Dark & Drab...

For the past few weeks, I've been working on preparing for my living room redeco. My husband, myself and our 6 year old girl live in my grandparents old house. It's a 1964 brick ranch (and it needs help). When we moved in, we didn't have much time to paint/decorate. I was able to get the kitchen & living room painted just as we moved in - but not much else!

Originally, I chose a color scheme in the living room that matched our rugs (knowing that they would need to be used over the existing carpet). Our furniture is varying tones of tan/brown so the walls were all painted a light tan with the walls surrounding the fireplace a burgundy shade. Needless to say, with a large brick fireplace and minimal natural light, I'm rather sick of feeling locked in a dungeon!

This is our living room at Christmas last year, you can see the two colors and the brick fireplace. Drab is the word I choose to describe it!


Don't get me wrong... the burgundy we chose (Olympic's Bordeaux) was a beautiful color... it looked like we covered the walls in burgundy leather - just wrong for our space!

So, I am redecorating! Currently, I'm in the process of painting the walls a creamy white and sewing up new curtains to replace the old Walmart curtains we bought (what self respecting seamstress purchases her curtains at Walmart?! I feel terrible about that!). Not only is the living room getting a fresh coat of paint, so is our hallway! There are absolutely NO windows in the hallway and the matching paint scheme from the living room was duplicated there. It has to go!

To give you all an idea of my inspiration for the spaces... check out my pinterest board: Living Room Redeco. Here are a few of my favorites!

I have a bunch of other "inspirations" on my board - these are just a few. I like the idea of decorating with things you wouldn't normally find in someone's home. Whether that be wooden pallets, wooden crates, metal pipes or chicken feeders!

Feel free to leave comments and tell me what you think!! I'll post pictures as I complete the stages & give how-to's on the projects to complete my look! It's time to change our living room from Dark & Drab to light and useful!

Updates: 1/27/2013

Living Room Drapes, Completed! (It took 8 hours of pinning & sewing... approximately 2 to cut the fabric. Not so bad!)

The second completed Pinterest project: Kids' artwork display frames and the color of the walls, contrasted by the dark wood antique rocking chair. I just love this whole corner, what do you think?: