Our living room isn’t huge and doesn’t get the most natural light so I recently made a few (more) changes to lighten it up. You may remember that some of the first changes I made after we moved in were painting the walls light blue and painting the brick fireplace white. The latest and (literally) biggest change is the leaner floor mirror I added behind our patterned sofa.
I didn’t dislike the way it looked before, but this is a good example of how the scale of your accessories can change the look of a space. (And I found the perfect spot for my pagoda mirror in the kitchen. . . )
The new mirror is big–and took forever and a day to get here. (Luckily, it’s in stock again now.) I wanted something that would almost touch the ceiling but not overpower the room. I considered going for a more ornate one but I think this is the right fit style-wise for our room.
The other change I made to lighten things up was to move the white bookcases downstairs from my daughter’s room. (She decided she didn’t want them. . .) I love how fresh it makes the space feel and I have a lot more room for more books. Win/win.
I think the slightly bigger scale of the white bookcases makes a difference here, too. A quick before and after of the black versus white shelves:
More living room posts you might like. . .
Changing our our jute rug for a sisal.
Get the look: unintentionally “styled” shelves.
Hi Emily-
I have been a loyal reader of your blog since before your twins were born. You have a wonderful eye for design and I have really enjoyed watching your skills as a designer sharpen over the years. Keep up the good work!
Amy Mills
Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia
Thanks Amy! (And I appreciate you sticking around for so long.)
I love the changes. Looks fresh and airy.
I know you’ve sourced before but tell again what is the brand/style of your slip covered sofa. Thanks!
It’s the IKEA Ektorp. I have the beige slipcover now :)
I’ve followed you for a long time! You are my favorite! Your style is so fresh and approachable! It’s realistic for the everyday person! I love how you offer a variety of price points in your design- something I can actually purchase! I was wanting to change out my console under the tv. I noticed you swapped out what you were using, and the current piece has drawers. Is that an issue for the DVD player etc.? I don’t want to feel limited with my choices to just “tv consoles.” I will search your blog to see if you have a list of tv console options. Thanks again for all you post! Oh, love the white bookshelves in your den!
Thanks, Kimberly! I’ve hidden some of the cable boxes (and whatever the heck the rest of those boxes are!) by adding them on top of the stacks of books underneath. I’m also disguising some giant box with that basket to the side of the dresser :)
Absolutely love your eclectic style! The refresh of your LR is amazing!
I noticed you moved the Asian prints from the kitchen to the LR and added a couple of others. Will you please share the source again of the prints. I think I remember it was a calendar?
Also, do you have any recommendations of on-line sources for large and affordable abstract art?
I took the prints out of this book.
For large scale abstracts, I’d check on Minted. You can order each print in a variety of sizes, framed or unframed–or on canvas.
I am also a long time follower! I would love to know from a Mom with lots of kids, how does one keep nice pillows on the couch nice??! My three sons home from college and work due to COVID19 are doing a lot of laying around right now despite best efforts to get them moving. They use the pretty pillows like (GASP) bed pillows or even to sit on! I know this is a silly question but blog world loves lovely pillows and they do a lot for a room, my eyes go to them in your beautiful rooms, but they certainly do not have longevity with kids laying on them! :( Any tricks other than telling them not to use them or hiding them when they around (which right now is always!)
I’m not sure I have great advice on this because we use ours, throw ours, whatever! :) I do always use down inserts which can pretty easily be “beat” back into place when I want them to look nice.
Looks so great and fresh! Again, please tell me about gold frames with abstract art that replaced emperor art. I really like how you balanced vertical and horizontal and hope to do the same to my entry.
Thank you!
Elizabeth Blount
I painted those (quickly), just using some acrylic paint I had on hand. The frames are cheap, plastic ones from Michaels and I sprayed them gold. I ordered the mats from an eBay seller years ago.
LOVE all of it! But I’m dying to know what happened with the black bookcases?! I remember when you got those from Craigslist! Ha! Hope they found another place in your home. ;)
They just moved upstairs to the “holding area” (aka the attic for now). 😊
The space looked good before and after! I recently found your page and blog and wish I had found it sooner. 😍
Looks so fresh and pretty!
Emily! I love the new mirror and the white bookshelves! So spring and so good. You have been busy!
Jody
Hi there, love the mirror change! Do you mind telling me the paint color in that room, please?
Sure–it’s Benjamin Moore’s Palace Pearl.
I have been following you since the twins were born and have loved all the changes over the years. Your opinions are actually ideas most of us can use in our homes. Keep up the good job!
Thank you, Jennifer!
Good Idea! I’m painting my book case. Brings on this stay home order made me start to looking around and see changes I needed to make. Also, it’s Spring start of reawakening of thing. Light and color was needed.
The prints that were around the pagoda mirror are so cool! The new mirror looks great, and I love the sofa in front of it.
Love this! So pretty, interesting, bright, and happy…without being sweet or boring. Perfect balance of design elements.
love it Emily!
Yes! This is the inspiration I needed for our family room, which also gets very little natural light due to a screened in porch and lots of trees in the backyard. You always have the best ideas :)
I’ve loved watching this room evolve over time and how you keep it fresh. Also I’m pretty positive I have the same console table you have behind the couch! Mine was a Craigslist find.
I bought mine at a thrift store and painted it black :) I bet it’s the same.
Hello,
I love your style. Will you please share information about the wallpaper in your foyer.
Thanks,
Nicole
Thanks, Nicole. It’s by York Wallcoverings: https://bit.ly/3bbEYHq