Reveal: How Adding Green to my Living Room Changed the Tone

Adding a pop of colour updated my living room and gave me a passion for design. Keep reading to see how just adding a vibrant hue, changed the tone of the room.

LIVING ROOM REVEAL

If I were asked to pinpoint the exact time in my life when decorating became a passion and not just a chore, it would have to be the time when I revamped my whole living room! Seriously I just woke up one morning and thought.. ‘my living room is so boring and dull, it needs colour!’ (much to my husband’s despair I might add)! Fortunately for me, the timings of these thoughts couldn’t have come at a better time! It was Spring season in the UK so all the vibrant, fresh colours that I would need for this makeover, were out and ready to buy in my local home department stores.

Here is a BEFORE picture of my living room. Slightly embarrassed to share it, but I want you to get an idea of what I mean by it needing an ‘injection of colour’. It was all too dark and dreary, not the best decor for an already dark and dreary UK.

 

 

I painted the living room walls a ‘Steel Grey’ and decided to go with white, cream, and lime/olive green for my colour scheme throughout the room. I did a huge shop in IKEA the day after my decision to revamp and it all started from there. I began to find a place for everything – the IKEA LACK shelves definitely helped here!

 

 

 

 

I admit to having a dilemma when it came to finding a suitable place for the TV. I had originally placed it on the wall above the fireplace but after months of having to squint and crane my neck to watch my shows, I’d decided I didn’t quite like the idea of the TV there after all. I ended up buying an IKEA LACK bench and placing the TV on there just in front of the fireplace. It was a faux fireplace anyway so putting the TV there wasn’t going to hide anything too pretty, just a blank wall.

 

 

I hung an old window frame just above the fireplace border. I had sourced it off Gumtree and had decorated it with family memorabilia (Wedding, Birthdays, and Anniversary cards).

 

 

Here is a closer look.

 

 

 

 

I ordered some mini canvas frames from eBay and decorated them with scraps of wallpaper. I think they looked pretty neat above my kitchen door, don’t you?

 

 

I created a picture gallery wall just above my sofa. I used all the frames I had collected over the years and made them all personal by adding different things to them. I recycled a pallet as the centerpiece and painted it white. People often asked what the symbols meant – they meant ‘love and ‘joy’ in Japanese!

 

 

Here is a closer look.

 

 

To the right of the fireplace, I decided to add a small dining area. I used the IKEA EXPEDIT cubes to make a seating bench that slotted into the alcove of the corner. I placed a large piece of MDF wood, foam, and fabric atop and stapled it all to the underside of the wood. You can view more of my IKEA hacks here.

 

 

 

 

I sourced a drop leaf off eBay and decoupaged it with a modern wallpaper. This little corner made up our little dining area. The dining room had been converted into a playroom for my son so this was as good as it was going to get for us haha.

 

 

I added a large blackboard to the area – for weekly family and meal plans.

 

 

I bought a shaggy rug off eBay (Yes I’m sure you have noticed by now – eBay is my favorite online place to shop haha) which brought the whole room together. It incorporated the whole colour scheme of the room, with its grey, black, green, and white stripes.

 

 

And not forgetting my gorgeous IKEA sofa that I painted with Valspar paint. See my previous post ‘how to paint a fabric sofa’‘ for the full tutorial.

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this post and I’m hoping some of you can relate to my sudden need to re-decorate! Have you ever revamped a room in your home? What do you think of the colours I have used?

Dining room to Playroom

Kitchen FUNKY and retro

Suitcase shelves in a Nautical Hallway 

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