New Living Room for $2,000 or less!

Over 4 years together, and Steve and I were still rocking a mish-mosh of living room furniture that didn't fit our space or style.

With an oversized squishy brown couch, bulky black furniture and a tired green rug that our pets had, err, "broken in" far too many times (take that however you will), we needed a change. And, Steve wanted to have a chic, modern space that he could meet clients in.

So here's what we started with...you'll see our space is rather limited.

View from the front door:


View from the kitchen:


See what I mean? Absolutely no personal style was present in that room.

After a LOT of perusing furniture online that fit our aesthetics and budget, we bought everything in one fell swoop! It was out with the old and in with the new on the same day, as Brown Elephant picked up all of our old furniture in the morning and CB2 delivered the new stuff in the afternoon. (Note: we considered trying to sell the old stuff on Craigslist, but since we itemize our taxes, it made more sense just to write off the donation.)

New view from the front door:

We completely flipped the room around! Where the couch used to be, we left the space open and really maximized the area.


New view from the kitchen:

We opted to put the TV on a side wall rather than directly across from our new couch. While not as convenient, it worked better in our space and you can still see it from anywhere in the room.

Also, this set up gives Charlie room to play! He loves the hopscotch rug. No really, he does. He takes his bone and races over to the rug to toss it on the hopscotch board.


View from the windows:

See where our new couch landed? Where the TV used to be. It's modern, minimal and is much more proportional for the space compared to our old couch. Plus, it's actually a day bed, so the top lifts off from the bottom and creates a king size bed, perfect for guests!

Also, notice the awesome canvases hanging of Steve's work? Love them. (And don't mind the bright lights...Steve was playing around with off camera flash.)


So that's it in a nutshell. A clean, modern and minimal space featuring shades of orange, gray and blue. Oh, and I mentioned we did this on a budget, right?! So here's our breakdown...

CB2: Hopscotch Rug
-$199 (4x6 rug)
-We couldn't find a rug we liked better!

CB2: Lubi Daybed
-$799 (they've changed the colors now; we bought it in orange)
-Really comfortable if you don't mind a couch w/o a back!

CB2: Slick White Media Console
-$349 (not on their web site anymore)
-Has enough storage, but is still a minimal design

IKEA: Expedit Bookcase in white
-$69.99
-We previously had the larger version, but downsized to this. Great for storage.

IKEA: Lack Side Tables in white
-$7.99/each
-We would like to replace these with something better, but they work for right now

Circle M Bedding: @ Pillow, % Pillow, & Pillow
-$34.99/each
-I saw these on a designer web site for $50+, but found them cheaper on this site.
-Love the pops of color and unique design.

With tax and shipping and minus a $100 gift card we received for our wedding, we spent $1,523.66 at CB2. IKEA came in at $85.97 and the pillows from Circle M were $121.92 (including shipping). Our grand total? $1,731.55 for a brand new living room!

We also had fabulous consultation from Kristin of Bien Living, who gave us some great ideas for accent pieces we would still like to incorporate. She also gave us piece of mind that our color palette worked well together! Her design services are awesome...you should really check them out. Thank you, Kristin!

After everything was in place, we were soooo happy with our decisions! The room feels bigger, and we hope that everyone who visits our place will leave with a sense of who we are and what our style is.

Does your decor reflect your personal style, or is your home in need of a face lift?!