Living Room Makeover: Gray with a Pop of Turquoise

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A little bit less than a week ago I wrote this plea regarding my "Random and Beige" living room. Well, perhaps there is a reason my friends and husband think I am crazy, because over the weekend, in less than 4 hours, I redid the entire space. I kept going back to the pictures and listening to the advice left by others and I just couldn't stand it! Once my pictures were out there in space, I just could not stand the unrest I felt.

So, on Sunday, my husband and I took advantage of a few hours of babysitting and cleared out, repainted and reorganized our living room. Here is the result:

BEFORE

AFTER

The first step to freshening up this room was a new paint color. I loved the ideas both Sandy and Rachel gave to include a hazy, grayish blue. I ended up finding Manhattan Mist at Home Depot and loved it. We used a paint plus primer grade paint, and here is the real kicker, we only had to do ONE coat. Talk about time saver, we painted the whole room in less than 3 hours! And by the time we finished, the first walls were dry enough to remove the tape. It was awesome. I may be biased, but I believe the gray really made the beige couch pop. You can really see the shape of the piece and it works well to keep the new cool room warm and comfy. (And sorry to those of you who suggested we slipcover it, it was a recent purchase and my husband basically attached himself to piece and refused to let me do any such thing!)

With the gray backdrop, our accent colors of blue and green really came to life. I was able to rearrange some accessories I already had to get just the right touch. At this point, we chose not to hang anything back up on the walls. I love the way the paint color just calms the whole room and makes all of the furniture pieces and accessories feel purposeful. I am not longer distracted by the chaos of the wall decorations.

We kept most of the existing furniture in the room, rearranging it slightly. I just couldn't part with my $10 antique rocker. It provided a lot more interest than the old slip covered recliner, so we booted the latter to the office for now. I recovered the seat in a rustic yet modern floral pattern that I felt tied into the room perfectly. (And, it didn't cost a thing because it was scrap fabric I already had at home!)

Before, the fabric choices were pretty much cohesive, but my rosette pillow threw off the whole color scheme. Now, I feel a lot better about the combination of the fabric, and have ordered a nice modern, geometric fabric that matched nicely to make large couch pillows as some suggested.

Before

After

I did add one new piece to the room, which was the large mirror. While the picture below doesn't do it justice, it is a large piece that really does help bring the room to life. It reflects all the way down the hallway and picks up a lot of light. It also helps the black coffee table, curtain rods, and TV feel much less random. I love it! Thanks Kim. The second you left your comment I was thinking, "Of course, a mirror!" And I did indeed find the perfect one at homegoods.

All that was needed were some small changes, like replacing the overly formal black knobs on my TV cabinet. Every time I looked at the piece it was so black and white and didn't mesh well with what I had going on in the room. So, with $2 knobs from Hobby Lobby the piece got a little makeoever.

Before

After

Finally I added some $7.00 panels I found at Target and the room felt perfect. It is calming, uncluttered and just right for my family. We gravitate towards the cool colors, as the rest of our house would certainly show you, so this room is now very much in character for us.

I would still like to add a rug as almost every commenter suggested, but we just haven't found the right one yet. There are a few from Dash and Albert that I am swooning over, but with the price tag, maybe we will make that a Christmas present this year. Or, if we can get to Ikea anytime soon, I know there are a few there that might be just the ticket. Our budget for this makeover was $200 and we came in at around $150; mirror, knobs, curtains and paint included. I am feeling pretty good about that!

I'll be linking to the CSI Turquoise Project

Happy Thursday!