Reclaim

Reclaim - a: to rescue from an undesirable state,

also: to restore to natural state.

"Reclaim my house" is new series I want to launch on this blog. I am sure everyone who has small kids will understand when I say " I want to reclaim my house from the kids chaos!"

Of course, there are those who somehow manage to keep their house tidy and organized, and moreover, DESIGNED to their liking even after they have kids! I salute you, those brave moms, who are not afraid of displaying decorative glass vases and picture frames on their side tables, and upholstering fine furniture in designer fabrics and using beautiful wallpaper in their guest bathrooms. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. From the moment I had my first baby, I put all my design desires and dreams to the side. On hold.

Somehow crawling babies and a coffee table with a pile of Interior Design magazines on top, and a small square vase with a pretty bouquet of flowers in it ( you know what I am talking about, this is a typical photo shoot prop used in those Interior Design magazines to make the rooms look pretty and fresh and wonderful) did not work out for me! LOL!

Other item that were banned from my house were live plants, fake plants, candles, books, decorative objects, etc. Because everything within their little hands reach were instantly destroyed and/or increased the risk of injury.

So we lived in a boring, bare-walled, un-accessorized house for almost 3 years. And now that my kids are almost 3 and 4 years old, I think it is possible to give my house a design makeover it deserves.

Of course, it is not going to be one of those miraculous makeovers they show on TV, but rather a step-by-step, room-by-room update/upgrade and renovation to fix up all those "design gaps and holes" left behind.

So I plan to post every Thursday on the progress of a certain room.

The first room to receive an upgrade is the LIVING ROOM

Here what it looks like now,

Things that are new, and to be included in the new design:

-Drapes

-Mirror

-Console Table below

-Sectional

Besides the EMPTY BORING WALL and the old, stained, temporary RUG that is just really wrong for this room, there are a few things I want to achieve:

- Add color/pattern to the room

- Add wall treatment on the boring wall - perhaps, a collage of framed photos/artwork, maybe a ledge to fit small decorative objects, maybe even a stencil. 

-Change the rug ( I covered that one in the post here)

-Add new pillows for the sectional

- Possibly repaint the walls due to numerous fingerprints of smaller size, and occasional doodles with crayons, pens, plus some scratched made by the same hands that produced fingerprints ;) Also, I would really like to change the color to a more cooler shade, like light grey.

-Add another piece of furniture, either a small chair or an ottoman. We really like the openness of the living/seating area, but the professional interior designer in me craves the balance that another chair would provide, plus an extra seating is always a bonus. Will have to think about it..

- Possibly paint the console below the mirror different color, some FUN color! I realized all the furniture pieces in our home are dark chocolate ( yea, I remember that phase...)

Here are some examples of what I mean:

Overstock

Source: Unknown

House Beautiful

Ok, so for right now I will wait for the arrival of my new rug, and if it works in a room, we'll take it from there. I will update on the progress  next week. I you have any suggestions on how to improve my living room, I would LOVE to hear it!