Teal Living Room Refresh

I gave the living room a little refresh, with a few simple updates, so I wanted to share my updated living room tour with you today.  I made three changes, can you spot them?

New Lighter & Softer Aqua Throw Pillows:

One of the changes I made was switching out some of the jewel toned velvet pillows I made a few years ago.  I loved those pillows and the colorblocked fronts/backs meant that I could create all kinds of combinations to keep the look fresh.  But I was ready for a slightly more dramatic change, so I removed all of the greens, keeping only any teal and blue velvet.  I mixed in some seafoam velvet I had bought at the same time but never used.  I backed these new minty pillows with the same creamy tweed most of my remaining velvet pillows have.  You’d never guess they weren’t sewn at the same time!  Then I also whipped up some pillows with leftover fabric from the bunkie shower curtain project.  I love that print and Online Fabric Store had generously sent me extra fabric.  Want to learn how to sew your own pillows?  Check out my tutorial right here.

The updated mix of throw pillows has less contrast and is lighter and more coastal than the previous combination.  I feel like this is the perfect update for spring and it didn’t cost my anything because I already had the fabric and zippers in my stash.  Okay, that’s cheating, but let’s applaud the fact that I’m working my stash and not running out to the fabric store, haha!

I Finally Got a Living Room Rug!

With the sofa looking more beachy again, I also added a new rug.  Would you believe that I have never owned a living room rug?  I’ve always been too worried about cleaning it – and whether the ottoman would still glide smoothly across it.  But I had the chance to work with Ruggable again, on a sponsored Instagram campaign, and was thrilled for a chance to choose another of their washable rugs.  I have loved my Ruggable dining room rug – I love that it is machine washable (I wash mine regularly lol).  This time I chose a slightly bolder design.  It’s a beautiful teal, shot with grey and white.

The rug can be difficult to photograph – it is flat weave (no pile) but still changes color as you move around the room.  It really looks like a “real” rug because the chenille reflects the light much like carpet nap or pile.  Here are some close up photos so you can see the smooth texture and the details of this particular design (and yes! the ottoman slides easily across it!):

I Switched the Chair & the Plant:

I also made one small other change: I switched my massive jade plant with my vintage mint green accent chair.  They used to be positioned like this:

And now, like this:

I know – tiny details!  It goes to show you how sometimes you can get a fresh look for free just by moving things around a little.  This way I can position both of the front chair legs on my rug and the plant is no longer blocking this beautiful chair.  It’s also no longer blocking the view!  Good thing I made a pretty walnut plant dolly for under that jade because it is getting BIG and would be pretty much impossible to move otherwise.

Those are the three changes I made to the living room and it’s feeling like a brand new space for spring!

I especially love the cohesiveness of the lightened up throw pillows paired with the same airy color on the kitchen cabinets now.  Overall, this kitchen/living/dining space feels lighter and bigger.

I hope you liked this updated living room tour!  I get a lot of questions about how I create such a cohesive space.  I believe that home should be a place YOU feel comfortable and I feel comfiest when my home has a soothing, calming, and coordinated color palette – but that’s not what everyone craves.  But if you’re like me, I put together a little guide with my tips – check it out here.