The dream for most parents is a kid free space that is comfortable and relaxing and dedicated to ‘the moment’. You guys know what I’m talking about. It’s that split second of complete and utter release where you collapse after a long day of diaper changes and food prep and toddler tantrums and think OH HECK YEAH. And maybe THIS IS SWEET. And a little I CAN’T BELIEVE WE ALL SURVIVED. And that dreamy place….that oasis in the desert of life….is my sitting room. I truly can’t believe this space is ours. It’s my very favorite makeover….not because of all the things….but because its the best room to decompress after a long day. It’s our happy place. We talk about this room with hearts in our eyes. It’s a spot that is filled with more adult conversations, moments of laughter and silence (which as a mom of four boys is pretty priceless) than any other in our house. And today we are sharing our big reveal with you. I can’t freaking wait!
Here is the before….it’s the room attached to our bedroom and it has a bay window and a fireplace.
When we moved in, we immediately hung a tv and would sit up here – welcoming baby after baby home to this pretty bland space. We didn’t even paint or retile the fireplace till late last year.
And now the space looks like this…
The fresh paint was long overdue. The beaded light fixture is my very favorite in the house and compliments the weird shape of our ceiling. In front of the windows, we got two big comfy leather chairs….a big investment but one that is paying off in spades as they are just getting more comfortable…
And the fireplace we retiled, added shelves, and created a visual centerpiece for the space. It’s EVERYTHING I love….the wood and stone with navy walls and lots of space to display and store all our stuff.
On the far wall, we knew that we needed something big and impactful….the shelves had a bunch of stuff going on and we decided a beautiful console is the perfect storage solution.
Let’s just talk about that piece for just a moment because I’m obsessed. I had so many different options but in the end, I opted for this four door wood option and it matches our fireplace shelves pretty perfectly. It’s not very deep (14″) and that is perfect for us as we didn’t want it to push out into the room.
The doors are my favorite. They have glass and this wood detail that is beautiful. And that texture. Oh the texture.
We kept the top simple with few decor pieces and of course, our Amazon dots (my dad got us each one for Christmas and Jeremy loves them!).
Inside, I found some lidded baskets and they are great for hiding away unsightly necessities….like printer ink refills and cords for our electronics.
Next to the new console is a tripod lamp and I love it. It balances that weird corner out and I can still reach it while sitting….which is amazing.
It’s from Target and looks way more expensive than it actually is.
Now let’s talk about this chair situation one more time. Jeremy and I are ALWAYS uncomfortable. Always. We sit next to each other on a couch and fall into each other. So we end up sitting on opposite sides….and we always complain that we don’t have that ‘other’ armrest. It’s a weight shifting thing. We both do the same thing. And I finally said to Jeremy…I just need a chair…a big comfy chair….and you do too….one that is hard to ruin.
We called the Pottery Barn outlet and they had a couple leather chairs that were exactly what we wanted but in a different color. But then we realized….we just need to get a coupon and buy the thing that we are gonna sit in every night. It’s a splurge….sure….but it’s gonna last us and we spend hours each night in these things watching Survivor and The Walking Dead and ALL of Netflix. It’s a necessity. So armed with a 20% off coupon, we ordered these leather beauties and we have never regretted it….not for one second.
First, they are comfortable for our butt….but also for our necks….we can slouch down, lay our heads back and have a perfect posture for tv watching, relaxing or taking a nap.
And the extra wide square arms….perfect for shifting weight and tucking that blanket in and around and for Jeremy to do his weird wrist itching thing that ruins most arm chairs. Love you babe. Glad you have a chair.
The table we have in between is an old hand-me-down and we like the height and the size and the shape….we try to keep it relatively empty because we always have drinks and phones and card readers and cameras on it. A stack of books and a vase is all we can manage other wise 🙂
The fireplace transformation is still one of my favorite tiling jobs ever. It’s got a lot of texture and shine (literally there are little sparkly bits!) and the way it wraps around the shelves feels very intentional and luxe….but in a casual way…not in a flashy way.
If you want to see the DIY tutorial on tiling this area and building the shelves….CLICK HERE.
All of the plants in here are fake except for the floor snake plant next to Jeremy’s chair. I can’t manage to keep much alive and most of these are pretty good faux versions. Gotta love a nice never-dead 🙂
One of the hardest decisions for this area was footstools or ottomans. At first I thought we would just buy the matching ottomans that go with the chairs….but I’m glad we didn’t. The ottomans would have shown wear more quickly and looked distracting as compared to the chairs…so I went with these leather pieced oversized ottomans instead. They are sort of a gray denim color and have other metallic leather pieces interwoven to add some interest. At first I thought they were too light but now I love the way they tie in all the blues and grays in the space. AND they don’t show any wear. At all. Jeremy’s should be brown by now because he wears his shoes on them.
And so you can properly appreciate my tv-watching view….here is what it looks like 🙂
And because I know everyone will want to know a little more about that artwork….it’s from Minted and it’s just every one of the things. It’s one of my first things I see in the morning and I love it. Emily Jeffords is the artist and she is one of my very favorites.
It is the biggest size and we had it framed by Minted because I was worried about a framing issue taking it somewhere else. My goodness, what if they had ripped it?! I always say that art is a wonderful DIY project but if you find a piece that makes you FEEL something….buy it. Buy it now.
If you want more info on any of these pieces – here are the links….just click on the picture for the direct links….
And here is more info on the room as well as past posts from this space…