My Gutsy Move to Solve Our Living Room’s Glaring Problems!

This will be part pep talk and part before/during/after of Hello Lovely’s living room renovation (more of a sitting room). Like our DIY renovation of the family room and powder bath, the living room was a relatively less complicated reno. But I had to be gutsy about a biiiiiiig change, and our two-story entry with its busy staircase and pillars was another story. The living room is a small, quiet, sunken, serene, cozy space on the opposite side of a dramatic lively entry. Its style is minimal modern European country (a blend of French and Belgian). Find resources to get the look too.

Our living room is just right for reading, unplugging, and napping. The afternoon light grows lovely in here then glows pink near sunset. What we were after? A quiet, truly livable sanctuary without fuss or formality.

Hello Lovely Living Room Renovation

Redesign from Open to Closed

Even though the existing construction of this area of the home (open and with columns) was solidly built with integrity, I knew the formality and openness wasn’t liveable for our lifestyle. Without privacy from the hall and front door, it felt like an extension of the foyer. And that foyer is plenty grand enough. Placing furniture in a small yet sunken space (with columns and openness to a fancy entry)? Hmmmm. It’s funny. The virtual staged marketing photos for the house showed a big screen TV on the wall:

A TV where my painting now hangs would necessitate seating in front of the columns not shown in the photo above! You would enter the front door and immediately see the back of a sofa? Goodness, no. But what about seating on the window wall with a TV or focal point across from it? No again – there’s actually no wall across from the window wall! It’s a step up to a hall to the powder bath and family room:

Staged photos for marketing are sort of the devil.

When we started with this living room, there were just two walls, and one of them has windows. Therefore, we had to build walls so fussy formal spaces could function and come down to earth.

Trading Open Concept for Opulent Cozy

I’m saying it was a gutsy move because the average homeowner is not going to choose such a DIY, but was it really that brave? Is your lifestyle formal enough that those columns and lack of a wall wouldn’t interfere with furniture placement? BTW, the solid wood columns (see above photo) are still sandwiched inside the drywalled double walls we added. The addition of an arched window breaks up the expanse of wall in the entry and retains a sense of openness and connection with the once completely open living room.

Here’s the new wall viewed from the living room side. Through the window, you see the columns at the dining room which still needed to be sandwiched in drywall. I keep saying wall, but bear in mind it’s two walls sandwiching those columns! My hard working dynamo of a builder hubby built four walls in order to bring function to three spaces in the front section.

Balance & Mural Drama in the Foyer

What a transformation! I know not everyone would choose to wallpaper as I did. But this was not an impulsive decorating decision. If my style leaned more modern, the two-story walls here could be painted white and maybe the crown would be removed.

However, I wanted this foyer to feel less show-offy and more scaled for humans. The serene treescape keeps the focus grounded. Your eye can’t help but travel to the fancy staircase, but interest from wallpaper (extending 8′ rather than 17′ high) is a counterpoint and somehow balances the busy.

The columns just weren’t beefy enough to provide the balance I was after. How do you find the guts to make such a dramatic move? LISTEN TO YOUR HOME. Really. Just listen to the whispers. It told me it needed more solidity AND wanted to feel airy and Parisian. I just had to figure out what that could possibly mean.

Seeing the toilet from the entry really bugged me, and the house also had an opinion. Before the redesign, it felt as though everything in this area competed for attention and shouted “look over here…I’m fancy” and “let’s quickly get overwhelmed when we step inside.”

Depending on your perspective, now when you enter, you may think, “is this a little boutique hotel in Paris?” or “this homeowner collects some edgy art” or “well, this is unexpected.”

Will the walls remain greige? They may get painted white one of these days! Would you paint them white?

Creating an Identity for Home By Listening

We weren’t even looking for a new project when this house came on the market. And we knew we had to buy it because the scenic countryside lot with its breathtaking views simply beckoned.

