We have a very big, open space living room and needed some new furniture to fill the space (we sold our old sofa before moving here).

As much as the kids loved having this space as a soccer arena, we craved a space that we could lounge in, listen to music in and catch up on our reading in a cozy spot. A place to gather and enjoy good conversation between friends without stepping over toys would be a bonus, too!

We wanted a room with light wood, natural elements, a neutral colour scheme (although, we wanted to steer clear of grey this time), a touch of natural elements and a minimal look with a bit of an understated coastal/lake vibe.

I gathered my inspiration board and got to work with Sandra our design rep who offers an incredible program with police families.

We went through a lot of samples of brown… and I mean a lot!

Until finally we found the winning combo….

I even saved a picture of Nelson’s Prestige Hotel lobby as a brown fabric Nick and I liked for inspiration haha.

It took several weeks, but finally all our pieces arrived and we have been SO happy filling the space with Nick’s record collection and styling the pieces of furniture.

Not without some heavy lifting and some elbow grease from two handsome boys…

Ta-da! Our living room….

Finally our former ball pit living room was transformed and we had our first night spent with friends; chatting over a lit candle (shout out to Glow & Giggles) and curled up with glasses of wine and a blanket that tells a story 🤣- you had to be there!

I am so happy how everything came together! One thing I kept saying was, I don’t want anything from a set. I really wanted to mix together furniture pieces that flow nicely together, but that don’t necessarily “match”. This felt challenging to do when ordering things online, but with the help of Sandra sending many showroom pics, we were able to achieve the vision!

What do you think of these silhouette pictures of my kids?? I love that they add a bit of height and warmth in between the windows. I made them at my last crafting girls night with a sweet momma friend! It was SO much fun to make. Fun fact, the fabric backing behind the prints are tea towels I found in a pack at Walmart for $8! That counts as a score to me.

The window coverings are very old fashioned, but somehow they work in this space haha. Or maybe we are just telling ourselves it does to save on the hassle 🤷🏻‍♀️ Either way, we’re perfectly content with it right now and are too busy with our noses in books to care…

The accessories are simple with a few thrifted finds. A bouquet of flowers given to me last year on my birthday by a friend that I dried and saved, now sits on top of the sideboard.

The only other thing we’d like to add to the space in time is an oversized earn planter with a fake indoor plant to the right side of our room, opposite the stove.

We have some dreams of extending this look into our dining room and kitchen. We like mixing old with new, so I’m happy to keep my dining table and benches and just adding a few things to bring the look together. Here’s the vision for these two spaces:

Already I’m feeling more at home- and I guess that’s the whole point.

Xo