Erin’s dining area and media room are adjacent to her long, narrow living room.  The living room is visually separated from the rest of the open space by small half walls accented with columns.

BEFORE

On the living room side of the half walls, there are built-ins.  At the opposite {far} end of the living room is a small bump out encased in windows.  And in case you missed it, the focal point of the room is a large fireplace with a high mantel flanked on either side by built-ins.  The living room is already painted Benjamin Moore’s Puritan Gray and Erin likes it as-is.  Here is the mid-modern mood board I created for Erin’s living room…

3 – Erin mentioned she’d like a place to read, so I chose this chaise in medium gray to place in front of the window to the right of the mantel/built-ins.  I’d suggest angling it slightly out towards the coffee table.  It shouldn’t be parallel to the mantel wall, but it shouldn’t stick so far out into the room that it impedes traffic either.  Pair it with a simple floor light to invite reading.  Once again, to keep things cohesive, I’d add the same curtains to the window in this reading corner.  Erin already owns a light gray area rug that I think would work well to define the sofa seating area.

A few words on the mantel and built-ins:  Erin mentioned her fiance’s aunt is an artist, so I purposefully left the space above the fireplace blank where said aunt’s artwork will go.  I can also picture a wood or metal monogram letter hanging on the tiled surround of the fireplace just above the firebox.  To avoid damage to the tile, the monogram could be hung with an adhesive 3M hook. As for all the built-in shelves, I recommend that Erin edit, edit, edit.  Less is more.  Incorporating objects that tie into the gray, white, yellow, and teal color scheme will keep it feeling cohesive.  I’d encourage Erin to find images of inspiring, arranged shelves and to mimic them.  Layering {for instance, overlapping a stack of books with a propped picture frame}, repetition, varying object height/texture, and empty space are all good characteristics of a well arranged bookcase.

So, that concludes the mood boards for Erin’s vintage condo.  Are you able to see how the open space could work as separate zones and/or one larger multifunctional space?  A cohesive color scheme, sensible layout, area rugs, and lots of light help to make an open space feel inviting. Many people are drawn to open floor plans nowadays but find them challenging to decorate.  For more tips on how to approach wide open spaces click here.  Thanks to Erin for allowing me to virtually tweak her place!  And for allowing me to share her before images which, she would like everyone to know, were taken shortly after she and her fiance moved in.  Can’t wait to see the afters!

Just in case you missed the rest of Erin’s mood boards, here are all three…

I’ve had several requests from readers to add a house tour to my blog and I’d like to oblige.  However, I’m finding the whole thing quite daunting.  You see, there are still many things I want/need to do to my home (i.e., add a kitchen backsplash, extend our kitchen island, finish my boys’ bedroom, organize the master bedroom closet, install new flooring…the list could really never end).  Plus, I can’t fathom that there would ever come a day in my life when my ENTIRE house would be “picture ready.”  (Let the record state that I have 2 boys – ages 5 and 2 – that are pretty darn damn good at pulling this place apart.)  But then I got to thinking…and that’s sometimes not a good thing, but this time I think it was…so, I got to thinking that when I started this blog I wanted it to be about a real house.  A house that a family lives in, messes in, eats in, plays in and sleeps in.  A house that has no dire problems but needs a shot of personality.  A house that is being tweaked by people who:  1) do not have design, art or architecture degrees 2) must DIY on their time off from their day jobs 3) are on a budget 4) do not have access to high-end goods of the design trade 5) want to enjoy their children while they’re little.  I wanted other people to be able to relate.  That led me to an idea.  (Yes, this is all going somewhere, I promise.)

I came up with Feature Fridays.  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!

So, without further ado, I’d like to show you my living room – as is.  Our living room is the first room you see upon entrance into our home.  It’s a long, narrow room that is open to a foyer and a hallway (“The Landing Strip”) that leads to the back of the house.  It functions as a living room and office and offers additional dining space.  Take a look…

View from the front door to the back of the house (i.e. The Landing Strip) – The secondhand bench that I painted white is a good place for removing/putting on shoes

From the front door into the living room (I’d love to rip up all that carpet and put down hardwoods)

Behind the front door I invented a makeshift mudroom since there’s no closet – notice there are adult hooks and kid hooks

A basket on the floor holds items waiting to be taken upstairs

Into the living room from the hallway – because the room is so long, I tried to establish a seating area on this side of the room…separate from the office/dining area

A bookshelf holds magazines, books, toys and other miscellaneous items – the basket on the floor is actually a recycling bin conveniently located next to our desk for sorting mail

The desk where I blog, pay bills, sort mail and waste time – I pull a chair over from the pedestal table

Almost everything about this extra dining space is Craigslist…the pedestal base and chairs were both via Craigslist…the tabletop is from Lowe’s.  I’d love to add some geometric stenciling to the wall in the background – it’s so blah.

For fun, the lights on…

More “for fun” stuff…a textural HomeGoods planter (If you’re wondering what’s under the sofa, it’s my kids’ electronic keyboard; everybody has one under their couch, right?!)

IKEA curtains…

Etsy pillow covers…

Kid-friendly decor down low on the coffee table

So ends my living room tour.  Next week I’ll be making my way to the back of the house into our main living space.