My living room.

It's finally finished!!!!!

As promised, I'm posting some pictures of new and exciting things (no photos of me wearing clothes in this post lol).  Soooooo now that I've finished decorating my living room (for the third time since November), I thought it was high time to share it!

Here are some before/afters (taken at nighttime, sorryyyyyyyy):

 

BEFORE

 

 AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

 

 

 

I'm sharing this with you guys (as promised), because I think how you decorate your home shows a lot about you and your personality.  And style is all about personality, and this is a style blog. 

 

Therefore, style of dress and style of decor go hand-in-hand.

 

Now I would like to focus on two of my favorite things in this room:

 

1.) My Couch

I adore this couch.  I found it at Goodwill four days before I even had a new apartment to put it in, but I just had to have it! 
I was very VERY lucky to be able to borrow a truck from my in-laws and garage space from my folks for those few days, and everyone agreed that this couch was worth the rigamarole!

I do want to change out the larger floral print pillows eventually. 
Anyone have pillows that size in a large floral print with a navy background?  haha wouldn't that be a miracle..?

 

2.) The Tapestry

I have an acutal tapestry in my living room!!!!  Eeeeeeee!!!  :D
Another Goodwill find, I wish the photo did it justice.

 

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this living room.  I looked all over the internet for inspiration.  If you want to see what's all been swirling around in my head, please see my Pinterest boards. 

The photos you're seeing are the second and third time I've rearranged the furniture, actually.  The first time the couch was on the left-hand wall.  Whew...it's exhausting even thinking about all the furniture I've shoved around in that room!  And here I was wondering how to get a workout in winter...

The reason I've rearranged so many times is because I just could NOT get this room to feel right.  I knew I had some great pieces to work with, and I wasn't doing them justice!  It was bothering me soooo much!  I'd lie in bed at night and ponder and fret about how to arrange my living room (sad but true).

Eventually I figured out what my problem was: I was trying too hard to make a small room seem spacious.  I sacrificed coziness, warmth, and charm.  The point of furniture arranging and decorating is to make the room look its best; to use the space and things you are given in the most charming way you can; not to just shove furniture against the wall and keep as much floor open in the middle as you can.  If it's a small room, let it be small! just in the best, coziest, most elegant and charming way possible. 

Also: if it doesn't look exactly like the pictures of "country chic" or "cozy casual" or whatever other labels people impose on room styles, GOOD; it's your own style, then.  :)  Take inspiration from others, but don't copy their work.

So.  Vibrant, unapologetic curtains, some greenery (enter Gerald, my lipstick vine), and plenty of pretty pillows and blankets later, I have a snuggly space that's much more open to the rest of the apartment and more inviting for guests.



I'm proud of the hard work I put into this room, but I'm just starting out on this decorating thing.  If anybody has any tips, PLEEEEEEEEEASE share them!  I did a lot of internet research, but that's not the same as someone giving actual feedback and your actual room.