Back when I moved into my home in 2014, there were some big updates I wanted to make right away. The open floor plan with a view of the entire first level from the front door was ideal, with the exception of the carpet in the living room leading to linoleum in the kitchen. The walls were the builder grade white that hadn’t been touched since the previous owner moved in after it was built.
Before even bringing all of our boxes into the house in order to make it our home, we started by ripping up the flooring in place and laying down an attractive grey wood laminate floor. In order to properly get the new floor laid, the baseboards had to be removed so we also added painting the walls to the list of updates. I chose a light grey for the walls as well that still created a bright appearance throughout the room. The kitchen island stood out as a centerpiece of the far end of the room so that was painted a darker shade of grey to deliberately stand out as a focal point.
In the kitchen, I decided to upgrade the faucet to a larger sprayhead with a retractable hose and I also added an Ikea OTTAVA pendant light to hang right over the island. Those two upgrades, along with the new paint color, really made the kitchen island pop as an attractive focal point upon entering my home and it stands out amongst my bright white kitchen cabinets and appliances.
The living room hasn’t gone through any dramatic updates, with the exception of the wall color and flooring, but I found a variety of ways to make my simple living space work best for me. It really is a minimalist living room since the only furniture in place is a large sectional sofa, an ottoman, and a recliner. The ottoman is rather large so in order to turn it into a functional and reliable multipurpose furniture piece, I added a large tray to sit on top for holding drinks or other living room items.
After all the work and money invested in doing the floors and walls ourselves, I wanted a simpler task for adding decorative elements to the living room. It took me a couple years but I finally looked around and realized the walls of my home may have had new paint added to them, but they were still bare. It’s hard to believe that I used to be a photographer with how little artwork or photography I ever had on display.
In order to give my home a warmer feel, I added canvas gallery prints to the walls. JT and I had our photos taken when he was two years old during a visit to my hometown during our giant 8 month cross-country roadtrip. The memories from that time are some of my favorite, so making the investment in having gallery prints created for display was a good choice in adding ambience to my living room. I chose three of my favorite photos and had one larger print made in landscape orientation to hang over the sofa and two complementary prints in a smaller size for each side wall.
Gallery prints are such a smart and easy way to enhance a room or give it a new look. Display your own family portraits, some of your own photography, or some large art pieces. Placing art on the walls adds something to the room without taking up valuable floor space. Try it out for yourself!
For more Ideas, Tips and Guides for a Minimalist Living Room, check out my post on the Zulily blog!