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Living Room Switch-a-Roo *UPDATE*

First I want to start by saying thank YOU for all the wonderful comments, feedback and ideas you gave me for how I could improve our living room and give it that “wow” factor I was looking for. I read every one of your ideas and I loved all of them. Today I’m back to show you how I took your advice, and with just a few small changes, dramatically improved our living room!

The first thing I did was rearrange the furniture. You all said I needed to move it closer together, so I did. I moved the couch up, switched the chairs to the other side of the room and brought out a loveseat I had in our room, by the fireplace. I’ll have to get something else for in front of the fireplace because I think the loveseat is the perfect addition to the living room, here’s the result.

Before

Living room before - Ask Anna

After

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

The next thing I did was go online and look for a new rug. Honestly I liked the rug that was in here before, but I didn’t love it, and from the beginning I knew it was the wrong color. The gray worked but it wasn’t great so I was glad when you all confirmed my feelings. I ended up finding a great deal on a huge 9’x12′ rug on Overstock. I looked all over the internet to find a color and pattern I liked, and I ended up falling in love with this nuLOOM traditional Persian rug. It was exactly the color pallet I was looking for and it was less than $300, which I considered a score for a 9’x12′ rug.

Before

Living room before - Ask Anna

After

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

The other thing you all said, was that I needed to add color to the collage wall. I’m so glad you all said that, it was exactly what I needed to hear to make me change up the collage wall, and I LOVE the way it turned out. I left some of the black and white sketches by my oldest daughter but I also added some of Malea’s colorful artwork. Adding the bright, fun colors totally transformed the wall and warmed up the space, and it was free! I also added a few other frames that I had lying around, which I think filled the gaps and made it look better.

Before

Living room before - Ask Anna

After

Living room gallery wall with my kids' artwork - Ask Anna

Another thing you all said, that surprised me, because I’d never thought about it, was the size and shape of our coffee table. We made our coffee table years ago (click here to see that post) and it worked perfectly in our other living room but I’d never thought about the fact that it was too small, and the wrong shape, for our current living room. I wanted to make a new one but I honestly didn’t have the time right now because we have so much going on and we’re getting ready to go on vacation (yay!). So instead I went on Craigslist and found the perfect fixer upper. 🙂 I can’t always find what I need on Craigslist but this table was so perfect that I decided it had to be the Lord that put it there for me! It was the right size and shape, it just needed a good sanding and staining (that post coming soon), and now I think it looks fabulous in our living room!

Before

Living room before - Ask Anna

After

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

If you look at the top of the picture you can catch a sneak peek of our new kitchen ceiling. 😉

With a little more furniture re-arranging, and some new pillows (which you also said I needed), I think our living room finally has the “wow” factor I was looking for. Every time I walk past it I think, “wow, I finally have a ‘grown up’ living room!”. Thank you all so much for helping me get it here, I honestly couldn’t have done it without you! What do you think about all the changes? What’s your favorite new addition?

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

By adding a larger rug, a little more seating and the proper size coffee table, I was able to take my living room from boring to fabulous! - Ask Anna

Shop this look –

  • nuLOOM traditional Persian rug – Overstock.com
  • Gray chairs with nailhead trim – Tuesday Mornings, you can find similar ones HERE
  • Caribbean blue loveseat – World Market
  • Coffee table – Craigslist but you can find plans for a similar one HERE
  • Pillows – Tuesday Mornings
  • Large mirror – IKEA
  • TV console

Disclosure: I have included affiliate links in this post but if you purchase through them you will not pay a cent more than you would otherwise. Thank you for supporting Ask Anna!

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Decorating// House Projects// Our new home

About Anna

"Hi, I'm Anna! Wife, mother, child of God, and the founder of Ask Anna. I have always enjoyed cleaning, organizing, decorating and helping people, so I've put that all together on the pages of this blog. I truly hope my tips help you in your home and make sure to contact me if you have a question!"

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Comments

  1. Susan says

    October 21, 2015 at 4:34 am

    I said “wow” as soon as I saw what you did! Love it! And I know you will too. Some things make you smile every time you see them – I know this will be one (or a few!) of those things for you.

    • Anna says

      October 21, 2015 at 8:31 am

      Thank you Susan! 🙂

  2. Michele says

    October 25, 2015 at 7:01 am

    It looks wonderful!! I have to say that it’s hard to say one thing is my favorite since it all works so well together, but I LOVE your choice and style of rug. I think it pulls everything together to give the room a cohesive WOW factor!! Love the additional pictures and pillows. You did an AMAZING job!! 😉

  3. Janeen says

    November 2, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Anna! The remake is just gorgeous!! Good job sweetie! It’s absolutely perfect! 🙂

  4. Shannon says

    December 1, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    Love the new look!
    Very elegant with a beautiful flow.
    The new rug is gorgeous and really grounds the space.
    I found the same thing happen when I got one too.
    Love the wood floors, but you need that delineation of space.
    Looking super lovely my friend!!

    • Anna says

      December 2, 2015 at 7:25 am

      Thank you so much!!! 🙂

  5. janna says

    January 20, 2016 at 7:44 am

    I’m new to this blog – but i just wanted to say “WOW” to what your seating area turned out. Its simply perfect – stylish but cozy. I also think that the gallery wall looks a lot better now, I’m simply not a fan of the empty frames but this is a matter of taste. I truely think you should do one thing: print the picture you made of this wall (colour printer) and try with markers how would look other colours than white to the frames. Maybe you will be surprised. I think the only thing keeping this wall from being another “wow” in your room might be that next to the black tv they look a little bit “unimportant” and not drawn together. The rug is just to fall in love with so is the turquoise chair by the way! You did a great job and these pics have been a great inspiration for my plans of doing a gallery wall as well!

    • Anna says

      January 21, 2016 at 7:44 am

      Awesome, thank you so much Janna! 🙂

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