Farmhouse Living Room Progress + Life Lately

Hey friends!!! Happy November! I seriously can’t believe it’s already November. These months keep flying by. Is it crazy that I’m already thinking about my plans for Christmas decorating? Yep, it’s true. Christmas is my favorite time of the year and my favorite holiday to decorate for.  I’ll be sharing some of my plans soon.  I have some great DIYs in the works that I’m excited to share with you all.

I’m sure some of you have been waiting for the farmhouse living room reveal since I posted our plans for the living room renovation on a budget.  Well friends, the renovation has pretty much come to a screeching halt.  At least for now.  Sometimes life doesn’t go the way we planned.  Actually, that happens a lot.  But I trust that God is in control and His plans are always better than mine.

About 2 months ago, my husband was helping me move furniture from one of my antique booths and he injured his back.  He had back surgery about 2 years ago and has been doing great, until this incident.  The day after it happened, he could barely stand.  We kept thinking that it would get better after a few days of rest, but it didn’t.

He’s been back and forth to the doctor several times over the last month and we recently found out that he is going to need another back surgery, so it will be a little while before he is able to finish up his parts of the renovation.  In the meantime, I sure am missing my junkin’ and DIY’ing sidekick. I’m no longer able to accomplish a lot of what I was doing before his injury.

I’m going to share with you what we have done so far and what is still on the list to be done.  We added the shiplap on the fireplace wall and painted the entire living room Simply White by Benjamin Moore.

I absolutely LOVE the way the fireplace came out.  We started with black marble around our fire place and a fluted mantel.  This was a little too fancy for my liking.  We ripped it all out and had a brick layer lay bricks around the fireplace and add a hearth.  We found an old pine board about 3 inches thick and used that as the mantel.  I still want to add corbels underneath, but I haven’t been able to get them just yet.  I found some that I love, but they are crazy expensive!  Y’all know I love shopping on a budget.

I ordered the Edison Bulb Chandelier from World Market and absolutely love it!  There was ceiling fan here before.  I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan of fans. I got jokes today y’all. 🙂

This adorable gather here pillow came from With Lavender and Grace.  They are each hand painted and sewn and the quality is excellent.  I love pairing woods and whites together.  It is probably my favorite combination.  If you are wondering what the fireplace looked like before, here ya go…

Quite a transformation, right!  I love that we added the hearth.  It makes the fireplace stand out so much more.  And the white walls make the room so much brighter.

My brother built a bench seat for us on the side of the fireplace where the built-ins used to be.  I can’t wait to get it painted and styled with lots of fluffy pillows to make a cozy little nook. The top opens for lots of extra storage.  You can never have enough storage, right!?

If you read my first post on the living room renovation, you probably remember that there was no flooring underneath when we pulled the built-ins out.  So, we had to get creative on what to put in the spaces that would cover the concrete.  The built in bench was perfect!

On the other side of the fireplace, I’ve come up with an idea that I hope to get done soon.  Maybe I can get my brother back over by persuading him with a good home cooked meal. 😉  My plan is a modified built-in.  I found an old cypress beadboard door that is about 7′ tall and 3′ wide.  I want a built in with that old door on the front to store blankets and such.  The old vintage door will add so much character to this space.

I found this gorgeous coffee table at a flea market recently.  It came out of a flooded home and was completely covered in mud when I bought it, but I could tell that it had so much potential.  I scrubbed it down with some dawn dish soap and sanded it a little, then applied hemp oil to revive the old wood.  I love applying hemp oil to old wood.  It brings out all the natural wood grains.

We added the Gather sign from Feather and Birch above the television.  It was the perfect addition to break up some of the white space.  The Love You More throw blanket draped over the ladder adds a vintage feel that I love.  The Amazing Grace sign is from my sweet Friend, Kari, at The Farmhouse Addict.

I have some exciting plans for the window treatments.  It is something really different that is going to add so much charm.  It’s a DIY project that I’ll be sharing with you all as soon as it’s complete.

The wall that is behind the sofa is completely bare.  I’m really struggling on what to do there.  I wanted to put a table against the wall and hang a vintage item over it, but I’m not sure there is enough space. This is a walk way to the front door and it’s a pretty narrow space.  I’m still on the hunt for the perfect piece for this space.  I’m sure I’ll know it when I see it.  Just like the coffee table.

As you can see, we have gotten a good bit done.  It’s really just a few last minute details that need to be finished up.  I love keeping lists and crossing things off as they get done. It helps to keep me organized and crossing things off makes me feel a sense of accomplishment.  This is my punch list for completion.

Punch list:

• repair and paint the ceiling
• paint the crown molding
• paint the bench seat and order pillows
• build a piece of furniture on the left side of the fireplace
• add corbels under the mantel
• purchase a jute rug
• purchase a new sofa
• add window treatments (stay tuned for a DIY)
• add decor

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the renovation so far?  I thought about painting the sideboard below the television.  I posted a pic on Instagram asking my Insta friends what they thought and most of them said to leave it as is.  What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed.  Stay tuned for more exciting projects coming your way soon!  Be blessed, my friends! xoxo