Anyway, on with the reveal! Here are the BEFORE pictures taken from the house listing...
And now here is the AFTER...
A couple notes about the transformation... Since we are only going to be living here in Alaska for three years total, I really wanted to embrace our surroundings and go with a Chalet-chic vibe. I want the coziness of a lodge but the brightness and clean lines of Swedish designs. So, to start, I needed to paint that wall!! I painted over the existing burnt orange accent wall with Glidden's Woodsmoke. It's a shapeshifting grey. Sometimes its straight up grey while other times it will look blue or even taupe. I love it. It changes moods like the sea, or the wintry Alaskan sky.
Next, I wanted to draw the eye up to that soaring vaulted ceiling with something of high impact, so I had my husband build a wooden mantle piece that would emulate the feeling of a chimney. Its an added bonus that it hides the TV cables and mount! The wooden structure cost a total of $60 to build. It's just two 2x4's with pine planks, and I stained it to match the bamboo floors. My hubby is brilliant and it's not drilled in, so there's no damage to the wall. It hangs like a picture and is reinforced with the TV mount.
I really wanted to authentically capture the essence of Alaska, so I searched for local vintage items. I found the vintage wood skis for $20 at Play It Again Sports. I snagged a couple antlers from a local antique store. I found an eagle sculpture made from Alaskan clay. The clay looks plain until it is fired and the ore in the clay reacts, creating beautiful red-brown swirls. I bought the white faux fur pillow for $17 at Target, to add to the lodge feeling and represent a polar bear.
This is a shot of the rest of the living room. Here, you can see my DIY sweater pillow, and my DIY shag rug. I didn't want to put a fur rug in here so my shag rug is supposed to give a similar softness and texture to the room. The ottoman just got moved back in here. I had my beautiful coffee table there that my husband built for me. It looks like the Rhys collection at Pottery Barn, but our two year old son started diving off the couch onto it and we knew it was just moments from becoming an emergency room visit. I am sad to lose the coffee table, but I do have grand plans for recovering the ottoman. I already have some fabulous fabric ready to go, so be on the watch for that post!
And here's the back of the room looking towards the kitchen and hall. I love the vintage ski poster but I do want to do more with the wall above the sofa. I don't know what yet. One of my favorite pieces in the room is the moose on the other wall. I scored him at an antique store in Washington right before we moved to Alaska. Everyone loves that little guy!
The picture above was a shot taken from the hall as you enter the living room.
This last picture was taken from the loft, and you can see into the dining room too.
So, thoughts? I'd love to hear your first impressions of the room and any suggestions for the sofa wall you might have. I am leaning towards a mounted white resin deer? It took me awhile to finally post this reveal, well for one because I was still working on it, but two, because I never feel like I am really done with my own spaces. I realized though that if I don't share at some point, I never will and I will miss out on everyone's awesome feedback! Join me in the progress of the room?
I shared this on The Shabby Nest, My Romantic Home, Funky Junk Interiors, Under The Table and Dreaming
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