House Before and After: The Den

Calling all lovers of bright, cheery colors! This makeover is for you!!

We use the "formal" living room as our main hang out space. We've got a couch and a loveseat, and that's where we watch TV and too often to talk about occassionally eat our meals. So I wanted to use this room for reading, having girlfriends over to talk and drink some wine, sitting by the fireplace on cold winter evenings, etc. You know... the "chill" space.

Before I show you what we did in the den, let me show you what inspired me.

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I think you get the idea :)

The major feature of the den is obviously the brick wall. I happen to love it, but I know some might think it's just too much brick. Here's the room before:

The doors going outside were in terrible shape, so my father-in-law extended the wall and did just one door. I was fine with this because it gave me more wall space for furniture. The floors got replaced with hardwood, and we updated the fireplace with some brushed nickel high temp paint. My goal is to get a rustic, railroad tie-like mantle sometime soon, but I haven't had much luck finding one so far.

As for the wall color, I decided to use the massive brick wall to my advantage. I have heard that one way to choose colors that go really well together is to use colors that are across from each other in a color wheel.

So... brick (oranges, reds, browns) would look GREAT with blue!

AQUA BLUE!!

Now, I still have more work to do in here. I need to get some stuff up on the walls, find the mantle I keep imaging in my head, get some table/floor lamps, and work out the table situation. (Adam and I can't agree on a coffee table, and the small side table is a temporary solution.)

Nonetheless, here's our cheery den in all of its glory!

Now for some detail shots...

So there it is! My aqua blue den! I pretty much love it. Not sure that the hubby is sold, but he's a good sport. As long as it's comfortable I'm not so sure he cares. haha. Some info for those who care:

• couch, chairs, and "script" pillows are from D. M. Stacy Furniture
• my father-in-law made the large mirror and the bookcase (we are SO lucky to have him!)
• Wyatt pillow and hydrangea pillow were etsy finds
• rug is from Overstock
• the brown and cream floral pillow, wood side table, wooden balls, and antique fabric were all yard sale finds. The blue bowl was a gift from my friend, Brenda :)
• the apothecary jars by the fire place were scored when my local Kirkland's store was closing
• art temporarily sitting on top of the fireplace and the blue magazine rack were made by your's truly!

And one last picture... I love that when you first walk in our front door all you seen in this space is the brick wall, so the aqua is a surprise!

This was taken pre-furniture, but you get the idea :)

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