You know the saying if you don’t know where you’re going, how are you going to get there? Not too long ago, I realized that I haven’t decorated my living area yet. Wait a minute you say, you’ve done lots of projects in your living room. Yes, I have. What I haven’t done is made a master plan for the design and style I want in my living room to evolve into. This week I sat down and created a contemporary coastal living room mood board to help me visualize where I want our living room to look like. It’s kind of a wish list of sorts. Check out more projects and updates on my Coastal Home Tour.
My living area has challenges. It’s 30 feet long and a narrow 13 feet wide. It has no windows on the sides so natural light is scarce. This photo is already dated since I just made over the white chair in the picture. Take a look at my Painted Chair Makeover to see what they look like now.
This room is divided into two separate conversation areas. This is the view as you walk in the front door. My decorating style is already coastal, I’d call it transitional coastal, it’s a stretch to call it a contemporary coastal decor style. I have several modern home pieces like metal and glass side tables and my live edge coffee table which I’d call rustic modern.
As much as I didn’t think I’d lean towards a modern home decor style, I’m starting to appreciate the simple clean lines. I also think it works well in small spaces like my TV sitting area.
I’m working on the first area, the one you see as soon as you walk in the doorway, specifically the TV corner which has never been in any of my photos on the blog…ever! The TV and stand with one glass door don’t do this area any favors, that’s for sure!
This whole process started when I decided we’d had enough of this dark tv cabinet. I decided to build a mounted on the wall TV cabinet where we could shut the doors and hide the tv when not in use. That’s about 90% of the time since we aren’t big TV watchers.
That’s where the snowball effect started.
Because after I mount the TV on the wall, I’ll need to fill in the space on the wall under the new TV cabinet. Then I started thinking about how pretty new drapes would look on our window, which will make the window look larger…and so on. You see my dilemma, right? So, I started planning my contemporary coastal makeover. I’m using as much as I can of what we have already. Decor items like my white leather sofa and my DIY Hairpin Leg Live Edge Coffee Table are staying of course. I made this mood board below to see how my contemporary coastal living room makeover pieces all work together.
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Click on a link to find the design resources I used in my contemporary coastal living room makeover mood board.
Console – I love the shape of this and even though I found it in the media section I think it would be a pretty and petite console.
Rug – Adding a pattern into a natural jute rug will give the area a little more definition. I plan on having matching rugs for each of the two conversation areas in the living room to add continuity.
Curtains – I like the idea of adding more patterns into the room. This shade of blue would fit in without overpowering the area.
Live edge coffee table – Of course I’m keeping my live edged coffee table I built. I found this premade one and it’s priced less than it would have cost me to make mine. A great option instead of the DIY version.
chair – Our natural woven armchair came from Z-Gallerie a few years back. Like ours, this one adds a casual coastal vibe.
sofa – White leather works in our small area. The bright color keeps everything fresh and open looking. I love leather for how easy it is to keep clean as well as how well it holds up.
wood wall art / TV cover- I don’t have the full plan in my head yet but this is how I plan on hiding the TV when we aren’t watching it!
We’ve lived here 4 years, 11 months and 5 days. Sometimes it takes one simple event like a new TV cabinet to jump-start a needed change. I’m pretty excited about bringing in, and DIYing a few pieces that (I hope) will work well together for a casual and contemporary coastal living room. We’ll see how it all unfolds in the near future 🙂
Do you have design style you follow or do you do your own thing? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
You may like these other room designs I’ve done too!
Coastal Master Bedroom Makeover
Beachy Coastal Bathroom Makeover
Bonnie WINKELMAN says
Your white sofa is perfect! Where is it from?
Wendi says
Hi Bonnie and thank you! We love the sofa too, it’s a Natuzzi leather sofa. Amazon carries some Natuzzi products here’s a link to the Natuzzi brand on Amazon (affiliate) https://amzn.to/2LD8iuz. We found ours in a local furniture store. I love the quality of the leather and products. Our red leather chair in the reading nook is also a Natuzzi. We have friends that have had their Natuzzis for over 10 years and had kids. They are well made. Thanks so much for your visit!
