Before and after… living room update

The living room was one of my favorite transformations. Though we were blessed with hardwood floors, and tall ceilings, I really wanted to add some architectural features. So we added the fireplace, and the salvaged wood floating shelves. Yes! More floating shelves!

Before…

After!

The mantel was such an awesome addition if you don’t mind me tooting my own horn a little bit. Where in the world did I find a mantel, you may wonder. Craigslist! And it was sooo much less expensive than going to an architectural salvage store. So definitely check Craigslist before you drop hundreds if not thousands of dollars at a store. Another tip though, be patient, check in every few weeks to see if somethings been posted, awesome finds don’t pop up everyday!

As for the floating shelves, we did purchase the wood from a salvage store. But it came with a cool story! First, the wood was from an old barn in the Chester County area. Second, once it was reclaimed, it was used in a really cool restaurant in Philadelphia, Zahav. So both our home and Zahav share wood from the same tree.

Finally, I’ve got to give a shout out to the curtains. When my grandmother passed away, I requested her curtains. A weird request, but you’ll understand if you’ve ever tried to purchase new high quality curtains. Plus, I liked the reminder of her every day in my home. But, the problem was they were too short. So, I took the curtains I previously had, cut them, and sewed them to the bottom. Voila! An easy, sustainable way to get awesome custom curtains.