Sometimes you just have to start over // Finally finishing our Main Living Area with Walmart!!
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It’s done! It’s FINALLY done!! And I could not be happier with how it all came together! If you have been following along for the past couple of months, you know we have been slowly making the spaces of our new home uniquely ours. I am so excited to reveal the final results of our main living space today!! There are a ton of details to cover and based on the title of this post; you may have guessed that we sort of re-did the whole room (including the spaces that were already done). We are going to dive into all of it!
But first, there is no way I could talk about the design process and all the product details without talking about Walmart!! When I shared Phase Two of this space, I mentioned that Walmart was my new design best friend and truer words have never been spoken! The Walmart Home design collections they are currently offering are at an amazing price point (as always) and the quality is seriously so good! Not only did I purchase the majority of the pieces for this space from Walmart, but I also relied on them for inspo! So - Let’s get into it!
Fun Fact: There are over 50 items from Walmart in our main living and dining areas!!
SPORTS BRA (2X) | BIKER SHORTS (2X)
Sometimes you just have to start over… and here’s why:
Let’s start from the very beginning. One of the things that I loved about this house was how open it was. However, I was initially overwhelmed trying to figure out the design direction of this particular space. The previous owners left two beautiful rugs (one in the dining room and one in this room). I also already had some mid century furniture pieces passed down to me from my Grandmother that I really love. The marriage of the rugs and those pieces became the foundation and inspiration for the color scheme and patterns we used. In general, I am drawn to a mid-century + bo-ho style with lots of mixed textures. In addition to that, I noticed that after 2020, I was really inspired by rich tropical themes. Maybe it was just an itch to escape or that it reminds me of places that are more carefree than our day-to-day. Maybe you all can relate?! Anyway, finding ways to cohesively tie all of these things together has been the challenge.
I really loved what we did in the first two phases of furnishing this space. But, when I began the final stage of finishing the room, something was just off about it. I had a ton of elements I loved and a general sense of how I wanted the room to look. The room, however, was simply not reflecting back how I wanted the space to FEEL! When I confided that to Jess, my sister/right hand/home decor extraordinaire, she totally agreed and we immediately went to work re-imagining the room!
Before I break down our design process, I want to drive home how important it is to really drill down to your core wishes when building your space. What feeling do you want when you are spending time in the space? What vibe is important? How do you need the room to function? What colors bring you joy? Etc…
THE DESIGN PROCESS
The first thing that Jess & did was move the green velvet sofa bed over to the main wall when you first walk in. It fit perfectly there and immediately the room was feeling better! We maintained that sleek and stylish look that we were going for but things felt much more inviting. Once we felt good about the new configuration, I wanted to bump up the tropical element a little more. I took a peek at the Walmart Home page to pull some more inspiration! I snagged these super cute summer citrus trays to pull in more of that crisp yellow in the lamps.
The Staircase..
Another one of the elements that drew me to this home, was all of the interesting architectural lines. I knew one day, I was going to do something fun with the staircase. The moment I saw this pink and green tropical wallpaper - I knew exactly what I was going to do on the stairs! The alternating design is actually a happy accident. I realized when I was installing that I didn’t have enough paper for the whole staircase. Luckily, Jess was over and recommended that I alternate the steps. One with the wallpaper and one with color. I thought this would be so fun! Pearlie and I loaded up and went to find some paint. My original plan was to use a blue shade that would tie in the blue elements on the opposite side of the room. When it was all done, Wes and I agreed that it was a hard NO. At 6am the next morning, I went back out to find some green paint and got the steps painted before I left for work! There may or may not have been some tears involved but I am so SO happy with the final result!
We transitioned the rest of the design elements from Phase Two over to the new area as well. One of my favorite things is all the pillows!! I mentioned previously, that I really love to layer different textures and patterns. I think it gives so much visual dimension and in this case makes things extra cozy!! Linking all the styles I used below.
Now that this area is complete, Wes and I can hang out here, talk and have a cocktail but still see the girls in the playroom - which is another feature of the house that we love!
SHOP THIS AREA:
Ok! Moving on to what we are calling the “Record Area”. Wes and I have always really enjoyed music. We have a big record collection and spend a lot of our spare time just hanging out and listening to albums together. It made perfect sense to create a space where we could do just that! This area was a true collaboration!! Wes has been eying a new record player so we wanted to center this area around that (obviously). I was keen to just buy something but Wes had the idea to take the white console that we used in the old house for our TV and mount it on the wall. I was NOT convinced this was going to work out. Turns out I was very wrong - It’s perfect! We bought some heavy duty wall mounts and spray painted them hot pink.
Jess suggested early on in our conversations that I should do a statement wall with wallpaper. I loved this idea and had also considered doing this but was worried it might over power the room. With so many amazing peel and stick options available that are easy to take down - We decided to go for it! Emmie actually picked this Blue Palm Leaf Wallpaper and she NAILED IT!! It matches the Blue Linen Accent Chair and once the console was installed with those hot pink brackets, I was obsessed!
We pulled over those amazing pink velvet chairs and paired them with the green & pink tassel pillows to anchor the console. Then, it was just about adding details and layering some additional pieces to make things a little more cozy. We found this cute set of baskets to go under the console to house the throws I purchased for Phase One. I bought an additional set of smaller scale yellow lamps and placed one of those summer citrus trays on the console to connect with the other yellow pieces.
We placed the Geometric Nesting Tables in the center of the rug and added this cute planter set. Lastly, we wanted to make the space super inviting. Jess found these jute poofs that are just the right size and give me that boho vibe that I need. They also tie in with that Drew Barrymore rattan floor lamp that I died over in Phase One!!
How cute did this turn out?!! I am so proud that we were able to re-purpose ALL the items that we have been intentionally purchasing for this space over the last several months!! I am glad that I trusted my gut and wasn’t afraid to “start over” in order to achieve that feeling that was missing!!
SHOP THIS AREA:
SHOP ALL THE PLANTS & PLANTERS HERE:
I hope you have enjoyed following along with me during this process as much as I have loved sharing it with you all!! I am so thrilled with how everything turned out and can’t wait for all the memories we are going to make in this space!!
SPORTS BRA (2X) | BIKER SHORTS (2X)
