How One Piece Of Furniture Led To This Living Room Makeover

Photography Ian Logan

 

It always starts with one piece of furniture that you scored on sale… Next thing you know you are totally revamping your entire living room to make the new piece fit perfectly, and look good with everything else. I blame this one on H.D. Buttercup’s Warehouse sale. I had almost gotten out of there free & clear, when my husband spotted a comfy living room chair we just “had to have”, luckily it had a “sold” sticker on it so we dogged that bullet. But right after, I spotted a small couch/love seat for an unbelievable low price, and I knew it had to come home with us. I fully believed it would fit in the spot of an antique chair we were planning on getting rid of, but I was a bit off on that – to say the least.

The good thing was, it forced us to really re-think how we viewed our living room. We had been working with the same configuration of furniture for many years, and it was getting a bit boring, to say the least. The new look gives us more space (important in a small beach house0, made the living room look a LOT larger and feels brighter and airier. The only downside was, that the rug and the coffee table we had, were way to small.

After searching at all the usual places (CB2, Crate & Barrel, Potter Barn, Restoration Hardware, etc etc) we finally found and ordered, a beautiful and colorful  Ashik Wool Rug online from West Elm, that just happened to go on sale that very night (Score!) .  We don’t usually go for multi color – so this was a bit of a gamble. The rug arrived in just two days – can you believe that?  And once we got it in place it literally transformed our living room into a whole other look – which we both loved.

The coffee table was a hard one as I knew I wanted it to be wood, 2 levels, square or rectangle,  and on wheels. I looked into having one made, but then came across this one at Cost Plus World Market of all places. It fit perfectly and had the look I was going for.

After we moved our vintage bar away from the windows and closer to the actua living space it really started feeling like things were tying in nicely. The silver poof was something I had purchased during the time Calypso did their collab collection with Target many years ago and it had just been taking up space along with the bar, near the windows,. Neither were ever used, as they never felt like they were part of the old living room. In fact that was one of the best parts of this project – using pieces I had and loved, but that were getting lost or forgotten in the old space.

We also spent time changing some of the art in the house  to keep the living room beachy and airy. We are both avid surfers (Ian) and skateboarders (me) so our art reflects that as well. We have many pieces hung from favorite photographers we know personally, which keeps it more personal.

I’m stoked with how it all turned out,  and Ian loves the fact that I came in under budget, and completed the entire revamp in less than seven days.  It’s the small things with him – ha!

Shopping List:

Small Couch:     H.D Buttercup

Coffee Table:   Cost Plus World Market

Wool Rug:  West Elm

Photos on Walls:  Hugh Holland, Art Brewer, Jeff Berting, Ian Logan, Jock Sturges & Leroy Grannis

The 405 Freeway Glass on Table:  Sisters of Los Angeles

Golden State Bottle Opener on Bar: Sisters of Los Angeles

Banana Vase, “Drug” Coasters,  and Hate Vase:   Jonathan Adler

Gold Hedgehog with party hat:  Oh Joy!  for Target

Pillows:  West Elm, Cb2, Anthropologie, Home Goods, Artisan Connect, One Kings Lane

Throw on Couch:  Toms for Target collab (not available any longer)

Pink Skateboard:    Dusters x Girl is NOT a 4 Letter Word Available at Eastern Skateboard Supply

Gold Skull:  Z-Gallerie

White & Gold Pineapple:  West Elm

Dogs:   Not for Sale at present time