Now that the bedroom and hallway have been tackled (pics of that soon), and we're making progress on the nursery and living room, I feel like the house is really coming together. I know what I want to do with the dining room and kitchen, and have even made some headway on getting those projects started, but I'd love to finish the living room. Basically the only things that need to be done are purchasing a couple of accent chairs and a new couch.

Our current couch has served us well. We bought it in a set from a friend of a friend almost 5 years ago, and at that time she had owned it for about six years. All of those years of wear and tear have left the big guy having seen better days. Comfort has been a big issue for Grant lately. He has a bad back as it is and constantly complains about back pain after sitting on the couch. For me, the biggest issue is the size of the pieces. Both the sofa and the accompanying oversized chair are so large that they take up half of any room that they're put in. It's time that they moved on to greener pastures.

Here are the living rooms that have been inspiring me:

(Clockwise from top left: Designed Interiors, La Dolce Vida, SF Girl by Bay, mine., Manhattan Nest, The Style Files)

Since we'll be using the couch (and our infrequent guests and fur babies will mostly be occupying the accent chairs), the couch is the bigger priority. In keeping with my goal of clean lines and an unbusy color palette, I'm gravitating toward modern pieces in lighter neutral tones. The added bonus of a sleeper couch is appealing as well. Here are the contenders:

Nesting has kicked in hardcore in these parts. Beyond just wanting to get the nursery done, I have an overwhelming urge to streamline, de-clutter and generally make-ready every room in this apartment. I've also been finding that my design style is completely changing. While I used to be attracted to vintage, deconstructed, cozy rooms with so many things in them you could start an antique shop, I now lean toward a much cleaner, more modern aesthetic. I like a Nordic color palette--white, black and gray with the occasional pop of color. A far cry from the warm browns and reds I used to gravitate toward. So using mostly items that I already had and a few purchased ones, I've started changing the living room up to reflect this. Here's what it looked like before:

I got a new coffee table and rug from IKEA, moved shelving that we had in the kitchen and Grant's office in here, purchased a few throw pillows, and borrowed chairs from the bedroom to create additional seating. I also took the drapes off the windows and left the Tupplr shades, which made a huge improvement in the overall airiness of the space.













Living Room To Do:

Buy new couch
Buy 2 accent chairs
DIY Faux Marble treatment on coffee table
Replace knobs on media center and side table
Add storage baskets along bottom of shelving