Our renovation decisions started from a place of HOW DO WE GENTLY CHANGE FUSSY, FORMAL, AWKWARD INTERIORS TO BECOME THE SOOTHING SPACES WE NEED?

You might assume the creative process is limited to your own imagination. But don’t underestimate how listening to what a house wants is a gamechanger. Even if you’re a control freak like me! I initially argued with the house about what it said loud and clear: I WANNA BE A PARISIAN HOTEL, MAMA. I kept imagining Parisian influences involving glamour, gilt, and crystal. How in the world would they bring the calm I needed?

But the architecture had a strong point of view too.

I kept listening and softening to the wisdom echoing from beyond my own understanding…beyond my natural tendency to cling to control.

In case you need the reminder…control is often an illusion. 🙂 Renovations will teach you broader life lessons. For example…

Uncertainty and disappointment will always arrive. Listening to the still small voice within is everything. We can always open our heart wider and take time daily for practice at keeping it open. If you’re like me, your heart will find reasons to harden, grow bitter, or close. Openheartedness will cost you. It’s also an investment that never fails.

By listening to this house and letting go of what felt safe, tried, true, and predictable, we opened to fresh ways of living here. The home wanted another hearth rather than storage for fancy dishes.

So we gave it a fireplace and repurposed the built-in china cabinet visible from the entry for everyday essential storage in the kitchen.

The house needed its rooms to be more sheltered and purposeful rather than unused, dated, lonely pass-throughs.

And maybe it needed human hands to massage it into a new creation.

BTW. Trees – what’s with so many trees and tree wallpaper? They are so important to us. The ficus you see above in the dining room? It’s real and has been with my husband for more than 30 years.

Trees teach me just about everything I need to know on my spiritual journey. Immersing ourselves in nature seems critical to both my healing and my husband’s.

Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray

This grey is wonderful to live with and sets off the white trim. Since I have always loved grey with gold, there are bits of it in here.

With the quality of light the room receives, the grey feels gentle. There’s a soft contrast with the warmth of the sand colored linen sofa and MCM swivel chair. The rustic console table made from reclaimed wood is one we have owned for a long time. It can hold any number of things and is not terribly deep so I have used it in a kitchen, a den, and now here.

The long white painted farmhouse bench is made from antique pine from a nearby 19th century barn taken down and salvaged. Our children sat on this bench for meals and homework. It is scarred and bears all sorts of marks from age, use, time, and love.

And just a reminder it’s not a small thing when a paint color offers gentleness.

Because you can go to great lengths to update a space–even make expensive structural changes–and still not capture what you long to capture.

If you’re making changes to your own space, think about how you want to ultimately feel when you spend time in it.

Don’t lose courage or confidence by becoming distracted with thoughts of what others beyond those in your household will think or feel. (Imagine being a blogger and ignoring the gallery of opinions and voices!)

Let yourself open to the gift of being a co-creator (your home is your partner!) and remember to sample a few paint color options before deciding what feels right.

How the Addition of One Wall Changed Everything

I knew adding a wall would greatly ease furniture arrangement and provide privacy, but I didn’t expect the room to suddenly feel full of potential.

Yet it does! It’s a place to: read, get a little work on the laptop done, take a nap, watch the birds, swivel in a favorite chair, and just be. Large wide open rooms can be great rooms, but a cozy space (room for just a few furnishings) can feel calm and unfussy. This room could even become a bedroom if a main level bedroom becomes necessary. Also, there’s enough room to add a shower to the powder room next to it.

Here’s a photo showing the relationship of the living room to the family room. A pocket door leads to a little hall to the entry and a bathroom.

While all of the greige (it’s Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray in the family room) and tone-on-tone may be too sedate for some, it’s just right for us. I haven’t had shelves quite like these before to style. I need to watch youtubes!

Thanks for being here with me on the evolving journey, friends. I love having you here.

Shop my home HERE, and let me know if you would have skipped building the walls!

I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.

Peace to you right where you are.

-michele

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