This post was generously sponsored by our friends at Joss & Main.
I have really struggled with creating a cozy and functional space for our family in our open concept living room and dining room from the day we moved into our home. It is a space and a project I just haven’t been able to get right, until recently.
I am just like anybody else, I wish I could snap my fingers and have the house of my dreams appear in front of me. A home that feels cohesive and inviting, layered with textures and decorated with well thought-out and meaningful pieces. A home that tells a story and that is filled with beautiful memories.
But I know creating a home that encompasses all of those things is not built overnight. It takes time – even years – to create that feeling. It’s a piece of advice I’ve given out time and time again!
So I am trying to heed my own advice and take my time choosing pieces that reflect our style and that work hard for our busy family. It’s a struggle though! I am constantly fighting the urge to just scoop up what I can to “complete” the space, but I know making hasty design decisions is a mistake and in the end I will probably regret most of them.
So consider today’s post Part 1 in an ongoing journey!
The need for change came this summer, with our little one growing and becoming more active each passing day we knew it was time to reconfigure our main living space.
Our living room and dining room is one long narrow room, and this has proved to be the biggest hurdle for me when it comes to decorating our home. My original thought was to divide the room into two distinct areas – one for living and one for dining. We did this by purchasing a sofa and love seat and positioned them facing each other so that the love seat divided the living room from the dining room (you can see what I mean here).
This layout worked for us for a while, but we soon began to realize it really disrupted the flow of our home. It made maneuvering from the living room into the dining room and through to the kitchen difficult, especially once our little one started walking (and then running!). Plus, the living room is our only family space on the main floor, so it didn’t leave much room for Zoe to stretch out and play.
Our living room is tiny, so we knew right away that our sofa and love seat wouldn’t work with any other configuration. It was time for new furniture! We began planning what we would need to create a space we loved, fit with our farmhouse style and function well for our family.
A few weeks ago I shared these plans with you, if you missed them you can catch up here. I also shared a sneak peek of a special delivery we received to kick start this makeover. Did you guess what it was?
Well, here it is…
A beautiful slipcovered sofa and arm chair from one of our favorite shops, Joss & Main.
I have always dreamed of owning white slipcovered sofas, and I can’t believe I waited this long to make that dream a reality. I know what you’re probably thinking, “how do you plan to keep white furniture clean with a toddler and three pets?”. It is possible, and I’ll be sharing more about that later this week, as well as why it’s important to follow your heart when it comes to decorating your home.
But for now, I just want to take a minute to admire these beauties!
As I mentioned earlier, this space is still a work in progress, and I am not going to rush the process. We are still working towards updating a few key pieces, like our window treatments, rug and accessories. So I hope you’ll be back as we continue to create a cozy and welcoming living room. Plus, you won’t want to miss what’s happening in our dining room!
Stay tuned!
Alicia xo
Becca says
Gorgeous! I love your room … so bright and your gallery wall is fabulous!
Alicia says
Thank you, Becca, you are so very sweet!
Sara says
It is so inviting!
I started following your blog just recently and am loving it! It’s one of my favorites and I keep checking almost daily for new posts.
Alicia says
Thank you, Sara! We are so happy to hear you love our blog, and we are very happy to have you joining us! Welcome! xo
Cami says
The sofas look so so good in your space! I totally knew they would 😉
Alicia says
Thank you, sofa-twin! 😉 xo
Lucia Goffredo says
I love the sofas, where can I buy them? Thanks.
Alicia says
Hi Lucia, you’ll love this sofa, it’s so comfortable! I’ve updated the link to it and you’ll be able to find it under our Shop – Our Home section of our website (main menu). Please let me know if you have any other questions, I’m always happy to chat! 🙂
Trish says
Where I’d you get the white pouf from
Alicia says
Hi Trish, our pouf is from Walmart. 🙂
Enna says
Hi, how did you manage to hung art on top of each other? It looks amazing !
Alicia says
Hi Enna,
Thank you for your sweet comment. Hang tight – we will be sharing a tutorial on how we did this soon! 🙂
Alicia xo
Cheryl says
Hi. Do the sofa and chair colors match? Also I notice the chair has a box cushion , is the sofa box or knife cushion? If they are different, is it noticeable? Thank you
Alicia says
Hi Cheryl,
Yes our sofa and chair colors match, as we chose Joss and Main’s Bull Natural fabric for both. The sofa is also a box cushion, I don’t notice a difference between the two at all. They look like they are a match made in heaven! 🙂
Tonya Perotka says
Can you machine wash your slip cover? Do you know the durability of the Joss and Main sofa? I’m wondering how it’ll hold up years from now. Beautiful room!
Alicia says
Hi Tonya,
Thank you for your kind comment! 🙂 Our Joss and Main sofa and chair slipcovers are recommended dry clean only, but I have been spot treating it if we have a mishap. This is our first time owning a Joss and Main sofa, so I can’t speak long-term, but we have three pets and a toddler and it’s holding up very well so far! It seems very well built and strong, I can truly say we are 100% happy with our choice! 🙂 I hope that helps. xo
Allyce Havard says
Beautiful gallery wall! Where do you buy your frames?
Alicia says
Thank you Allyce 🙂 All of the frames are from Ikea, that is where we buy most of the frames in our home, they are simple, beautiful and inexpensive!
Rhonda Romano says
Hi Alicia! Love your new look!,, So our living room is similar and I’m struggling but in corner we have diagonal fireplace -just wondering where you put your tv if you have one one?
Alicia says
Hi Rhonda, and thank you! I have had such a hard time with furniture placement in our living room as well, and it always come down to the TV and where to put it. Right now, it’s on the wall opposite the sofa. I really like it here because it’s kind of out of the way, so you don’t see it as soon as you walk into the room. Ideally, I would love to get rid of the TV all together, as we primarily use our family room for watching TV now, but we will see…
Rhonda says
Oh my gosh yes! I hear you about not seeing it when walk into room… unfortunately I don’t have wall on that opposite end as it’s open to our kitchen (eat in area) ugh such a hard space to work with… I’ve often thought about switching out dining room living room so I could do that but then would have eat in kitchen right next to the dining room 🙁 unless did away with dining room and made sitting area off kitchen since I already have place to dine – hoping to figure it out soon but it’s a big struggle.
Kim Benson says
Hi, I hope you don’t mind my asking. How much was your sofa/couch?
Thank you, kindly
Alicia says
Of course not, Kim! We were gifted this couch from Joss and Main, however, if you follow the link for the sofa from our Shop – Our Home section on our blog you’ll find the current price. It does change based on promotions, etc. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Suzanne Long says
Where did you get the floor lamp by the white chair? I love it!
Alicia says
It is from Ikea, but we purchased it many years ago so I am not sure if it is still available.
Jacqueline says
Hi! I am wondering what color your walls are in the living room? :). Love it!
Alicia says
Hi Jacqueline, the colour is Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore. It’s a really great neutral, warm but still light.