We have been doing up our living room over the past month or so – getting rid of some quite bold wall paper the previous owners had put up and replacing it with a brighter and fresher colour scheme.
We use our living a lot, and it is important that it is very much a family space for us. We haven’t finished it yet as we are looking for just the right furniture / shelving options. We want to make the room function for us as well as we can. At the moment we have two sofas and a chair. The children have a bookshelf in one corner that holds some of their toys and books and a basket full of books (and it really does need sorting out at the moment!).
We haven’t yet decided what to do with the TV – whether to wall mount it in one of the alcoves at the side of the fireplace or to buy a new TV stand. Originally we had planned to put shelving up but it is proving difficult to find shelving that fits and that we like and shelving that will hold the weight of the TV and books etc. So… we need to rethink. I like the idea of wall mounting the TV as it then makes it a little bit more inaccessible from the children as well as freeing up the floor space underneath. I had hoped we could get some large baskets in order to hide the ironing pile in and some of the toys etc. But we will see.
It is important that we also have fun space for the children and we recently acquired a fab beanbag from Room to Grow. I wanted something that was neutral as eventually this will end up in one of the children’s bedrooms and I wanted something that would fit any theme. This one is predominantly cream with a London theme design print. it is also a lovely large bean bag and the kids love it – they like to share the beanbag and have reading time there. The beanbag is made from a really thick cotton so it will withstand the rough and tumble of my two toddlers. It is also big enough for an adult to use comfortably.
The design on it is lovely and has lots of little things to look at. Daniel likes pointing out the bike (he has a bike obsession following his balance bike!) but I quite like the marching soldiers.
I think this beanbag is the perfect thing to make this very much a family room, it gives Emma and Daniel their own ‘seats’ as well as making it a little playful too. I look forward to snuggling up and watching a film with them in due course.
I have also been thinking about getting a clock for our living room. There is only one clock in our house and that’s in the kitchen, so I was thinking about getting another for somewhere in the house, possibly the living room. I spotted this teaching clock and thought it might be a nice addition to sit on our mantlepiece in due course (and the price is currently reduced). Daniel is learning his numbers at the moment and he was quite excited when he saw this clock. He can point out the number one and three to me, and I am sure this will be a great aid when we start to learn to tell the time. I’ve not decided where this will live yet, either Daniel’s room or maybe somewhere more prominent such as the dining room or living room.
What do you do to make a communal room a family space? Have you got any plans in your house? Our next big project will be looking at Emma’s room and we will be taking a look at Kids bed from Room to Grow I am sure as we look to move Emma from her cot to a bed.
I was sent the beanbag and clock in exchange for a review. All words and opinions are my own.
Our living room has become a bit of a playroom for M and so she is taking over! We have no real options to change this.
Love the beanbag, how cute