Renovation Update 5: Living Area

Our living area has been sort of in flux since we moved in almost two years ago.  Even though it was probably the room that needed the least amount of renovation, several pieces of furniture needed to be reupholstered and we didn't get around to having the last two finished till this past December.  At this point, I'm considering the living area "done"...which in home renovation terms probably just means "for now."

Here is the space today, viewed from the adjacent dining area (blogged about here):

The MLS photos of the living area were probably what drew me to want to check out the house most.  I fell in love with the angled brick accent wall and the huge picture windows before I even saw them in person.

We weren't crazy about the green wall, the black ceiling, nor the funky light fixtures.  This is a picture I snapped shortly after we took ownership, and moved a couple of pieces into the space:

CT's mom painted several coats of clean, bright white over the green and black surfaces, and CT and his dad replaced the two awkward lights with a pair of ceiling fans - a must in this space in the summer when the sun is shining in through the large windows.

We also sprayed a flat black over the brass fireplace surround for a more modern look, and CT built a new white mantle to replace the clunky one that was falling loose.

Here's the fireplace right before painting (clearly we had a professional set-up going on):

And after painting and mantle installation:

I picked up five of these turquoise candle holders at a West Bottoms thrift store one weekend and they found their place anchoring family pictures on either side of the mantle:

The woodcut print centered on the mantle was made by Montana artist Gennie DeWeese, for whom CT was a studio assistant when he lived in Bozeman, MT during his grad school years.  She also painted the beautiful abstraction in our dining area.  The "t" was purchased at a River Market antique store.

The one new piece of furniture in the room is our couch, which we bought at a local furniture mart.  While the legs are decidedly not MCM, we felt the curved armrests had a vintage vibe and with the addition of the matching ottoman, the couch has plenty of space for both CT and I to lounge comfortably.  We decided to use the couch as a separation between the dining/living areas and shortly after I bought a funky Mid-Century sewing table which I found on our local Craigslist to use as a console table behind it.

Our round coffee table was thrifted in the West Bottoms for $45 and our geometric rug was purchased at West Elm.  My favorite piece in the room, hands-down, is our gorgeous walnut credenza with tambour doors that I found on Craigslist.  Not only is it my favorite piece of furniture in our home, it's also the one I travelled the farthest to pick up.  I drove a total of six hours one Saturday with my parents to Wichita, Kansas to buy it.  Truth be told, I didn't actually know how far away Wichita was from KC when I called to inquire about it, but regardless, I gladly made the road trip and can't imagine anything looking better.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, while I don't claim to have the greenest of thumbs, I do enjoy having plants in the house, so to the left of the credenza is a snake plant in a woven basket I purchased at Urban Mining here in KC.  To the right is a dracaena that is planted in a ceramic bowl made by our undergraduate ceramics professor.  It sits on a refurbished hairpin leg stand I bought in sad condition at a junk store near my hometown.  The lidded ceramic vessel was made by the one and only CT.

We found the armchair in the West Bottoms one weekend and had it reupholstered with West Elm fabric.  The throw pillow is also from West Elm.  The magazine holder was found in the River Market.

Here is a before of the armchair, and a swatch of the fabric in which it was previously upholstered.  CT stripped the legs (which we believe to be rosewood) of their dark stain before reupholstery:

Finally, against the previously green wall (which would have worked well with the armchair pictured above in it's original state, no?), sit our matching pair of Mid-Century lounge chairs (found on Craigslist), which are the most recently reupholstered in a gray tweed fabric from West Elm.  The chair cushions were originally a groovy 70s plaid that also would have matched the green wall, had we chosen to leave them as is:

The chairs in their current state are pictured below.  The lumbar pillows are from, where else, West Elm.  In between is a large side table purchased in the West Bottoms.  The simple lamp (and it's taller sister, that sits by the couch) were two of the only things we moved over from our previous apartment. 

We love how cozy our living area has become.  It is definitely the space in the house where we spend the most time.  Hope you enjoyed the tour!