When we moved into our new home I wanted to bring some added warmth and texture into our living spaces, especially the living room. Our previous home had a smallish living room that also served as the TV room (more on this later, as we haven’t even unpacked our TV and it has made me so very happy!).

One of the things I disliked about the previous space is that it seemed to serve as more of a walkway to the kitchen and dining room than it did as a living space. The furniture was nice, in fact we have only really added a few pieces in this new home. But it lacked a certain cozy comfortability I hoped to bring to this new abode.

The first thing we updated in our living room was the flooring. The house originally had carpet in all of the rooms except the kitchen. We replaced the living room carpet with laminate flooring. We decided to go away from the dark, dark wood we had in our previous house and instead go with a more natural walnut colored floor. I couldn’t be more happy with our choice. The floor is the perfect warm neutral tone I was looking for, it shows much less dirt and wear (hello two dogs), and I feel as though we’ll be happy with our choice for years to come!

I’ve already explained that one of the updates in our house was the new rug  top right in the picture above. It was a happy mistake because I originally purchased for the dining room but it was WAY too big for that room. In all honesty, we got the rug, realized it wouldn’t fit, rolled it out in the living room, and it hasn’t moved since! In fact, it was really the first piece that we put into our new home post new paint and flooring.

NEUTRAL BASICS

I’ve put together some mood boards of the process we went through to pick the rest of the decor. I started with some of the neutral basics I already had and added a few I wanted. One big addition for us was also a coffee table. Because of the size of our last living room, we had never pulled the trigger on a coffee table. We love our pick (we actually bought two coffee tables, but one acts as more of a side table), it is affordable, functional, and just the right size for the space. Unfortunately this couch is sold out online, but I’ve shopped some worthy alternatives at similar price points.

Mirror, Side Table, Tray, Shelf, Couch (1, 2, 3), Coffee Table, Coffee Table, Lamp, Throw

BRIGHTS and TEXTURE

After the basic neutrals, I decided that I wanted to add some touches of pink throughout the living room. I picked up the pillows and throw on sale at Anthropologie. My husband has given me plenty of grief about the price, but the rest of the pillows are a combination of old favorites from Ikea, and some refreshed cream basics from target.

We also picked up two of the Eve Buttoned Chairs from West Elm. I was adamant that we switch out my two woven fabric chairs for this microfiber because of the way that dog hair gets trapped in the woven fabric of our yellow chairs. I actually kept both yellow chairs because there is plenty of space for extra seating in this living room.

Rug, Pillow, Throw, Runner, Pillow, Chair 

LITTLE EXTRAS

Last, I wanted to have some decor in this room that was simply for looks! Now that my children are older, I don’t have to worry about whether or not someone will throw the small gold starburst sculpture, or if they will pluck a succulent out of the terrarium, or try to climb the ladder that is only meant for blankets.

Picture, Starburst, Succulent, Terrarium, Wall Weaving, Ladder