Palo Alto Renovation: Living Room

Before: The first three photos are the ones that were emailed to me before I moved into this rental house. This room is particularly challenging due to a rather large piano, which is a permanent fixture in the house. I cannot even budge it on my own and I have a lot of determination. There is also a serious lamp issue going on. Lamp issue #1: The cowboy lamp. Since western theme doesn't do much for me, the cowboy lassoing a cactus was the first thing to go. Plus, the lamp table next to the couch took up too much space and was unnecessary.

Lamp issue #2: Are those geese? Oh boy.
Also, take note of the yellow door. It is important.


Lamp issue #3: This lamp base is completely busted and the lamp can't even stand independently. It is leaning against the wall to stay upright.

After: I spent a day painting and incorporating some of my furniture and lamps with the existing furniture and this is what I came up with. Not so bad, eh. Thinning things out is key and giving enough breathing room around each piece of furniture makes it feel more spacious. It is a dead give away that you have no space when your couch is shoved all the way up against the wall.

Let's discuss color, shall we? Our yellow door is the keystone, as it is my roommates favorite component of the house. I took the challenge to save the door and paint everything else. So I had to choose a wall color that would work with the bright yellow-orange. The walls were already blue, but I chose another shade so instead of being a sky blue or little boys room blue, there is a greenish gray undertone, which is pretty soothing. The mocha colored accent wall helps ground everything so it doesn't feel like "candyland".

I also added a mirror to give the illusion that the space is bigger than what it really is. This is my cameo. There is still one problem area, and that is the TV. I am trying to find a TV stand, but holding out for something that has a door or a drawer that will fit the pieces to my rockband drum set. So for now I am just using what was kicking around. Craigslist is my friend and this will be remedied soon.