If any of you know me personally, you know that my husband and I have gone through a whirl wind the past two years trying to find a place to call home. After moving home to Missouri from North Carolina we were starting over! We decided to rent a duplex for a year while we both got settled and steady jobs, and then would buy a house. Once that year mark came close we contacted a realtor and they wanted us to make just a little bit more money. Single income probs. But it worked out okay because our lease was up in November and there wasn’t much on the market at that time anyway. A position opened up with more pay at my husbands job and we jumped on it! Then we decided to go ahead and move in with his mom rather than sign another year lease to save some money until spring when the house market picked up.
Well, we didn’t know that when you are paid commission you have to have two years of work history before they’ll approve you for a loan. Some will do a year, but my husband had literally just accepted that position. So it would be a whole year of living with his mom before we could try to buy a house. That was pretty devastating. And sharing a bedroom with your toddler and living with your parents isn’t exactly ideal. So, we decided to go ahead and look for a new place to live. Renting again.
A lot of good came out of living with his mom though. We were able to have more date nights, and she enjoyed the grandbaby snuggles. But we also were able to pay off quite a bit of debt. Credit cards can be seriously dangerous. (Ha ha.)
So we found a little 2 bedroom townhouse! And I just love it guys! I’ve been on this road to live minimally. Just throwing things away that we don’t need or love. And living in a smaller space helps that so much. We will probably end up staying here for a couple of years too. So I’m really excited to start decorating!
I’ve never really had a living room set I liked. All our furniture is hand me down. I think we have one thing bought new. Not even kidding. Haha. But that doesn’t bother me because I’m a total thrifter and antiquer. I love vintage and retro pieces. However, I’ve been saying for two years that as soon as we get a new place we’re getting new couches. Well, right before we moved one of the wood back pieces in our couch broke and it made the couch awfully uncomfortable. My husband had already fixed it once and it was impossible to fix. So we burned that guy. And I sold our matching love seat on Facebook market place. Then, to take it one step further, I decided to pretty much start from scratch in our living room area. I sold our coffee and end tables as well.
Honestly, I’m about to have a garage sale and bring my whole house out there. Haha.
So now the only thing I’ve got in our front room is our TV stand (the one new thing we’ve ever bought), and one of my vintage sofas that I originally planned to use as a photography prop. But I’m kinda in love with it and considering keeping it in here if it fits with our new sofa.
Here’s a look at the empty space from the day we got the keys. Sorry for the crappy iphone pics.
So the hard thing about this space is the window location. It’s really low to the ground, so I’m not sure how I feel about curtains there. And it’s not in the center of the wall, which could be good or bad as far as layouts go. It also doesn’t give the most optimal light to the living room area all times of the day. So, I’ll definitely be moving furniture around a few times I’m sure. The other thing is the floors. Whoever installed these things did a terrible job. And I know this because my dad is a floor layer. And I was honestly embarrassed when he saw them, even though I had nothing to do with the floor being the way it is. I’m sure his 20+ year old floor laying heart broke a little. It’s the laminate floor that pieces together like a puzzle and there are spaces everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Basically, rugs are a MUST. Cause It’s a rental, so I can’t do anything and even if my landlord let me, I’m not spending my hubby’s hard earned money on these floors when we are probably leaving in a couple years. You all understand.
Anyway, I’m working on putting together a layout so I can show you all my plans for the living room! But for now, I wanted to post some of my pinterest inspo pics! I LOVE neutrals. So I’ll definitely be sticking with a neutral base. I also love these geometric black and white rugs. Especially the fringe on the end.
And I’ve always wanted a tan/camel leather sofa. Thankfully they’re becoming more and more popular. So they’re not as hard to find! I love this one from West Elm. And I’m hoping whatever one I pick goes really well with with my cream vintage sofa.
Definitely going to have to do some cool black and white patterned pillows too.
And don’t forget the macrame and plants! I’ll have at least one piece of macrame and several hanging plants for sure.
I can’t wait! Stay tuned for my plan post! Hopefully I’ll get it all done soon.
Stay Gold,
Britny