dwell // our living room progress

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I’m so excited to bring this “living room in progress tour” to you all. If you follow me at all on instagram, then this room probably looks pretty familiar to you, but I thought it would be a good time to finally show a 360 to those that are interested. If you are like me and always in nesting mode, always changing things up and decorating, then sure, a place never feels totally finished. But this room has brought so much joy to me that I figured, why not share the progress and show you what I’ve done and what I plan on doing!

I said to Jason a few nights ago how excited I get in this apartment to wake up in the morning. I already frequently get excited as I get into bed and I start to think about my morning cup of coffee. (Does anyone else do that???) But I can’t remember the last time I have just been excited to wake up and start a new day! Jason said he thinks a lot of that has to do with how inviting this room is to wake up to. The light is just incredible. I’m really not trying to brag, if anything I empathize with anyone who has a dark home. For the entire last year when we lived in Washington, it could be 80 degrees and sunny outside and you would think it was 20 degrees and snowing by the inside of our apartment. It was really depressing and I think totally affected our mood and happiness at home. Needless to say, this home has already been a breath of fresh air and I am so excited to share it with our friends and family.

Now onto the tour!

Below is our non working fireplace/mantle. I love that it already came painted white because I kind of have a thing for white walls, white brick, white rooms, you get the picture. They add so much brightness especially if natural light is something your space is lacking. I’ve really been enjoying decorating the shelves, though on my to do list is to thrift or make a few more decorative items for the empty spots. The vibe I am going for is sophisticated-non chotchky-knick knacks. Yup.

The gallery set above the mantle was also really fun to put together. Since I do pretty much all the decorating here, I try to be conscious of Jason and how I can represent his taste as well. Fortunately for him, I wouldn’t call my taste excessively feminine, but still…I want him to feel like he has a voice here. The table of the elements poster on the far left is a nod to his days studying Chemical Engineering at the U of I (yeah, he’s a smarty pants), and the print of NBA player Julius Winfield Erving II is for his love of the NBA. I secretly, not so secretly love it though, and it’s quickly becoming my favorite print in our home.

I also love having pieces that remind us of friends and the places we’ve lived. That little wooden bear below is made by our friend Matt, in Albuquerque, who for a long time made a living carving these gorgeous wooden bears of all sizes. I feel really lucky to have been gifted this the last time we saw them on our way through New Mexico, and to have such incredibly talented artists as friends!

A couple of focal items we got for the new apartment that we didn’t have in Washington were this Target area rug, and the gray IKEA couch. It’s crazy what a difference one piece of furniture and one rug can do for a space. I really think the rug ties the whole room together. Also, can I just say that I have wanted hard wood flooring in an apartment for as long as I can remember, and now that we have it, I just want an area rug in every room. Ha! The grass is always greener I guess, but no really, I am really thankful for the floors too :)

Ah, another project. Restocking the bar cart. We had to donate all our liquor before moving. Fortunately, it was holiday season so there were plenty of parties to share the wealth for. Now the task at hand is having a few good, quality spirits to make our favorite cocktails. Jason has already visited our friend Greg’s blog Simple Cocktails for tips on what you need for different types of home bars. If you are into home bartending, you should definitely check out his blog! Even if you’re not, still check it out…it might turn you on to a new hobby!

Oh, and can we talk about crown molding for a minute?

Let’s.

I don’t think I have ever paid a second’s worth of attention to crown molding in anyone’s home before. Whenever they talked about it on HGTV I probably was thinking, who even cares???

But I noticed it in our home, and I swear, it really makes a difference! At first, I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about the space. I think it’s a couple of little features like the vintage fireplace and the furnace heaters, but this…this crown molding really does something. It totally makes me feel really fancy now, no matter that it is super cracked and old. It’s sooo pretty and makes me appreciate the vintage charm of this whole building.

That table. Oh, my love-hate relationship with that dining table. I bought it in Seattle on Craigslist along with 6 matching chairs. Spent the next 4 months refurbishing the set. Sold the chairs. Bought these chairs. Asked myself if I was crazy. Decided, probably yes.

But now it’s here in Chicago with us and I’m glad it is.

We have a separate formal dining room actually, but we are currently using it as an office for me and will put a small 4 person table in there for just Jason and I or when we have just a couple people over for dinner.

But I also like how this table fits in the living room because it really allows for an open flow party vibe, IMHO.

I’ll end with a close up of Dr. J, because why not. That fro. Come on.

Links

1. Gray Ikea couch  2. Rug (Similar)  3. Bar Cart 4. Dining Chairs