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Young House Love » Our First House » Warming Up A Living Room That’s Feeling Stark

| By Sherry Petersik | January 9, 2008 | 8 Comments

Warming Up A Living Room That’s Feeling Stark

While the majority of America seems to love hoarding and clutter, John and I are lone mice. Or whatever the opposite of a pack rat would be. But there’s a fine line between clean, uncluttered spaces and cold, stark rooms. It’s not an easy assessment to make on your own. But I was able to make an honest evaluation by photographing each of our rooms and then comparing each room in our house to rooms in decorating magazines and favorite furniture catalogs like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and Ballard Designs.

I quickly realized that while our rooms were clean and simple, they were severely lacking in the design department. So of course I was spurred to action. I feverishly began to move furniture around. And when the dust cleared, I had a good idea of what was working, and what I needed to add to my wish list. The main shift occurred in the den, a room that’s always been tricky due to its long narrow layout. Another chair, an end table and a slew of rotated accessories really did make a big difference. Here’s the ho-hum before:

Finalden 650x488

And the warmer and more welcoming after:

Afterden 1

Seems less bare and boring, right? Plus there’s one more place to sit (and rest a drink). Total bonus. The crazy part is that the side table was salvaged from our basement’s garage sale pile. So nice to have a little “store” in our basement to raid for extra pieces.

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Comments

  1. Avatar for JenniferJennifer says

    January 9, 2008 at 4:09 am

    The room does look much better! It’s amazing what a little furniture moving will do! Good job.

    Reply
  2. Avatar for jennijenni says

    January 9, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Where were the ottomans on sale???

    Reply
  3. Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

    January 9, 2008 at 3:19 pm

    Thanks Jennifer! We’re still beaming.

    And Jenni, the ottomans were on sale at Target, I believe through this Saturday. They’re actually not in the normal ottoman section though, we ended up finding them in the basket aisle near the big tupperware storage containers and the leather magazine holders. Happy hunting!

    Sherry

    Reply
  4. Avatar for gimblergimbler says

    January 9, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    Sherry, I just love the interior of your home! You have a good eye, I think, for just what’s needed.

    On the pack-rat thing – my husband and I are sort of a “hybrid” – we don’t like a lot of clutter around us, but we don’t throw anything away either – it just goes into the basement or garage. I can’t tell you how many times something that I’ve had no use for suddenly becomes “just the thing” after doing a year or two stint in storage.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for YoungHouseLoveYoungHouseLove says

    January 10, 2008 at 4:47 am

    Hey Gimbler,

    Muchos muchos gracias. I’m inspired and flattered by your kind words. I also love the idea of storing pieces for a rainy day. Our garage sale pile just got a whole lot smaller. I figure if I have the space I might as well hold on to a few things so that they’re on hand when the redecorating bug sneaks up and bites me. Which happens rather often these days…

    Sherry

    Reply
  6. Avatar for ElizabethElizabeth says

    January 22, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    Love the painted brick! Hubs and I have an all brick den and we painted it (much to the shrieks of an audience), but we love it!

    Reply
  7. Avatar for CandiceCandice says

    August 23, 2010 at 9:29 pm

    This is EXACTLY where I am right now. I’m evaluating our rooms and trying to decide why things feel so incomplete. I even spent this weekend “shopping” around our house for accessories. I just posted about it on my blog. It comforts me to see where you guys started.

    Reply
  8. Avatar for Can LightsCan Lights says

    August 24, 2010 at 1:35 pm

    WOW, it looks much better. Well done moving some furniture around and making the room look spectacular.

    Reply

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John and Sherry smiling against pink backgroundHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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