The Evolution of the Living Room

Last night, as I was taking pictures of my living room/kitchen area to upload here I realized it wouldn't make sense for me to show you just what the apartment looks like now. While it's by no means finished, it looks a million times better than it did when we first looked at the apartment and when we moved in. So, in order to really show you how far things have come, I figured I'd give you a tour of our little apartment over the last nine months.

About a year ago, we started looking for a new apartment. At the time, we lived in Brookline, right by Boston University, in a huge apartment building that was more like a college dorm than anything else. While the apartment was nice enough, had parking and was literally a block from a huge dog park, it just didn't do it for us. We had dreams of living in more historical and more happening areas of Boston, and after falling in love with the North End, we settled on finding somewhere there.

Our current apartment was the first and only place we looked at. My boyfriend went to see it one day without me (I was working) and then I went back with him a few days later to give it my OK. While I had seen pictures online (and I wasn't too impressed), I immediately liked the tiny little street it was on, and once inside, I loved the two-floor layout and the little quirks and charm the place had. The previous tenant was a single, male law student - and boy, could you tell. Prior to moving in, this is what the living room looked like:

Despite the oversized furniture and this hideous little makeshift table (which you actually can't see from this angle), we saw the potential in this little place. Combined with the roof deck and price ($175 less than our previous apartment), we were sold. 

On May 1 of 2012, this is what we moved into - a beautifully empty room!

In this photo, you can see a bit more of what we liked - the hardwood floors and the huge windows (as well as my dog's favorite toy). Then came the actual moving in of the furniture, the purchasing of a few decorative accessories (including our rug - only $150 at Home Goods) and additional pieces of furniture. After about a month in the new place, this is what we had:

 I found the ivory and blue chair one day at Home Goods (if you couldn't tell, I'm kind of addicted to that place). I loved it (and it's $150 price tag) and immediately brought it home. While it looked great, it just didn't fill the space quite right. Along with the old fashioned coffee and end tables (relics from my parents old living room), the outdated lamp (another piece from my parents) and the empty spaces above the couch and television, I knew I had a lot of work left to do.

A few days after buying the first chair at Home Goods, my mom convinced me to go back and buy a second. Not only did it add an additional seating option, but it really balanced the look of the room. Along with a wicker wall storage unit and a huge mirror (both from, you guessed it, Home Goods!), I loved the way the place was coming along. Still, though, I knew I had to do something about the clunky and out of place tables.

This is a bit closer to what the place looks like now (don't mind the boyfriend's feet). We changed out the old coffee table for a trunk from Target, which was great, because it's smaller than your average coffee table and it adds storage (the closet space in this place is severely limited). I ordered a sheet of glass online, which fit perfectly, and now the coffee table/storage trunk is absolutely perfect. In addition, we purchased this kitchen cart from Ikea and made it into a cute little bar. Without a doubt, this is my boyfriend's favorite addition to the apartment.

This picture is from a few months ago, and at the time, I still needed a new end table for next to the couch, something to go between the two chairs and most of all, something to fill up that horrid white space above the TV. While I simply purchased some furniture to solve the first two problems, my boyfriend and I did a nice little project to complete that third area of need (more on that later this week!). 

Tonight, I will actually post the photos of what our living room looks like now, and tomorrow, I'll be doing another tour - this time, I'll be detailing the evolution of our kitchen.

Let me know what you think!