A Few Cozy Living Room Updates

Our living room has seen a few cozy updates this summer and I can’t wait to share them with you!

Like so many others, with all this extra time around home this Summer, we managed to find all sorts of projects to tackle around the house.

Last week I shared our plans for finishing the basement and over on Instagram I’ve been sharing sneak peeks at our massive back-yard project. But, our basement and back yard aren’t the only spaces that saw some changes this Summer – our front living room has had a few updates as well. Sure, the transition in this space is admittedly more subtle, but I truly think the whole feel in this room has changed with just a few small decor tweaks.

Can you spot what’s different? Maybe this look back at our living room space from this past Winter will help?

I’ll tell you, there’s nothing like six months of sticking around home to really highlight the things that aren’t working within a space and really get those decorating juices flowing. I always knew this rug was too small for this room and, though cozy, the more modern feel of it just wasn’t right for that nostalgic cottage look I’ve been gravitating towards lately. With neutral tones throughout this room, I wasn’t really limited by what colours I could introduce, though my neutral loving heart knew I’d stick to something on the more subtle side of things. With it’s vintage feel and soft colours, this beautiful rug turned out to be the perfect choice!

That gorgeous vintage inspired rug wasn’t the only pop of (subtle) colour I brought into the space – a few new pillows carried some of those colours up to the sofa and tie it all together. Not only do the colours all tie into our new rug, but the patterns all have a vintage feel to mirror that vintage inspired rug as well.

You might also notice a new coffee table in place of the ottoman. I’ve been wanting a round coffee table in here for ages now – after living with an ottoman for years, I was convinced that having a whole coffee table to set things on rather than a tiny little tray would be so much more useful and it turns out I was right! I actually ordered this table for our basement, but decided to put it to work in here until the basement is finished and we’re ready to move it downstairs. Honestly, I think the look of this table is a touch more modern than I’d pictured for this space, but it will be a perfect fit down in the basement (you can see how I’ve worked it into my design plans here). I’ve narrowed down my favourite options to replace it with below, I’d love to hear your favourite choice for this living room space!

The last big change in this space isn’t really in our living room technically, but since everything is so open here (thanks to our massive renovation a couple of years ago!), I think it still counts – those beautiful wood stools at our island were the perfect addition to bring a little warmth to both our kitchen and living room. I just love the way that warm wood peeks over our counters and it pairs so beautifully with the island cabinets.

I really think these few small tweaks have made such an impact in this living room space! The subtle pops of colour really help to make everything feel so much warmer and cozier! I’ve got a few more changes up my sleeve still for this space, including changing out the furniture legs, some drapery updates and of course, a new coffee table, so stay tuned for a few more living room changes coming soon!