March 30

Today I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out what to do with our living room. This is what the living room looked like 6 years ago, when we first moved into this house. We've changed a few things over the years, but we have had the same layout for as long as we have lived here. (This was long before I had a good camera, so the quality/color is not so good on this picture...making the color of the walls look different, though it has not changed). This was the view from the dining room.This is the view from the dining room right now. Again, all the colors are still the same; this picture just has better lighting.
We wanted to open up the space more, and I think we have succeeded in doing that. I also think we like it and will keep it this way, but there are a few problems to work through and changes to be made.

1. The carpet needs some major cleaning. The carpet is about 2 1/2 years old, and with the couches staying in the exact same spot for 2 1/2 years and the amount of foot traffic we have around here...well, we now have two different colors of carpet! You can see it in the picture above. So some professional cleaning is in our future, and hopefully we can get the carpet all back to the same color!

2. This is the entryway area right now. Obviously, it needs some work, as I don't want people to be greeted by a pile of toys. I'd like to get a bench to put here, with some storage underneath to hide all those toys. Oh, and I'd also like to get a new rug for the floor in the entryway.
3. Eventually, we like to get a brown leather chair and ottoman to go here. But soon our living room is going to be overtaken again by the baby swing and the exersaucer and all those fun baby things, so we will wait until we are all done with the baby phase before we add a big (unmovable) piece of furniture. Plus, we really don't have money to get a nice chair right now.
4. We are going to get a new entertainment center. I feel like this one is too big and bulky for the space. I bought it at Wal-mart for like $60 before we were married, and I never expected it to be around this long. I'm looking for something smaller and sleeker and still fairly inexpensive. Right now, this is looking like my top choice.
5. However, getting a smaller entertainment center is going to leave us with a big empty wall on that side of the room. I'm not sure exactly what to do with that space, but it is going to need some help. New artwork/decor is definitely on the list.

6. The biggest question right now is the door. That door leads to a closet that leads to the piano room. It's like a little shortcut to our piano room, so you don't have to walk around and down the hall.

When we first talked about rearranging, our initial thought was that we would take the door out, as we thought the room would look better without the door in the corner. There are a few other advantages too. It would make rewiring easier. And we have to do some rewiring to get rid of the cable and other cords that are currently running across the room. Plus, if we took out the door, it would give us more wall space to create more shelving (and thus more storage) in the closet.

At the same time, it's a lot of work (for Daniel!) to take out the door and put in the drywall and repaint. And it really doesn't seem to look that bad with our new arrangement. So is it necessary?? That's what we are trying to decide right now.

7. One more thing...I also want to get new curtains. These curtains are sheer and cheap. I got them on major clearance at Target, kind of as a temporary fix. But I've never replaced them, and I'm definitely ready for a change there.

8. And while we're looking at things to change...a new lamp would be kind of nice too!

Isn't it crazy how one little change leads to another and another and another? This is going to be a step by step process, because the budget is definitely not going to allow us to make all these changes at once.