It’s been a while since I have showed you our living room and I have been working on making a few updates and changes before the fall and Christmas decorating season is upon us. I’m calling this my pre-fall mantel 
But first let’s go back and see how far it’s come in the last 4 years. Here’s how our living room looked the day we moved in.
We immediately had new flooring installed and then had it painted a few weeks later. We started to settle in but had lots of bare walls and lots of coziness that needed to be added.
A year or so later I finally got brave enough to tackle the red brick fireplace and did a faux German Schmear technique on it – love how it turned out!
Over time we replaced our old worn out and torn leather couches with Ikea Ektorp couches, we rearranged the room and added the tv on the opposite side of the room after we cut cable.
We have very tall walls in our living room which makes decorating a challenge. I wrestled with how to decorate around the tv and built these DIY shutters but wasn’t really in love with that look.
So here’s how the room looked this week after I sold the shutters and sign on facebook marketplace and moved my DIY blanket ladder over, added a chippy white back off a broken swing with a sign over it and some thrifted baskets on the wall around the tv. I am loving this new look!
We have had this jute rug in here for 2-3 years and although I love the look of it, my daughter doesn’t enjoy playing on it because it is scratchy and the natural fibers shed like crazy driving me a big crazy!
So I ordered 2 rugs from Boutique Rugs and had my followers on Instagram help me decide which one I should use in here. Boutique Rugs has some great budget friendly options that are usually at my door within 2-3 days and some of the most modern/unique rug designs that I don’t see everywhere else.
So the first one I tried was the Romeoville Rug.
This is a beautiful rug that has a gray and cream design and it’s so soft!
Then I tried the Burdette rug.
This one is just as soft and I love the smaller design that makes it a bit more subtle.
So out of the two of those which one would YOU choose??
I chose the Burdette!
It was honestly a really hard decision as I think either one would have looked great but I think the smaller pattern in the Burdette brings some texture and design without drawing your eye completely to the rug and it becoming the main focus of the room.
I also went with a little larger size which I felt this room needed especially after I rearranged my living room a while back. The jute rug that I had was a 6×9 and this is an 8×10 (or 7’10×10 is how it is listed on their site). Both of these rugs in an 8×10 size are less than $200 and the Romeoville one is right at $150 for an 8×10 which is an incredible deal!
I’ve gone back to a neutral black and white with lots of greenery look for the end of summer into fall. Soon the pumpkins and muted fall colors will come out and I can’t wait! I think this rug will be gorgeous with fall colors and a Christmas tree.
I recently found that mirror at a thrift store for $5 and grabbed it so fast! I absolutely adore it and couldn’t wait to arrange some things to use it on my mantel. Layered with a chalkboard made from a board inserted in a $3 yard sale frame, a DIY sign, my favorite kind of plant (Pothos), some old thrifted bottles, and some clearance candlesticks I feel like I could just exchange the plant with some fall stems and tuck in a few small pumpkins and it would make the perfect fall mantel!
I recently spray painted this $1 glass vase and $1 planter with some matte black spray paint and showed in my Instagram stories how I did that aged technique for free! I love the look of cut tree branches inside but they die so fast – so I invested in these faux ones and they look so realistic!
It seems we are all spending more time than ever at home and even though there are some things I miss doing or places I miss going, it is still so good to be home! I’m so thankful for the little ways I can make our home cozy and comfortable for our family to be our safe haven!
Hope you enjoyed this living room update post and if you are looking for a budget-friendly rug I will link all their under $200 and under budget-friendly rugs here (so many are only $150 for 8×10 and under $100 for 5×8 size!). You can find neutral color options here, options with more color here, and vintage-inspired rugs here.
Next time you’ll see this living room it’ll be all decked out for fall!
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