UPDATING THE LIVING ROOM

Hello, everyone.

I have been working on this project for a few weeks now and although is not quite finished yet,

I will share with you what I got so far.

I did start thinking about making changes in this room last year, but I did not quite know how to go about it.

I was a little tired of the gold and red color combo, but I could not figure out how to change it

due to the color being part of the sofa. I don't know what I was thinking when we bought it!

Summer came and went, we celebrated Thanksgiving, my son came back from deployment

and we got ready to celebrate Christmas.

This project was always in the back of my mind.

And then I did a post to show you my Christmas tree.

Well, that same evening, I received an anonymous comment that, needless to say, was NOT very nice.

This person went on and on about how dated and horrible my living room was, that I should be embarrassed to even post pictures of it on my blog and he/she went as far as telling me that this room looked like

something out of the Bates Motel. Yikes!!!

Geez! There was no need for all that!

Did it hurt my feelings? Yes, it did, but it also opened my eyes and being the good blogger I am

and always open to advice (although I prefer to be told in a nicer way), I decided that my suspicions were right

and it was time to update this room a bit.

This is the way my living room looked.

And this is the living room now.

I gave myself a two hundred dollar limit to change this room and so far, I still have money left. :)

Let me take you through the steps of what I did to update the room. It sure has been an XL DIY project. :)

Warning, lots of pictures, so get a cup of coffee and let me know when you had enough. LOL

If you look closely to the before picture, you will see that the large pillows that form the back of the sofa set were in different colors, so I knew that before I could make any changes, those pillows had to be reupholstered.

You have no idea what a challenge it was to find the same fabric as the color of the sofa!

It took us weeks and when I was about ready to give up, my husband found it in an upholstery warehouse downtown.

While I was waiting to locate the fabric, I took all the valances off the windows, bought three new rods and installed bronze grommets on all my existing drapes.

Once I had the gold fabric, I found the other two fabrics at Hobby Lobby. It was pretty pricey, but with

the 40% off coupon, I was able to stay within my budget.

And then I spent two full weeks sewing. :)

Instead of covering permanently all the original pillows, I made large pillow covers for each one of them.

And using some of the same fabric, we recovered the ottoman and added nail heads to it for a more modern look.

And using some pretty burlap flowers I found at HL,

I made an arrangement to display on the tray my husband made.

On the end tables, you will find the same lamps I bought at Kirklands years ago, the candle holders I brought in from my library and two distressed wood off white frames with black and white pictures of our parents.

And the room has looked like this for several weeks now.

Until I made the sunflower in the same colors this past week.

I was able to make these changes for about $160.00.

That includes all the hardware.

I don't have to tell you I have used lots of coupons in the last month. :)

Now I am searching for the perfect rug and a small chest or table to put next to the single chair.
I know what I want, hopefully I will be able to find it.

Taking my time getting rid of the Bates Motel look! :)

I am also working now on the dinning room area. Big changes coming soon!

Thank you all for visiting and taking this long tour of my living room.

It is always a pleasure to read your comments.

See you all soon!