Living Room Updates

We've recently made a few changes in our living room that I wanted to share with you.

New T.V.

We added a t.v. and that was a project in itself.

I talked to David about it one night, and the idea seemed unnecessary and unfeasible.

The wall where I wanted it hung already looked nice, and did we really need a t.v.??

And, there was no cable outlet.  Seriously?  Why take on such a project?

The issue was - we entertain quite a lot and we have a t.v. downstairs where the kids usually congregate, and we have one in our bedroom.

Not at all conducive when friends are over and "the game" is on.

At Wine Club last year, three men sat on our bed to watch the Colts game off and on.

Really.

After a lot of work and two trips in by Comcast - we were set.

David did the research and bought a good t.v. and we haven't looked back.

It's a great spot for a t.v.

We watched Pride and Prejudice movie clips during Book Club last month.

We had football on when we hosted Thanksgiving.

Brennan and I were out one night and we came home to find David and Thomas watching Lord of the Rings together on it.  I'm glad we did it.  I know it'll get used.

Before...

....and after.

We switched out the two carts in the room. 

We might have an electrician put an outlet behind the cart so you don't see the cord, but for now, it's awesome.

And the other cart is being used on the other side of the room.

It was great using what we had instead of having to purchase an entertainment center.

Rearranged Bookcases

We have, what I think are, beautiful built-in bookcases in the living room.

We have an assortment of books, photographs, items from our travels, the boys' trophies and awards, and other random stuff "decorating" the shelves.

These shelves have been fine for 7 years, but I secretly wished I had someone to help me improve upon my good start.

Then my friend Ginger introduced me to a friend who does just that!

Wendy is a busy mom of four who loves to do interior projects on the side. 

So Wendy came and helped me with my shelves.

I am so much happier with them now!

Before

Except for the empty shelf where some Fall decorations were, this is pretty typical of what it looked like.

And After.

There are actually more items on the shelves now than before, but because Wendy removed some shelves and changed the heights of others, it really works.

Wendy asked me to take everything off the shelves and lay out the items that were important to us like from our travels.

Her husband says that you want to be able to say about your displayed items, "oh remember that trip to Hawaii?"  not "oh remember that trip to Hobby Lobby?"

The lamp is a "I'm thinking about it" lamp.  It's the only purchase I made for this project.  Wendy suggested an interesting textured blue shade (because there is blue in the surrounding rooms) but I haven't been able to find that.  So I'm sitting with this (still with the price tag), for now.

I'm also thinking through the pottery on the top middle shelf.  Maybe adding something else?

She also brought in some pieces that brought out the colors throughout the house, like this wall.

And I created new shelves downstairs for Thomas and Brennan to put their awards on.

I'm not sure you can see much of a difference in photos, but the impact in person is huge.

And the only cost was a $13.99 lamp.

I love the idea of moving stuff around the house to spruce it up.

Here are two more before and afters.

I'd love to know what you think!