Today my living room is eclectic. Tomorrow it might be all white. The next day it could double as the dining area. Around here, rooms are always changing. A little over a year ago I realized the living room wasn’t being used to its full potential. It had become mainly a passage from the front door to the dining room and kitchen—an underused space that felt like a waste. So I decided to make some changes.
My goal was to turn the living room into more of a gathering space since it sits between the entry and the dining room, where guests tend to linger. I wanted it to feel like an extension of the entry rather than a formal, separate room we didn’t really need. Because it opens to the dining room, we also wanted flexible furniture that could support an extra table for parties and sit-down dinners.
I didn’t want it to become a craft room or any other space that might get messy, because it’s the first room you see when you enter the house and the one you notice when you come downstairs. I thought this through over the four years we’d lived with the space.
When we moved in the room had unfortunate wall color (sometimes a pinky-tan), tan carpet I never loved, but it also had great windows that let in plenty of light and a pleasant feel thanks to the higher vaulted ceiling.
Last spring we emptied the room to see how it felt with nothing in it. The openness was refreshing and made it clear we needed less furniture. If you’re unsure how to arrange or use a space, removing everything can help you decide what truly belongs there.
As a first step, we replaced the old carpet with Hickory hardwood floors (Mohawk, installed by Lowe’s). We love the new floors; they made a dramatic improvement.
Immediately after updating the living and dining room floors we began a kitchen remodel, so further living room plans were put on hold.
When I added hooks and wainscoting by the front door, the adjoining living room didn’t need to serve as much of an entry space anymore. Still, we liked the idea of the living room as a casual gathering spot instead of a formal sitting room. As each room evolves in function and style, others naturally shift too.
For a while we used a new cart and rug in the living room and enjoyed the change. Eventually the cart found its permanent home in the dining room and the round rug moved into the kitchen after the remodel.
Furniture shuffling is constant here—always rearranging.
It’s a small miracle we don’t trip over furniture at night.
Our black-and-gold antique chinoiserie cabinet has migrated between the living room and the entry more times than I can count. When the cart moved to the dining room, we brought the cabinet back into the living room.
You can see the room’s earlier arrangement with a loveseat and the black cabinet, and how it looks now. Replacing the sofa with a smaller settee opened up the space and gave it a casual, eclectic sitting-area vibe instead of a formal living room feel. I also brought a blue side table back from the garage and added an indoor/outdoor kilim rug from Pottery Barn, placed on the diagonal to add color, pattern, and a less boxy look.
A sea-green lamp from Target brightened the dark bookcase, and a new patterned chair increased the eclectic mix. The chair will stay until the next idea strikes. The white wingback was moved to the family room on a whim one day.
Although the living room makeover started a chain of updates throughout the house, ultimately the new wood floors were the key change that made us fall in love with the room again—regardless of which furniture pieces were in it. That single improvement changed how we felt about the space.
Next on the list is possibly adding stationary curtains around the large window to frame and soften it without blocking light, and maybe installing blinds for privacy. I’m also considering replacing the ceiling fan with an orb or round light fixture and possibly adding white planks to the ceiling.
The furniture here will likely keep changing, and that’s part of the fun. I like having rugs and pieces that can move between rooms so the house can evolve with our needs and tastes.
I’m already thinking about pulling up the rugs for summer and shifting the living room rug to the kitchen in the fall.
Is your house always evolving?