Formal Living Room Reveal

I have been really excited to share our formal living room with you all. I probably could have posted photos of this space last spring but I didn’t want to do the ‘final’ reveal until the room was 100% done.

Since we moved into our house almost two years ago, this room has slowly come together. We started out by painting the fireplace white. After the fireplace was painted white (we did this before we moved in), the formal living room pretty much served as a storage area while we began phase 1 renovations and decided what furniture we were going to save or sell. I have said this before but I am not a decorator. I know the ‘vibe’ I like but in general home interiors stress me out, so with the help of our interior designer, Cindy Sontag, we made sure to sort through and clear out the space before we really started decorating. So basically I sold all the furniture that we previously ‘collected’ in our other houses, cleared out the formal living room (or what started as storage space) and then we got to decorating.

The first thing that was ordered were these couches. We actually found the couches (or over sized loved seats) on One Kings Lane. After that Cindy focused on fixtures. We ordered these sconces to go on either side of the fireplace. We loved the white and the little touches of bronze, especially since the majority of our home is filled with polished nickel! After those were installed, these floor lamps were ordered, the coffee table was ordered (this was another one kings lane find that is no longer available but I love this selection here). While all of the fixtures and coffee table were on the way the rug was being made. We actually had the sisal rug cut for the space by Schumacher but if I could have one redo of the space it would be the sisal rug. Don’t get me wrong I LOVEEEE the way the sisal rug looks but we have dogs. Dogs can be naughty. Sisal is NOT forgiving. If I could go back I would probably do a less expensive sisal (love this one from Pottery Barn) or do some sort of wool rug that would be forgiving if a puppy (or now baby) made a little mistake! I guess that rug is on my list of things to update sooner than later in the house!

By the time the rug arrived, we had already selected fabric for the pillows (no clue where she sourced the fabric to have the pillows made) but I am obsessed. Once pillows were in, books were styled from our collection, a plant was added in the corner (she put the birds of paradise plant in this basket), a blue & white garden stool was place by one of the love seats (ours is sold out but I love this one) and a silver tray that we were gifted as a wedding present was put on the coffee table to add another element.

Now I know what you’re thinking, this seems so easy and quick but that was for sure not the case because if I have learned anything from working with an interior designer, is that things take time. Yes, the couches were ordered in January of 2016 but they did take a few months to get in…that rug..oh that dumb thing took 7 weeks. You get it…interiors take forever!

ANYWAYS. While all of these things were going on we were looking for the perfect piece to go above the fireplace. We looked at a few different options over the year but everything felt so generic. We just decided to wait and when we saw ‘the piece’ we would know.

In May while Wade was getting pieces framed for the house, he was speaking to our framer (who also happens to be an artist) and asked him if had any blue and white pieces in the works or had any from the past. Low and behold, he had a piece that he had done in 2008 that was EXACTLY what we were wanting to go above our fireplace. We had the piece reframed to go with our style and when it arrived at our house I was so excited because it was the perfect piece that completed the space.

I love walking into our home and seeing our formal living room. To me, it is the perfect ‘welcome’ to our house.

schumacher sisal rug (this one is much more reasonable)  // one kings lane coffee table (sold out but love this one & this one) // wisteria garden stool (also love this one) // basket // custom pillows // one kings lane love seats (sold out but love this one and this one) //  sconces // floor lamps

Want to see more photos of our house? You can see the kitchen here, the powder bathroom here, guest room B here, guest room a here, the dining room here, guest room A bathroom here and our blue room here.

images by sukilynn