Fixer Upper | Part 3 | The Living Room

Last month, my husband and I attended a couple of open houses in our neighborhood. We’re renting right now but at that point we were contemplating the idea of buying our first home here in Urbana. It wouldn’t have been the wisest of decisions (and we knew that) since we’ll be leaving by the end of the year, but nevertheless, we wanted to get a feel of the market and see what’s available in our price range. We saw several houses of different sizes and styles (a handsome Georgian, a tiny bungalow and a Tudor style cottage) but my favorite was a sweet little Cape.

I blame it on my love of small houses but the home charmed me right away. The potential is there for someone who has the time and means to take on a project. I had some fun imagining what we would  change if we were to make on offer. I wrote about my ideas about the exterior HERE. Today I’ll share with you my thoughts about the living room – what’s there, what’s missing and a few makeover ideas. 

Keep in mind that this was a quick virtual transformation, intended to give us a general feel of the floor plan and the changes we could inject with minimal effort, in case we bought the house. My husband’s job requires us to be on the move so, in case we’d buy a home, it would only make sense as a flip. It must be something we can afford without a loan, transform in a couple of months and put on the market at a moment’s notice. (If you’re wondering, no, he’s not a CIA agent, though he’d love that 🙂 , he’s a mathematical physicist and the sweetest / most involved dad ever!!)

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that what you see in the pictures are not necessarily my exact furniture/ upholstery choices, they are more like general ideas of what I’d do for staging/flipping a home like this one. I used a 3D modeling software that has an awesome product library but there’s only so much you can choose from in terms of upholstery and furniture styles.  This is as close as I could get to my vision.  

So, here’s the view of the stairs from the entrance! The foyer is tiny but has this lovely hand rail that is original to the house (built in the 40s). It’s very nice and I would like to keep it. (I would remove the rest though lol!)

As you enter, the living room is off the right side of the foyer. Overall, the room is what it is. It’s far from ideal but it does have some great features – a lovely fireplace and built-in shelves around it, hardwood flooring, south-facing windows and pretty views.

This is the direction I’d take this room. I would like the home to feel fresh and light and serene so, I opted for white walls and natural textures.

The original hardwood flooring is still in good condition and it could be saved (it needs sanding and refinishing, but it is a beautiful walnut brown and runs throughout the entire first floor!) It’s been covered with wall-to-wall carpeting by the previous owner, which can be easily removed.

Like I said before, I’d like to replace the front windows with a pair of double-hung ones. The ceiling needs refinishing  too.

The safest & fastest makeover would be to paint everything white. If the budget would permit it, I’d rearrange the position of the windows a little bit to let in more natural light. A bank of three windows on the wall opposite to the fireplace would look  beautiful and take in all that southern light. It would also reinforce the focus of the room.

Since the floor plan is rather narrow and long, it would be a good idea to section it off into different zones, based on different functions. I conjured up a reading nook by the front window with chairs and a table.

For lounging and TV-watching, I picked a large, cozy sofa and placed it opposite the fireplace.

The back side of the room can fit a large dining table that can also function as a homework station/breakfast room.

At the end of the living room there’s a nook that leads to the basement (the open door on the right) and the kitchen (front). I don’t like it as being a part of the living room so I’d enclose that area and arrange for a built-in closet that could work as a pantry, extra storage space or even a laundry station.

Something pretty, like this:

Like I said, these are only tentative choices, based on actual measurements but not necessarily my precise furniture selections. Just to give you an idea of what I think could be done with this space in terms of furniture layout and color palette. Next week I’ll show you the rest of the ground-floor! Any thoughts? Feel free to comment below!

Have a great day!

xo,

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