Living Room Renovation by Kelly Larkin

Living Room Renovation | Kelly in the City

Heads up! You can find links to most of what you see here in this blog post. (But if you can’t find something, definitely let me know in the comment section below.) I also recently wrote a piece on how I styled our bookshelves. Hope it’s helpful! / Minted Framed Skyline c/o / Campaign End Table / Couches (Full review here. They’re the best couches EVER.) / Marble Coffee Table

At long last, we’re finally sharing the renovations we made to our living room. The real holdup was that I couldn’t decide on art for above the couch. It’s such a big wall! But we’ve all been there, right? I mean, how many of us have rooms without any art on the walls because selecting art seems like such a binding thing? Something you’re going to have to live with for years.

STRESS! 😂 (Tell me I’m not alone.)

I digress, haha. Before we talk about the art situation, I want to talk a little bit about the renovations: namely the shiplapped wall you see in the above photo. Because it wasn’t always there. For the last few years, things have looked like this. While I definitely didn’t love it, I also didn’t hate it… so I did my best with a gallery wall and was just grateful that the weirdo 60s-style “half wall” allowed for some extra light in the house since there was a window behind it. But then we had Emma, and realized how dangerous the thing was. I mean, once she started walking, she could easily fall over it. So we decided to close the wall off and install a custom baby gate for the stairs. More on that below.

Kira David Design

For those of you who just started reading, Kira from Kira David Design is our interior designer. Yes: it sounds a little crazy that someone like me would have an interior designer. But truthfully, Kira has saved us so much money over the years. With past projects that we orchestrated on our own, the costs piled up quickly–mostly because we didn’t know where to cut corners or where to find the best deals. With Kira, though, we’ve saved a ton. Yes, she charges for her design services, but the savings you get on everything else makes up for it. Plus, our home projects always end up looking insanely professional and like something out of a magazine because she has AMAZING taste. (Yet totally understands and represents ours.) Her design knowledge is out of this world.

I like to think I have a knack for design, but in reality, I have no idea what I’m doing. One of my favorite (and simplest) examples of this is when I wanted to install a herringbone marble back splash in our kitchen. Kira sweetly told me it was an awesome idea, but because our cabinets featured vertical ridges, the kitchen would likely look busy. Something I would never have considered. In short, this girl is phenomenal and you need her in your life.

Anyway, Kira agreed that we needed to close off the weirdo “half wall” entirely. We were sad to see the light go, and were worried that the closed off wall would make the house look even smaller. But Emma came first, and Kira installed shiplap–those white boards you see above–to brighten everything up and give the room some character. And it worked! I love it. So much better than Half Wall. ;)

I also love the baby gate that she designed. Our bedroom is on the “garden level,” which is just a glorified way of saying “basement.” ;) But the point is that we have a big staircase leading down to it, and we didn’t trust our store-bought baby gate since it didn’t attach correctly to our built-in-the-1800s crooked walls. So Kira created this beautiful white shiplapped baby gate, which flows right into the shiplapped wall around its corner! We LOVE that the lock is on the inside of the gate, too. We never have to worry!

Finally, she was somehow able to get the staircase wood to match both the faux wood (tile) in the basement AND the (real) wood floors in the living room. Everything flowed! I couldn’t believe it; I definitely thought the difference between the three flooring materials would be incredibly noticeable. But not so much with Kira’s help!

We adore it. It’s changed our lives, and we now have peace of mind. Thank you, Kira! <3

Minted artwork

LO! We finally found art that we like. It’s this print–in the biggest size–and we hung it right above our couch. Yes, it’s a bit of a statement. But we’re in love. I’m kind of bored of gallery walls, and the giant print is such the conversation starter. It also makes a statement!

If you haven’t heard of Minted, you need to try it. It’s essentially artwork for people who don’t have time for artwork. Simply log on to the site, select art you like, and then they’ll frame and ship it to you. Without a doubt, Minted is the ONLY reason we have artwork hanging in our house. They’re the best of the best, and their prices are extraordinary compared to traditional framing shops’ prices.

Serena and Lily tables and chairs

Serena and Lily recently sent Emma this table and these chairs. Eeeee! We don’t have any space in our house for them, but I loved ’em so much that I had to keep them. So right now they float between the office and the living room, and Emma gets SUCH joy out of them. Nearly every activity is done on that table, and I love that it matches the chairs in my office!

End table

This is actually from our guest room. Recently, I turned the guest room into a multipurpose room (office, playroom and guest room), and I didn’t have any space for the campaign end tables. So, I was definitely disappointed, as I loved them. Initially, I thought we’d need to sell them, but I then realized that one of ’em would work well as a living room end table. Our old one was falling apart and had zero storage, and the campaign one fit perfectly in its spot! It’s so nice having drawers for keys, dog leashes and other essentials that help us get out the door quickly. The other end table went into my bedroom closet, and I use it to store seasonal accessories.

I have to be honest about the campaign end table, though. The price is the best I’ve ever seen, but the thing is very difficult to put together. It took Mitch hours. So if you’re going to buy it, you should also buy a bottle of wine. ;)

Next up

A new rug! I haven’t found ANYTHING I’ve liked. Looking for a navy Persian-style rug that has indoor/outdoor functionality since it’s such a high traffic room. I’ve searched high and low and haven’t come up with much, so if you know of anything, please let me know! xoxo