Haeley Giambalvo is the founder of Design Improvised, a décor blog dedicated to simple projects that make a big impact. She lives in Texas with her husband and two daughters.
I always enjoy the opportunity to breathe new life into a well-loved room. Our family-friendly living room, with its kids’ art gallery wall and hardworking play table, has served us well for the past several years. It has been a cozy hangout spot for our family of four, and the room in our home we use the most. Because we spend so much time here, I wanted to make the space fresh and sophisticated, while still keeping the comfort level high.
Before: Haeley’s relaxed, kid-friendly living room
After: Haeley’s fresh and sophisticated living room
Creating a focal point
The instant mood change came from painting the main wall a dark gray and replacing the kids’ art with these two gorgeous large-scale geode art canvases. These canvases made such a big impact that I decided to use them as the inspiration for the entire room! The addition of a tufted bench, tripod floor lamp, and a couple plants made for a dramatic and sophisticated focal wall.
Combining the old with the new
The other major change in the room came from swapping out our well-loved couch and rug for fresh-yet-family-friendly versions. I love this affordable Safavieh rug: beautiful, plush, and easy to care for! Our new mid-century sectional combines style with stretch-out comfort, and is perfect for our family to snuggle up on for a movie night.
The new sectional looked right at home with our existing arm chairs. These have provided comfortable and modern seating in our living room for the past several years and still look amazing! We also kept the coffee table, end tables and lamps from our previous set-up. Incorporating a couple new pieces while maximizing your existing furniture is the trick to creating a fresh look on a budget.
Add in the extras
Hayneedle has a number of on-trend geode accents that I used to help carry the theme throughout the room. I styled our coffee table with these modern metal diamond sculptures and propped this unique geode shadow box wall art on the fireplace mantel. When updating a space, don’t underestimate the power of accents! The simple addition of this gorgeous gold fireplace screen adds visual interest to what was previously just a dark hole, while texture-filled accent pillows tie the room together.
When adding in your finishing touches, there’s nothing like a dose of green. I incorporated a faux sansevieria plant and this gorgeous maiden hair fern. Never having to care for these lifelike silk plants is well worth the investment—I promise you’ll want to add them to each room of your home!
