Classic Neutrals Living Room Reveal

Cozy and classic neutrals living room with wood trim and classic details- check out the full makeover!

Today I’m excited to share one of the main areas of our rental home makeover with you… this cozy living room! For this room, we went with a classic neutrals kind of theme- keeping it pretty simple, but adding in all the cozy and classic elements. I’m so happy with how this space turned out, the perfect mix of new and old, thrifted and ordered. It’s totally neutral, but the blue chair and that gold light add some fun and colour to the space. Let’s take a peek at the before!

If you remember, here is what the space looked like before. The picture window was cracked and the wood frames were pretty damaged. We got those fixed up and other than that, the room was really just in need of decoration! You can see the rest of the house before renovation photos right here if you’re interested.

We wanted to keep the wood trim in this home, so everything we did had to work with that. One of my favourite features in this room was the detail on the ceiling and the arches. I really wanted to play with those so chose to go with a warm muddy kind of light grey for the room. I wanted it to stand out against the white ceiling but was wanting to keep the room really neutral.

The colour I chose is called Collingwood from Benjamin Moore. I love how subtle this colour is but the tone plays really well with everything else we brought into this room. It’s truly a neutral. But a very pretty one!

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We also swapped out the light fixture. We put a portable fan in the closet but wanted to have a bit more of a pretty light instead of the old ceiling fan that was in there. I was obsessed with this gold star light but couldn’t swing it with our tight budget. I ended up finding this gold star light for a fraction of the cost and am so happy with how it looks in here! My sister liked it so much she ordered it for her own home after seeing it go in. That’s always a great sign ;)

I love to layer tall and wide curtains in a space to help the windows feel so much bigger than they are. We matched the gold light fixture with this brushed gold curtain rod and used our favourite IKEA curtains. These are always a win and are so affordable. I’d like to eventually frost the side windows (or maybe apply reeded film) for privacy without compromising the beautiful morning light that comes through them.

For furnishing the room, I was looking at this IKEA sofa with a slip cover like Florence Revival. Now? But then I was shopping with my friend in Vancouver and we found this *perfect* in box Article sofa at a thrift store for a fraction of the price. So I jumped on it obviously. It was the perfect fit for the space!

The other piece of furniture I knew I wanted in the space was that wing back chair. I’ve moved that with me since we got married back in 2009. I love it. And we didn’t have the perfect space for it in our own home anymore so I’m happy it’s found a home here. Doesn’t it add the perfect touch of blue to the space? We have blue in the kitchen so it ties the rooms together a bit.

The gold reading lamp makes the wing back chair look so intentional- like the perfect little reading corner- I think that Chris Loves Julia suggested a similar one but it wasn’t available in Canada.

The only other things we purchased furniture wise was the end tables. They’re IKEA and come in packs of two. Very simple and work with the style of the room!

We thrifted the rest of the furniture… well actually, FB marketplace because I didn’t have time to shop around thrift stores! I booked pickups back to back as we drove from Kamloops to Calgary, then dropped Shane off to work on the house and my sister and I drove all over the city to do pickups. The console dresser/buffet was under $100, the table was $10 (steal!), the rug is this exact one from Rugs USA and I think we got it for under $100 too. I love the size of my city, but FB Marketplace in big cities is 100x more fun!

Granted… buying furniture this way was a bit more work. I did refinish the top of the console and the coffee table top. We set all the furniture out in the garage and that took a full day of my time (the kitchen table and one bedroom dresser had to be refinished as well!). I tried to keep a lot of the character especially on that living room table, just sanding out water damage but leaving the kniks. But the cost savings was amazing. And I think the pieces have so much more character than new.

As for decor- I used a combination of what I already had (plants, candle holders, dried florals from my garden) and some art from The Poster Store. The prints here were sent to me for a Pinterest Collaboration and originally I’d planned to put the in the hallway. I totally forgot to get art for the fireplace! They look amazing here so it really was a happy accident. You can find the dancer here and the abstract piece here. One day we’d love to refresh this fireplace and add a gas insert, but the time (and budget) for now didn’t allow it.

The other thing I love about this space is the arched doorways into the living room and entryway. You can see that from here and peek into the entry. Since these photos, we’ve added an accordion set of hooks above the bench. The light in the entry casts such a pretty shadow on the walls! Not ideal for task lighting, but perfect for this cozy entryway nook.

Whew! Well that’s the living room! What do you think? I’m just loving this room. I’ll be honest- I was more excited about some of the other spaces, but now that this room has come together, it’s honestly the most inviting in the house. We just love hanging out in here! But also… check out that sneaky peek of the kitchen I’ll share tomorrow! SO fun, right?

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