Jeffrey Michael says
Hi Wendi,
You have a wonderful blog. I know how much work it is to maintain a blog and you are an inspiration. I really like the live edge table as well. I create coastal decor and printable beach art. I have an Etsy shoppe and I am adding new art every day. I make it easy to add coastal art to your walls. You can print at home or download and have it professionally developed and framed. I’m having a pre-Grand Opening special SAVE 40% on 5 prints or more use coupon code BEACHY and take 25% OFF 2 or more prints with code FLIPFLOP.
Keep up the blogging and creating!
-Jeffrey Michael
Wendi says
Hi Jeffrey…Funny you sent me a note. I’m eyeing one of your prints for an upcoming project. I’ll send you an email later today on it. Thanks for the kudos on my blog, yes it’s a bit of work but completely a labor of love. I’m lucky enough to create as a full time job 🙂 Talk to you soon…
Jeffrey Michael says
Hi Wendy,
Thank you for your kind words and purchasing one of my pieces. Your blog has inspired me! Please let me know if you have any questions for printing. The 2:3 ratio prints the full image. I’ve featured the beach print you selected at the top of my shoppe. https://www.etsy.com/listing/527357204/beach-wall-art-ocean-picture-digital
I’ve test printed with professional printing services everywhere from local printers, Walgreens Photo, CVS, Walgreens and I’ve discovered the if you want a nice big print (up to 3’x2′ or 36″ x 24″) or printed on a large canvas gallery wrap CG Pro Prints is the best. Hands down. The print quality is excellent and the canvas gallery wraps are made very well. https://www.cgproprints.com/
I’m off to West Palm this weekend to work on a seashell project. (: Thank you for supporting the arts!
-Jeffrey Michael
Wendi says
Hi Jeffrey & you are so welcome. I’m doing something completely different with your print I’ll send you a link when I’m done. It will be mounted but not in the traditional wall art way. Have fun with your seashell project!
Mary says
Wendi I love that mcm console. Will you be using that as the bottom half of the tv console and build around it? That would be a great idea. You room will look crisp and clean with those touches of blue. And of course you cannot get rid of the live edge table, which is the star of the room.
Wendi says
Hi Mary! That’s the plan, or at least is is for now. I loved the shape of the petite console too. I know I’ll need to hide the DVD and cable boxes somehow. I am definitely bringing in a lot more blue which is new to me. It kind of feels like I have to commit to a color scheme. After all this time I didn’t think that would be tough, but it is! Thanks so much for your visit and super sweet note as always 🙂
Barb B. says
Can’t wait to see what you do to your room. I’ve been changing things up and have turned towards a more modern look. Absolutely love the clean lines and uncluttered feel. Can’t wait to see what you do with the tv. Love the cabinet style for underneath it.
Wendi says
Hi Barb! I can’t wait to share the progress as it unfolds too. Like you, I’m leaning towards the clean style too. I’m really excited about the TV cabinet and hiding the monster tv. I fell in love with the console cabinet and know we need to hide the cable box, etc. Thanks so much for your sweet note and I hope you find some inspiration in y makeover for your place as well!
Patty says
Beautiful Wendi. I love that couch, where did you find it, and the chairs you painted and added new trim to look beautiful,
I can’t wait to see it completed, I just know it will be gorgeous.
Wendi says
Hi Patty! How are you? Isn’t the couch dreamy? I feel in love with it as soon as I found it. It’s a Natuzzi and I used the main part of a sectional sofa. I just didn’t order the rest of the sectional. The one I found online that I linked to in the pot is similar and a fraction of the price. I waited 4 months for mine after I ordered it, it was my one big splurge. I’m so excited to start working on this room! I’ve spent so much time and energy on the VT place and haven’t thought mush about our own house in a year. Funny how you just don’t “see” the details of a room when you live in it from day to day. Thanks so much for your note and I hope your doing well and having a good summer!