Another New Look

Back in July when my kids moved back home, I had to figure out how I was going to fit a two bedroom apartment into my already fully furnished three bedroom home.  The bedrooms weren't too hard, but the living areas were more challenging because I hate clutter and can't be comfortable in a house with stuff all over the place.  By the same token, I didn't want to load up the garage with so much stuff that we couldn't even go into it, especially since my washer and dryer are in the garage.  So I worked in the living room and came up with this.  It worked at first; I figured it was the best that could be done.  But I didn't like it.  There was too much furniture, it didn't match anything, it felt cluttered...I couldn't figure out how to fix it and it was driving me nuts.

This week I started my yearly Back to School housecleaning.  Each year when school starts I go room by room and give a thorough cleaning to get the house ready for fall decor which will be coming up in about a month.  Yesterday I cleaned the kitchen and family room.  To give an idea of how the family room looked, you can check it out here.  Today was dining room and formal living room's turn.  I started out with the dining room, moving chairs, dusting, cleaning, and leaving it fresh.  I moved on to the living room and started cleaning the sofas, removing pillows and cushions so I could vacuum under and around them.  Now, in the pictures my living room furniture doesn't look bad.  In reality, the colors have faded - a lot.  The sofa and love seat are 13 years old, and after all that time they certainly aren't as fresh as they once were.  I realized that I was taking care of these old, faded pieces, while a new sofa was in the garage gathering dust, and possibly more since it's been so humid out.  I decided then that a change needed to be made.

I went to see my oldest son R who was in his room, and told him, "I have an idea."  To which he answered, "Uh-oh."  Sweet boy.  But when I told him what I wanted to do, he readily agreed and came to help.  This is the end result.

 The "new" living room has the family room furniture.  Since my son's TV and gaming systems are in there, it made sense to put the recliners in the front room where we're spending more time lately.  This is the view from the dining room.

Here is the view from the front door.  I like that my curio cabinet is actually visible now.  Before, it was blocked by the old love seat.

This is the view from the hallway.  I put the recliners facing the TV since that's what's gonna happen anyways.  I prefer to have the chairs face the sofa, which is more comfortable for conversation, but let's face it, my kids will be here playing Super Mario.

Here's the family room.  The sofa is taupe microfiber.  My daughter had gotten the pillows at Costco and the colors work wonderfully, since I have my red wall.

One thing I couldn't keep was the area rug.  The one that was in here was moved to the living room, and the one that was previously in the living room didn't work colorwise with this furniture - the rug has lots of blue which matched the old furniture.  I'm thinking of selling the old furniture together with the area rug.

This is the view from the dining room.  I put the love seat on the diagonal, making the room look more open. It confused Molly at first, but I'm sure she'll get used to it soon enough!

And there you have it.  I'll need an area rug for the family room, and I would like to change some of the artwork so it works with the furniture arrangement, but all in all, a good days work with excellent results.  Of course, I popped my hip with all the furniture moving, so I'll be in a bit of pain for awhile.  I don't care.  To me, it was worth it.