My Cozy Living Room Makeover

This past fall I read, The Cozy Minimalist and was so inspired to clear out my living room according to her plan and get it into a more serene atmosphere.  Her approach is so easy to apply and doesn’t necessitate you getting rid of all extra’s, but of making wise use of what you have to create a space that is restful and inviting.  Let me show you where the room started…

I knew there was too much going on, the rug was too small and I needed help!  The next step was to clear nearly everything out of the room and let it sit empty for a couple of days. While it was empty, I saw there were things I needed to remove, and some things I needed to add.

• I wanted to move my desk to our family room upstairs.
• I needed a larger rug.
• The placement of the furniture needed to be changed.
• I wanted to remove some of the excess decor.
• I wanted to remove the fan and replace it with a beautiful light.  See that post here.
• I felt like another bookshelf would look good so I could use one on each side of the fireplace and create a “built-in” feel.

One by one, I brought the pieces of furniture back in and have begun to make the necessary changes.  I found a huge and super-soft rug at Ollie’s for about $130.  I call it my “Sock rug.”  Because it’s a cream color, we don’t wear our shoes on it, but it’s also so soft on your feet, I can’t resist wanting to walk barefooted on it!!

In order to achieve my built-in bookcase feel, I realized that we had a bookcase out in our garage that closely matched the one we already had.  All I had to do was paint it the same color!

I bought a Valspar paint at Lowe’s that was a primer and paint all in one.  It cost me around $16.

Ready for the before and after shots?

Here’s a side by side comparison from before to after…

I’m loving it so much more with the changes I’ve made.
It’s calm.
It’s inviting.
It’s bright.
It flows together and doesn’t feel overly decorated.  I’m not a minimalist by any means, but using her method really helped me achieve a look that feels so much more restful.  I still find myself removing things from the room, and even looking at these pictures makes me realize I could remove more, and there are still a couple of things I want to do, but for now I’m happy with the results!

If your house feels suffocating with “stuff,” I would highly recommend The Cozy Minimalist Book to you!

Refresh your house with some cozying and minimizing!