Small Space Living Room Makeover

I’m so excited to finally be sharing my small space living room makeover with you all!

It took a lot of patience and planning (not to mention plants) to put it together, but I think the end result is super fresh, yet cosy and perfectly reflects my style.

If you’ve read about my bedroom makeover, you know that I live in a studio, so the living room, bedroom and kitchen are combined. I wanted the space as a whole to feel like it flowed with small differences in each area.

Before the renovations, the apartment was a terrible brown colour, had parquet floors and was just in need of a huge refresh.

Similar to the bedroom, we stripped out the parquet floors and replaced them with a light washed slightly grey hardwood floor. The walls needed to be brightened up, so I painted them all with Chantilly Lace by Benjamin Moore.

Even without any furniture, these changes made such a huge difference in my living room. The light from the windows reflected off the white walls and made it feel so much brighter and cleaner.

I introduce a little more colour in the living room, but it still has a lot of texture, with whites, greys and muted pinks, and of course a lot of plants.

The main anchor in the room is my grey mid-century inspired sectional. I chose it for the mid-tone grey colour, which worked well with the rest of the apartment, the mid-century feel, as well as for the price. While it looks like a great sofa, it was actually quite inexpensive. I did this on purpose because I knew that my cat tends to scratch at furniture, so I didn’t want to buy an expensive couch only to have her scratch it when I wasn’t home. Hence, I went with this choice and I think it’s a perfect size and feel for the space.

I had my beloved mid-century modern chair from my last apartment that would be going in the living room. I reupholstered it in a luxe olive green velvet for a bit of contrast. Beside it is a brass mid-century modern magazine rack that I found at the Hamilton Antique Mall. They have an amazing array of vintage goods there with 4 huge floors to explore! I highly recommend if you’re ever in the area!

For the rug, I went with a pale dove grey rug with a white diamond pattern in a high pile. I wanted the rug to feel fluffy and cosy while being light enough in the small space and not staining easily (since I eat on my couch most nights). I got it from Winners and I find they always have a lot of good options there that won’t cost you a fortune. I think my rug is 6 x 9 and it was around $125.

The coffee table is this one from Ikea. I love that the white lattice design keeps things light and airy, while the round shape keeps everything from being too boxy like a square or rectangular table would. The lamp is an older version of this one from Ikea, but I painted the shade white so that it would blend in a bit better while still having a small bit of texture from the pattern.

To finish off the space, I bought a ton of accessories like pillows, blankets and all the plants that the space can possibly hold! My pillows and blankets are all from H&M over the last year.

Lastly, one of my favourite DIY projects ever is my woven wall hanging. I follow a few weavers on Instagram and felt like a woven wall hanging would add the perfect amount of texture for above my couch. I already had a few paintings above my bed, which is on the same wall, so I knew I needed something different for above the couch.

It was a labour of love to create this weaving that involved making my own loom, buying all kinds of colours and textures of yarn and then countless hours weaving it all. I do love the end result though and I think that it incorporates all of the colours I have throughout my place beautifully!

When I’m sitting on my couch in the living room, it looks into the kitchen which I haven’t shared photos of yet because that makeover is coming very soon!

To give you a preview, I’m going with a plain white porcelain counter, a white diamond backsplash with contrasting grout and a new chrome faucet and sink! I can’t wait to start the demolition and then have my whole place be complete!

Stay tuned!

xo, Tess.