Blah To Mwah – A Living Room Transformation

One Room Challenge Final Reveal

When I began the 2020 Fall One Room Challenge, I coined “Blah To Mwah” as the catchphrase for our living room transformation. It felt cute and catchy. In reality, however, I never viewed our living room as blah. When we bought this house in February of 2019, the first room we viewed was the living room. I remember walking in and seeing the vision for what this room could be. The scratches in the flooring, old 70s paneling, and holes in the wall didn’t phase me. This was a room that had once been filled with love and laughter. People had raised families here. Someone had memories here. And with that inspiration, a dream was built within me to turn this room into a place where our little family could make memories as well.

We have slowly moved through our home, renovating one room at a time-the bedrooms, bathroom, and now the living room. The One Room Challenge fell at a perfect time because I had already set a goal for myself to finish the living room by Christmas. We did just that and with time to spare! And now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the fireplace/built-in shelving wall…dun, dun, dun, dun…

This one gave us a run for our money. It was not difficult by any means, but more-so a tedious job that required much more time and energy than the rest of the living room. We left almost half of the six-week challenge to renovate this half of the room, and I am so glad we did. This part of the project required removing the paneling, installing beadboard, building out the fireplace insert area, building shelving and a mantle, installing the fireplace, TV, lighting, and mantle, and of course, painting everything. I love how warm and inviting this space feels-it truly feels like our home.

The entryway is the first area we renovated in this room. We painted, installed flooring, and added board and batten. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like the green color, but I quickly fell in love with how it transformed the entire room.

I originally wanted to go with a real Christmas tree for this season but ended up dragging ole’ faithful out of the attic. I created a pom pom garland and dried orange/cinnamon ornaments for decorations (video tutorials to come on both of those later), and the rest is our normal, everyday life-shoes by the door, Remi’s rocking horse by the tree, blankets in the basket, etc. I’m a huge fan of showing the real-life items because, after all, we do live in this home.

As far as seating, we had this blank space near the fireplace with the window opening to the kitchen and I didn’t quite know what to do with it. I decided to turn it into a little mid-century modern seating area. I would like to remove this wall one day to open up space, however, this is a load-bearing wall and that is not happening today. Instead, I chose to keep it simple and spruce it up with this antique window and a little holiday greenery.

Of course, you remember the “cloffice” end of the living room as well as our Better Homes and Gardens sofa and triptych gallery wall. I gathered inspiration for this space from several different sources and combined my inspiration into a cozy, boho family area that feels like us. The last few nights we have enjoyed curling up on the sofa together with our dogs lying by the fireplace. It has made for a peaceful retreat in the midst of the crazy 2020 has brought us.

Just a few of the updates we made during this Fall 2020 One Room Challenge:

• New flooring
• Fresh paint
• Scraped popcorn ceiling
• Replaced old ceiling fan
• Installed recessed lighting
• Added board and batten by the entryway
• Turned coat closet into “cloffice”
• Removed chimney
• Patched extra doorway to the hallway
• Added fireplace
• Added built-in shelving surrounding fireplace
• Of course, decorated and added all-new furniture

Taking part in this challenge was an absolute honor. The camaraderie between designers supporting one another was like nothing Kenny or I had ever experienced. Every person truly wanted the other to succeed, and it showed. I have made friends during this challenge that I think I will have for a lifetime. I have also been inspired to take on more challenges and create more beauty within my own home. If you haven’t already, check out the final room reveals of both the guest and featured designers by clicking the button below:

What project would you like to see us tackle next? Leave a comment below!

xoxo

Kate