I wish I had pictures of the transformation this room has undergone in 4 and a half years. When we moved in, every room in our house was already painted a very light neutral. Which I love in the kitchen, hallway, bedrooms, etc. But the living room felt boring. So I convinced my non-painting husband to help me paint the living room green. Kelly green.
Why that seemed like a good plan, I have no idea. It didn’t take long before I was tired of it and then eventually I hated it. With a passion. So over spring break one year, we painted it the current carmel color. It really transformed the room.
After we painted, I knew I wanted something different for this wall. Figuring out what took some time. When our little friend Brooke turned one last spring, Sarah had a new collage up in their living room. And as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to incorporate one in our house. And I already had the perfect wall.
Step one was searching for collage ideas on Pinterest. Step two was hitting up none other than Hobby Lobby. Step three was arranging and rearranging. This step went on for weeks. There were a few more Hob Lob trips thrown in. It also consisted of friends coming by to help me arrange it. And since Kaitlyn lives two hours away, we had a lot of FaceTime conversations. Finally, I had it exactly how I wanted it so I traced the frames on a large sheet of paper. {Hello teacher benefit! Bulletin board paper is perfect for a project like this.} Then we taped it on the wall and David hung everything up for me. The last step was to choose what pictures to put in the frames. I wanted them to be an eclectic mix of pictures taken over the years.
When shutterfly delivered their bright orange envelope… let’s just say David didn’t get diner that night until around 8:00. I’m obsessed with how it turned out and I still look at it all the time. It absolutely makes this room.
Here are a few other details I love about this room.
This was a Pinterest project a few years ago. When I completed it, I wasn’t happy with how it turned out. But now I actually really like how it’s so textured. Especially since it used to be a white shade up against white shutters.
The end table came from World Market a few years ago after much searching for something unique. I bought this back when the walls were the dreaded green and it looked ok. Now, next to the carmel color, I’m in love.
The entertainment center was an Ikea purchase and I feel like it was made for our living room. When we first moved in, we had my cheap, white bookcase from college that was about four feet tall next to a full-sized wooden bookcase from David’s mamaw’s house. The combination wasn’t much to look at. So I remember finding entertainment centers online for upwards of $6,000 and thinking that we would never be able to drop that much on a piece of furniture. And then I discovered Ikea. I looked online and then told David I was making the drive to see them in person. To my surprise, he came with me. I scoured all of our options, took pictures and made my decision.
“When we’re ready to buy one, this is the one I want,” I told him.
“When we buy one? We’re not coming back so go ahead and get it now.”
Best words he’s ever said to me.
I love that it holds pictures, books, decorations…
And of course owls.
