Living room : Before & After

I know I've shown parts of our living room on here before, but I thought it was time to show the whole shebang....and the horrendous place it came from.  It was bad...REALLY bad. {You've been warned!}

Here is the before.  Our home was built in 1978 and really pretty much everything was original.  It had been built and decorated well...just 3 decades ago. :) {Sorry, all my pictures of it include my kids...the ones without them were too overexposed to even make anything out!}

Moving day!  Purdy blue carpet and paneled walls...ewww

It was a 70's Christmas that year....we should have dressed up in bell bottoms and plaid shirts and played it up completely.

Yeah, the red plaid couch pretty much made it worse...didn't think that was possible, did you?!

I'm not sure what that gun is pointing at...probably me since I was behind the camera....ANYWAY, are you repulsed yet?! I thought hanging that clock on the one nail in the wall was going to camouflage something.

Aaaand the brass fireplace to complete the look. 

So basically, blue carpet, paneled walls, and if it was cool in the 70's it was in this room.  The previous owners even left their flowing cream ruffled curtains....wasn't that generous?

The transformation has happened little by little, but it is finally about done...who am I kidding...I'm never going to be done. ; )

Here goes...

Love the dark floors...they can't stain, but they don't stay looking super clean for too long either. ; )  You can read more on the makeovers of the TV console, gallery wall and chairs.

This is the other side of the wall with the window. The rocker is an antique from the family.  The end table was thrifted and refinished.  The fireplace got a fresh coat of black hammered spray paint to mask the brass and a coat of white on the mantel.  I think the mantel if due for a change....little too much stuff up there for me right now but I do love all the map themed pieces.

Aren't these spider mums great?!  I also love these antique mason jars for vases.

The wall with the mirror is opposite the fireplace wall.  I used to have 3 collage frames...one got wounded in a family game of horse. ; )  I love the mirror and how it reflects light from the window...although it is a bit lonely.  Under it is a sewing machine {one of those built into the table}...not sure if it's staying there, that's why I haven't put much effort into accessorizing it.  The blanket on the white chair is also an antique...it has my mom's family's brand {like what they used on their cattle} on it.  I love the color and the meaning it has!  Oh yeah, and the basketball hoop...gets used all the stinkin' time...and it matches the blue and orange color sheme...ha!

We've turned the wet bar into toy and game storage.  It's decor changes almost daily. ; )  Next to that is Addison's play kitchen....that's one of those toys that if it didn't get played with SO much would be gone since there is no great place for it.

SO.....what do you think?  I'd still like to add some blue/orange floral or susani printed pillows.  I've got my eye on some....good pillows aren't cheap though. ;)   Overall, I love this room.  It had good bones....the built-ins, the molding, the beams in the ceiling {you can see part of one in the first pic}, and really a great size.  It's been fun to see it come so far.

I'm planning on trying to do this throughout the house...it was SO ugly when we moved in and since this is our first go round at home owning, it's been fun to go through the processes of updating everything!

Let me know if you have any questions!  Thanks for following this journey with me!