room Reveal.

TA DAAAAH!!

It may have taken a couple of weeks longer than anticipated, but for me, it was totally worth the wait.

The rich tones of Valspar’s Whistling Whipporwill on the walls, woodwork, ceiling and units, are balanced out perfectly by soft shades of cream, throughout the sofa, chair, lampshades and accessories. Lighter shades of grey and cream in the rug help to tie the two together. Plants and flowers (mostly artificial) add life to the room, as do wee splashes of teal through the accessories, books, and the ‘curvy lady’ lamp base. I wanted to keep this accent colour at a minimum though, leaving the room predominantly neutral.

Although my initial plan was to leave the wall units white, painting them the same colour as the walls has taken the focus away from the unit itself, allowing the accessories and artwork to stand out. Painting the roof and radiator has really pulled the whole scheme together, and far from closing the room in, actually makes it feel much larger.

You may remember from my previous post, that the initial sofa choice was a bit of a disaster. Beautiful, but just not comfortable (for us). Well we are delighted with the new Ikea (name) sofa. It is so comfortable and the colour is perfect in the room- just a hint of grey in the cream.

Room for Improvement

There are still a few areas that I would consider changing though…

I love the rug. I need to start by saying that I really LOVE the rug. It was bought a few years ago on ebay and style wise it’s still very much what I like. It’s just the proportions are all off for the room. Length-wise it’s fine, but it’s very narrow and could do with a 1-2 ft added on, just to allow it to sit properly. For now, I’m overlooking this.

The other thing would be the Ikea chair. It looks fine but ideally we would have a couple of vintage armchairs in it’s place. Added seating is always a bonus and I think the room would suit a pairing… perhaps covered in a larger patterned fabric? Maybe wooden arms?

And finally, the white wood blinds. I love the dark grey roman blinds but have never been fully convinced of the wood venetian blinds in this room. When I bought them, I felt they were a necessary evil for a street level window. It’s a massive window too so it’s like a big invitation to look in. Hell, I do it to other folk’s houses, so why wouldn’t they peer into mine?!  I really didn’t want frosted glass, because I’m too nosey and like to be able to see out, and sheer curtains wouldn’t work with the roman blinds. Plus, they were fucking expensive. These had to be made-to-order so are here to stay for now.

It’s so lovely to have another room completely finished, with no niggling little bits to touch-up or jobs to finish. Oh, apart from the ENTIRE REST OF THE HOUSE! meh!

On to the next one I suppose…