Our Completed Classic Coastal Living Room

I finally feel like our classic coastal living room is completed. There are a few minor details that I still want to do (I will share those at the end!). But for the most part, we are 90% completed and I will take that as a win!

Our Classic Coastal Living Room

Backstory

I’ve struggled with our living room since the day we moved in more than five years ago. It is sort of weird layout for a room. It is longer than it is wide, so it makes furniture placement a bit tricky. And since we have another living space (see that here), I wanted this space to feel more grown up. Almost like a formal living room, without the fussiness. I wanted the room to be approachable, yet comfortable and something that we would use. I was trying to use pieces we already had but it just was not coming together. I always liked it, but never loved it. You can see our space before I updated it here.

^^my mom’s bookcase

When my mom moved in with us last July, we decided to add her bookcase to the only wall it would fit in our home. The piece is stunning and quality that you just can’t get anymore. And I was secretly really excited to style it and add things over the years to this bookcase. So I wanted to incorporate it into our classic coastal living room design. Nothing was meshing well once we added the bookcase so I knew I pretty much had to start from scratch. And then I was at an estate sale and found two antique chairs that I thought would be gorgeous flanking my fireplace and the room was then designed around those chairs. They tied in the darker wood tones of the bookcase beautifully. My wheels started turning after that!

^^my antique chairs after I had them re-upholstered!

How I Came Up with the Design Plan

I really started with a few things I knew I had to have in the room. A light blue sofa was a must. I had to incorporate my new antique chairs. And I had to make my mom’s bookcase flow a little better with everything. And I absolutely had to use this fabric that I just adore! Originally, I wanted to use it to reupholster my antique chairs. But when I heard how many yards I needed to buy and the price of the fabric, that was a hard no for me. Instead, I used the print on pillows and added them to chairs that no one really sits on so I don’t have a heart attack lol. And it all just sort of came together! I really love it.

Furniture

I knew right I wanted to add a little more color into this space. But I still wanted it to feel soft and bright. I had my heart set on a light blue sofa and the second I saw this one in person, I knew it was it. It totally makes the whole room! You can read my full review on it here.

It took me forever to figure out what fabric to reupholster my antique chairs in, but after many samples, I finally decided on this one and absolutely love how they turned out. The contrast of the dark wood vs. the lighter fabric is stunning.

After sitting in this chair at the Serena & Lily chair store, I ordered it immediately in the same fabric. It is the coziest chair and big enough for everyone to snuggle in. I love curling up in it drinking my coffee in the mornings or reading at night. This is a piece of furniture I will have forever.

Mixing High & Low

I was all about mixing high and low in my classic coastal living room. I splurged on the sofa and chair, our coffee table and these pillows. All pieces that I have loved for many, many years and know that even if I do re-decorate someday, these pieces will be incorporated somehow in my home or into the another room. Originally, I feel in love with this fabric for my antique chairs but the price per yard would have been astronomical to reupholster with so I compromised and did pillows with it. If you love something, figure out a way to make it work, even if it isn’t what you originally intended the use to be.

These light blue and green gingham chairs popped up on the TJ Maxx website and I knew they would be perfect for the space. They perfectly tie in all the blues and greens and flank my fireplace beautifully. The skirted ruffle on the bottom was the extra detail I feel in love with! And same with this console table. The price of this piece for the size was a great deal and brought the blue into the entry of our home.

I mixed in Amazon pillow covers, tables from TJ Maxx and Amazon accessories with my more splurgy items. And I love how it all turned out and couldn’t be more happy with the end result!

Artwork

I decided to change up the artwork in this space to better match my classic coastal living room. I had been in love with this piece for years. And finally pulled the trigger on it. I have it in our entryway above this affordable table and just adore how it looks.

I also worked with Urban Garden Prints on this piece of artwork behind my sofa. The colors match perfectly back to my sofa. And the modern lines of the artwork vs. the softness of the rest of the room really strikes a great balance. I really love modern art.

What I Still Want to Add

As I said earlier, this space is about 90% done. Here are a few more things I want to add to the space.

Add artwork to the left side of my bookcase. There is this wall next to our bookcase that is blank and I want to add some artwork to it. But I just haven’t found the right piece yet! So I’m still on the hunt.
Add sconces in our entryway. I plan to add sconces to flank my pink artwork in the entryway. I really just can’t decide if I want to add these or these.
New rug. I might eventually get a new rug. I bought this rug when we first moved five years ago and it was a bit of a splurge. I still very much love it and I really do think it fits this space perfectly. But I can’t help to wonder if this rug would be even better in this space.
Curtains one day. And my dream one day would be to add curtains in the Chinese peony fabric that match my pillows. I would have to save for years to get them because it is a designer fabric and crazy expensive, but wouldn’t they be beautiful?!