A Little Switcheroo

I rearranged my living room. Exciting, I know. I just thought I would get it out there right away. That way you don't have to waste your time reading about the trivial things in my life if you don't want. Then again, what are all my posts about?!

A few months ago, Ian and I spent the better part of an afternoon rearranging our living room to find something, well, different. We arranged the furniture numerous times. And we were never sold on any of the new layouts, so we put things back the way we had them. Talk about a productive afternoon!

Then one day, in the middle of nap time, it hit me...I knew how to rearrange the living room. And so I did it. All by my lonesome. And low and behold, it turned out amazing.

Here is a little before, to remind you what I was working with:

And here she is, all rearranged:

Admittedly, there have been a couple furniture changes since my before picture was taken. I moved our leather chair into our bedroom. Then we found a chair that matched our existing set on craigslist. And I picked up the wooden desk/chair at a garage sale (for $5!!!).

Really, what I love is how open the room feels just by not having to walk around a chair to "enter" it. I also love how you can now sit across from people when talking. And, well the chairs by the front window are kind of my favorite because I love having the afternoon sun on my shoulders while I play with Connor in here during Isla's nap time.

Here are a couple of my favorite touches to the room. When I rearranged, I had the area next to the tv, under the windows, to play with. Now, I have tried to keep this room as toy free as possible (a little more on that in a minute!) but decided it would be fun to put all of the kids vintage toys together in one place. And in case you care, I never spend much on vintage toys for my kids because though I think they are amazingly cute, I also actually let my kids play with them, so I don't want to spend a ton on a collectable.

My other favorite thing in this room is the picture ledge that I hung up and have displayed our picture books on. Eventually my plan is to have three (or maybe more!) such ledges hanging up, but for now this is all we need. And it makes me so happy to see our memories on display and to so easily be able to look through them.

Now remember how I said I try to keep the living room toy free? Well, there is the little reality that I have toddlers. And, well, I actually have a double stroller that calls the living room home. And since it has been nice out, the kids and I have been playing in the front yard daily, so their outdoor toys have been living here too. So, here is a little glimpse to my reality:

And just in case you forgot what I was talking about, as I rambled on and on about something so minuscule, I rearranged my living room. Exciting, I know. But seriously, I really like how it turned out. For being something so little, it sure makes me happy. Maybe that says something about me?