It’s Saturday night as I write this and I just dug out an old pic of the living room to share to Instagram stories followed by a little video of how it looks now. It’s exactly why I started the blog back in 2014, so I’d never forget how far we’ve come even though it feels like it takes forever at times. I wanted to document the changes, no matter how big or small and my goodness, I’m so glad I did.
This time last year we were just finishing up with the main renovations on the living room. Yes, we replaced the windows, installed the plantation shutters and the log burner a couple of years back but the rest of the big work was done last year. We’ve had a new floor laid, the room has been replastered, a new column style radiator, the ceiling has been skimmed, new electric sockets and ceiling lights, new skirting boards, alcove cupboards and shelving. Wow, that’s quite the list.
But it was still all quite bare last winter, the cupboards hadn’t been painted and my lovely Linwood Fabric wallpaper wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye. We had no rug, no coffee table, and coupled with a stressful year at work and leaving my day job, we didn’t really celebrate Christmas particularly, no decorations and just letting the days drift by.
Fast forward a year though and I can’t believe it’s finally all coming together. The old #carpetofpiss is a long-distant memory and the cosy living room I always imagined is taking shape. I still struggle with the finish touches and probably always will but it’s now a space I’m happy for people to see and spend time in rather than before where I was always a bit embarrassed. The thing is, if you’re living in a proper renovation project, you know a wreck where you’re knocking walls down people don’t mind. But if it’s just a bit tatty and dirty round the edges and you’re taking forever to fix it, well. “SHAME” (if you know, you know.)
So what’s next? To all intents and purposes it looks pretty sorted but there are still some final bits and pieces I’d love to do to get the living room exactly as I want it. Maybe Christmas 2020 it really will be done.
- Tiling inside the fireplace – this is due to happen in January as I’m working on a blog collaboration. I LOVE the fireplace and installing the logburner is one of our absolute best decisions but with all the black it can look a little dark. I’ve chosen some fun tiles to jazz it up a bit and it’s going to look wicked.
- Styling – both the coffee table and the mantel beam need a bit of faffing. I’m learning all the time and whereas before I never enjoyed sourcing the bits and bobs there’s no denying it pulls the space together. I’m so happy with how the alcove shelves are looking so it’s worth taking the time to get it right.
- The door – for some reason it seems to be a thing with decorators that they only paint inside the door to a room and not the other side. So I need to finish painting it, the outer woodwork and also change the door handle
- New sofas – ok it sounds greedy. Our current sofas are only approaching 6 years old but they were always intended to be just a stopgap when we moved in. Comfy and practical since we needed sofas and knew we’d have a puppy and kitten to get through toilet training. I’ve always dreamt of a chaise-style sofa and hope that next year we can replace them with something a bit more stylish
- Wall space – the walls are BARE. Apart from the mirror above the fireplace (which I need to lower), we have nothing on the walls at all. That almost feels like the final piece of the jigsaw but I don’t even know where to begin.
I’ll never forget these before piccies and feel so pleased with how far we’ve come. Yes it’s taken years but money doesn’t grow on trees and I’m not one for changing my mind – it’s bloody wasteful for starters so I know the room will be like this for the long-term future and I finally love spending time here. Fingers crossed in a year’s time there’ll be a final post saying “IT’S FINISHED”!
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