A look at my craft room/office

My craft room and office area is in what used to be our formal living room. It is the first room you see when you walk in our front door and is connected to our formal dining room. Last January I made the switch from formal room to functional room and moved all my scrapbooking and crafting supplies here. You can read all about that here.

I was in love with the crafting side of the room, but the sitting/reading side of the room was still blah. That mainly had to do with our fourteen year old sofa. Last month I finally got around to selling it on craigslist and purchased the Ikea ektorp sofa {you can read about that here}.

The room is now what I would consider finished {for the most part} and I am thrilled to share it with you today.

This is the view from our front door.

I love my bright yellow side table a craigslist diy project and the framed photo of our first home.

This little table was a garage sale find.

This is the view from our dining room. I brought in my painted stripe curtains from the family room.

Another view from our dining room. You can see my craft space tucked into the corner and our entryway. 

My favorite part of our entire house!

This room was a long time in the making, but I'm glad to have a space that my family and I will actually use. I spend a lot of time at my desk on my computer or crafting. The sofa is the perfect spot to sit and read, and my girls like to sit at the coffee table and do homework and craft as well. 

Thanks for coming by!

Amy

linking up this week to...

rainonatinroof, craft-o-maniac, ourdelightfulhome, thescoop, homestoriesatoz, myuncommonsliceofsuburbia,

thewinthropchronicles, abowlfulloflemons, sugarbeecrafts, romanceonadime,

thediydreamer, whimsywednesday, mygirlishwhims, greenwillowpond,

polkadotsonparade, livelaughrowe, 52mantels, serentiynow, classyclutter,

frugalfriday, the36thavenue

Ikea ektorp experience...office update

After two long years of dreaming of a new white sofa for our living room {aka my craft room/office} I finally purchased one. Every time I went to Ikea I would test out the ektorp sofa and tell whoever was with me "this is the sofa I want for my/our living room".

Over the past few months I've read every review written on the ektorp. I already knew it was comfy from all my test runs in the store, I just wanted to make sure about quality and of course how easy or difficult it was to wash those slipcovers. 

 We sold our old couch on craigslist and the next day my husband and I headed to Ikea {luckily we live about 45 minutes away from one}. The box was large, but it fit perfectly in the back of our minivan with the seats folded down.

Once we got home we unpacked everything. This is how the couch comes. If you have children they will love playing in the gigantic box even if they are teenagers!

Here are all the cushions and slipcovers.

My husband actually had my fourteen year old son put the sofa together {he may have helped him a bit} and it took about fifteen minutes. Then my husband and I tackled the slipcovers which took another fifteen minutes.

It's only been a week, but I'm pleased with the sofa so far. 

Now I need to work on finishing off the rest of the room. Hoping to show you the entire room next week!

Amy

linking up this week to...

polkadotsonparade, whatevergoeswednesday, thewellcraftedhome, 52mantels,

livelaughrowe, therealhousewivesofriverton, serentiynow, shabbynest,

lovelycraftyhome, what'sshakin, tatertotsandjello, ourdelightfulhome,

rainonatinroof, homestoriesatoz

Living room gallery wall

Yesterday I posted some gallery walls that inspired me, and today I am sharing the gallery wall I put together in my living room! The living room is the first room you see when you enter our front door so I wanted the focal wall to make a statement! I looked and looked at ideas for stenciled walls, but I totally loved the painted wall treatment I found at Jonesdesigncompany .  It took me about a week to complete the wall, but it was so worth it.

  Then it was time for the fun part arranging and rearranging the gallery wall. I reused frames I already had, and black and white pics of my precious children!

I didn't have enough photos to fill all the frames so I used pages from an old dictionary I had laying around. To add a little more detail I used some burlap hearts that are actually from my scrapbooking stash.

The rest of the room is still a work in progress. The couch is old and is need of a white slipcover and maybe some new colorful pillows! At least for now I am happy looking at my completed wall!