Time to Redo the Living Room

I had planned to make the living room one of the last rooms I did in the house but I feel I can't wait that long. It's the first room you and your guests see when entering your home and it should be the most inviting. Since the day I moved in I have been decorating almost every room with autumn shades like rust, brown, amber and beige. I eventually realized that I had allowed the color of my red oak dining room set to dictate the color of my living and dining rooms because I kept trying to match it. No more. The last few years I've started to get a little bored with it and thought about a space that's more relaxing and softer. I fell in love with the rooms featured at this post about gray rooms because they represent the feeling of what I want to bring to my living room. I want to lighten it up and make it more airy almost coastal. I'll call it urban coastal. Now I am not one for fancy decorator talk but what I am trying to describe is a space that is light and airy with hits of warm accents. Here is my living room as it is today...

   and this is the direction I want to go in....

                         1.                                        2.                               3.

     4.                                                                                                              5.                                  6.

1. Overstock.com
2. Fabric.com
3. Fabric.com
4. Lumber Liquidators
5. Fabric.com
6. Target

I'm sure I will switch out the fabrics and paint chips until I settle on something definite. I also want to reuse as much of what I already own so I will not buy much if any new furniture. My dining table and hutch has a red oak finish and I have a couple of end tables that have a similar finish. I also have an ivory table that I want to change up a bit. The big  change will be replacing the carpet. I am way to embarrassed to show you how dirty it is, but I've given up on carpet for my living room and have opted to go with hardwood. I really wanted a darker walnut finish but because Roxie, my blond haired Pug, sheds so much I fear I would constantly chase little balls of dog hair because they would be much more visible on the dark floor. Who has energy for that so light wood is the way to go. 

My goal is to take this palette and build on it doing as much as I can myself, reuse most of what I already own and for what I don't own, hunt for bargains. Like I always say, free or next to nothing is my price range. This is just the beginning and who knows where I'll end up.