Welcome to our living room! This is the first room we redesigned after moving into this house. Given the small size and tight footprint, I decided to start here. I thought that if we made a mistake when designing the living room, it wouldn’t that noticeable in our daily life.
When we originally updated this space, Joe and I stripped the wallpaper and painted the walls. We went with a blue that I really like, it works well with the existing trim color. We also added a new overhead light and added molding to the back of the doors to incorporate some traditional touches throughout the rest of the house.
Now that we’ve lived with this space for a few years, I’m ready for a change. One of the main problems was that my initial paint job wasn’t done too well, so I’m ready to upgrade it.
Today, I’m sharing the first two changes to the living room design — new wallpaper and decorative paint!
Read on for all the details on why we chose these design elements and what else we’ll update as we go on.
Before looking at the current photos, let’s see how the room has changed over time. This is how the living room looks when we first visit to the house in spring 2020.
At the end of summer 2020, Joe and I stripped the wallpaper.
That fall, we painted the walls blue (Light blue from Farrow & Ballexact).
During the rest of the fall, we Update the decor in the room.
Without further advice, let’s tour the space as it is.
New wallpapers
Wallpaper is one of my favorite ways to add character to a space. For this room, I chose wallpaper from Sandberg, which is one of my favorite wallpaper brands. We used their wallpapers in main bedroom and children’s room and I love both prints.
They just launched a new collection, Huset I Solen (or House in the Sun). The collection was inspired by the hometown of Carl and Karin Larsson, Swedish designers whose design abilities were very avant-garde at the time. The house and garden that Carl and Karin designed is an awe-inspiring place with personal details, artistic expression and a love of creative living. I choose green spring wallpaper and I love how it makes you feel like you’re in a lush garden. It’s not too formal and it has the softness and calm you feel when you’re outdoors.
I think a wallpaper choice is very personal. Sometimes the story behind the print is an afterthought because we focus more on what we like visually. However, I think stories like the history of this wallpaper collection are a great way to make design decisions more special and personal.
Updated decoration color
We painted the decoration Placing plaster with Farrow & Ballsame color we used for the decoration in entrance. I really like this paint color, but looking at it in contrast to the color in the wallpaper, I realize the overall palette is very soothing, almost like a child’s room.
After some back-and-forth on whether to change the trim color to a darker color, I decided to keep it that way. I still wanted this living room to have a bit of an adult feel to it, and I have some future design changes on my sleeves to reflect that overall goal.
What’s next for living room design?
This room is essentially a square block with two windows. As we continue to refresh, I will focus on ways to add more characters. I’ll also focus on ways to balance the softness of the wallpaper and the color of the decor with bolder design elements.
We recently swapped out the overhead lights that I’ll be sharing soon. We also plan to add new curtains, add a new rug, update or remodel the floor (it’s in terrible shape now) and update some furniture, ideally in ways that increase storage options. I’m also thinking about adding bold graphic artwork and potentially adding a crown molding. Stay tuned for more updates coming soon!
Product source
Background: Sandberg (Gifted)
Color order: Placing plaster with Farrow & Ball
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Kate is currently learning to play the ukulele, leaving her husband, children and dogs desperate. Follow her on Instagram at @witanddelight_.
