Living Room Refresh: Summer Hygge
Earlier this year, I'd made the decision to stop messing with my house — I literally decided to stop doing home projects, choosing to just focus on the day to day styling and organizing, but also (mostly) enjoying the home I'd created thus far. Paired with my husband being on deployment and not knowing where we'd be a year from now...yeah it was time to just chill.
But then 'rona came to town and, like everyone else, I was forced to appreciate but also reevaluate our home.
Now I've done this dance before — with our living room — where I decided I'm going to work on it, but then get quickly deflated and just over it.
Why? The walls.
The walls are currently painted Spice Cake and Mushroom Bisque, both from Behr Paint. As they are, these are two beautiful colors. Together, they form a beautiful palette.
So what's the problem?
My husband and I have always preferred a cool to neutral palette — whites, greys, blues, with warm neutrals infused by way of natural materials (i.e. chestnut leather, walnut wood, white sheepskin, and honey rattan). These are not colors we would've put on our walls, especially these walls, which are a half vault going from 8' high in the living room to what I'd guess is 12' to 14' high in the dining room...PLUS the hallway leading to the bedrooms. In our bedroom, for example though, these colors would've been just fine — warm and such — but in the front of the house it’s overpowering.
While they wouldn't have been our first picks, it's not the colors specifically that we have a problem with. These colors in combination with everything else we see — the dark granite kitchen countertops and brown kitchen cabinets — is overwhelmingly warm...aka not us. When we scan the area — living, dining, kitchen — our eyes don't land on a neutral or cool moment. It's warm tones at every turn, and that is the part we struggle with.
Knowing that we weren't allowed to paint these spaces, however, we made our peace with it. Fast forward to the present day, and I've decided I'm not going out like this. Again, having had to telecommute for the past 5 months, I've had a lot of time to reassess how we're even using these spaces and what I could to make it feel/look more like "us".
What else is different?
Aside from COVID-19, our family is also post-deployment. For the better part of a year, I've been the only adult in our home. With the end of my husband’s deployment coming sooner than expected, I've had to also reconsider what our lives will look now that my husband has returned — it was a very different world when he left and we were a very different family. With his return, it’s also easier to tackle projects — necessary & elective — while also accommodating our new post deployment, "post" COVID lives.
To be clear... the living room's current state isn't "bad" it's just not what we love.
With more time being spent at home, no matter what comes, it was time I took my own damn advice and stopped settling.
A while back I shared what I'd do differently if I was decorating for the first time. When it comes to the living room, there's a lot, admittedly, that I would do differently and that's what I am setting out to address now. Our sectional, for example, was a solution to a very specific problem at the time and it has served its purpose over the years, but it wouldn’t be our first choice now. And that's the general theme for quite a few of the other pieces that have come & gone in the living room — different choices would've been made "...knowing what I know now." One of the mistakes I've admitted to making was purchasing for the specific space versus thinking longterm & investing in pieces that could move with us.
Not this time. This time we plan & invest.
Knowing the hygge is my whole jam — and we'll continue to be no matter where we live — I thought about how we could reconcile that aesthetic & vibe with the current space (and walls). When I talk about "how to hygge" there are four decorative/styling elements I focus on — textures, lighting, scents, and "greeery", because more than anything, hygge is a lifestyle and it's one that I wanted to illustrate in spades with this refresh.
Last month our drapery hardware fell — just right out the wall and crashed — but since it's the hardware our landlord left, we originally saw no reason to replace it...now we have a reason. Since I like to switch up our drapery — like pillow covers, it's such an easy way to switch up the vibe of the space — the plan is to get new hardware & drapery to run across the entire wall to cover the window as well, creating actual symmetry on that wall.
The new drapes I have my eyes on (#1) are a huge catalyst for the direction of the palette.
I wanted to introduce the light, bright, airy tones, while also honoring warm, natural hues that together would create those "warm and fuzzy" feelings associate with hygge.
Introducing new lighting solutions (#5) for this space was long overdue for both style and function.
Overhead lighting was already lacking in the space, and instead of taking up more floor space, it made since to work my way up with a plug-in pendant lighting cluster. I'm also deciding to be more intentional about our storage solutions (#2, #6, #8) introducing open & concealed storage, while also keeping some of what we already own.
In addition to the paint, we've also had to work around the carpet, and contrary to popular belief, you can absolutely put a rug over carpet.
The rug we've had in the living room, while nice and a rug that I've liked (hence buying it) just hasn't been giving me the kind of visual impact I'd like. To be honest... I want a little more drama, so going with something that's neutral but a bold pattern is a great way to force the carpet into the background.
The rug compliments both the subtle pattern of the drapes and the bold, dramatic presence of the pendants, and I am just swooning at the through of how just those elements together do a much better job at creating my hygge home.
Seating, while it's always been a functional necessity, has always been a decorative after thought.
I absolutely love our arm chairs, but the sectional was purchase out of like not love. When we moved, we needed storage and seating, and our sectional provided both. This time around I want to love our sofa -- comfort, style, color... all of it. With COVID putting a damper of production this may be the most difficult acquisition but if I have it my way, I am looking forward to introducing a white velvet sofa bed to our home (#10). Yes...WHITE. With a cloud velvet and light grey microfiber coming in at a close second because my husband thinks I am absolutely insane!
I have also considered getting something fun and exciting but very few of the velvet and microfiber options I'm considering (those are non-negotiable because of the maintenance of those fabrics) really make my heart sing, especially up against the cake spice paint.
To help us deliberate, I put a few of the swatches up on the wall to see how we feel day-to-day as we pass them in different lighting and just overall. Some of the swatches have come down, others have gone up, and it's been a pretty steady rotation. This week I plan on exploring some of the more "fun" color ways before making a final final decision.
And then there's the decor!
Knowing the vibe and feel and overall aesthetic -- cozy hygge, in case you didn't get that — the decor is pretty easy and the least of my concerns because that's always been the focus up until now. Styling was always my default setting for the living room so I am excited to make more meaning and impactful changes, but also slightly nervous because these'll be longterm changes as well.
