1970s Living Room Makeover

Today, I'm sharing our complete 1970s Living Room Makeover.

This is now my favorite room. It's a bit eclectic and funky...and totally us. 

And yes, we're bringing popcorn ceilings back. Boom. 

This room sat empty after we moved in. We were trying to be super cautious with the budget since, at the time, we still owned our previous home (it's sold now...AMEN!). It was super awkward for a bit...this big, empty, main room that connected the house (bedrooms on one side of it, kitchen and tv room on the other side). It was the first room you walked into from the front door...and it was empty. At night, I'd walk through its darkness on the way to bed and I was a bit sad. I knew one day that it would be a special place...it just took a little patience. Prior to moving in, this room also gave me a few minor heart attacks with all its issues. Check out its story below. 

The above photo was taken the second time we walked through this house with our realtor. That wet bar was killah. I love everything about this house to its very core...but that wet bar is one thing I do giggle about. This photo doesn't really do it justice. It had a sink too...which allowed lots of good mold to grow inside of its sheetrock (which was found upon its removal). But those built-ins, y'all (allllll the heart eye emojis!). 

Fast forward a couple of months and we were in the thick of it. We had a contractor remove the wet bar and do some of the work in the kitchen for us. When he took the wet bar out initially, he pulled the base cabinets away from the wall, too (since it was all connected). He called me and said, "Want me to go ahead and take the cabinets and built-ins out while I'm at it? I've got the cabinets already away from the wall." I kind of died a little inside since those built-ins were a major selling feature for us. I hope I remained super cool and collected in that phone call, but I'm sure it was more like "NOOOOOOO! Don't you touch those!". He was actually super sweet about it and put it all back together. 

And yes, not only are we bringing back popcorn ceilings, we're totally bringing back paneled walls, too, y'all. This post could alternately be titled, "work with what ya got". 

And I had to throw in the above photo. It was the second mini heart attack after the built-in ordeal. I was the ding dong that insisted on keeping the floor plugs. The only issue was that only one of them worked. I remember going on and on to my husband about how awesome they were for lamps and not having cords all over the place. Well, that one lone floor plug that was left caused so much drama, y'all. It was super fun to walk into the house that day and see the foundation all dug up...you know, in the middle of the house. And yes, we found a crack in the foundation, if you're looking closely. Sweet glory. It's *mostly* okay now. Some doors close. Some doors don't. And when the weather changes, it all reverses. The joys of a fixer upper. 

Then all the flooring went in. And my plug was still not done (I mean, I'm all about a capped 6" PVC pipe sticking up in the smack dab middle of the room, but at some point, the fun must end). The electrician came a few days later and fixed it...sort of. I'll show you what I mean in one of the photos below. Whhhhhhy did I want that plug so bad? I promise you it shaved off a few years of my life with all it put me through. 

Thankfully, things are settling down and looking a lot better.

I used leftover paint from my kitchen cabinets (yes, I have aqua kitchen cabinets...check them out here), for the back of the built-in shelves. I've already thrown some fall decor out and about, but my main thing here was silver frames and scripture art. I got all of my frames on a series of trips to TJ Maxx for less than $5 each (that was my rule on spending). We also have our snow globe collection on display. Because who doesn't love a good ol' snow globe collection, amiright?

I made the GIVE THANKS sign here a few years ago.

We added a desk where the wet bar used to be. My husband uses this space daily. We did pull out the chandelier that was over the wet bar and do a simple can light. Someone on my personal Facebook page asked about the rug, so I thought I'd share that with you, too. I buy rugs at Tuesday Morning. They're practically giving them away there, y'all. We have purchased two separate sisal rugs there at different times and have always been happy with their prices and quality. That old table between the chairs was from a vintage sale. It was literally sitting out in the rain. Pretty sure I'm the only one who wanted it. ;)

My dad came over and removed the brass fireplace screen for me. It made a world of difference. We do plan to get a freestanding screen, but right now, I'm just liking the rustic-ness of this. I loved the mantel when we first saw this house, too...it was another biggie for me. 

I love cotton bolls in fall decor. We lived in the Texas panhandle for a few years and always enjoyed seeing the pretty cotton fields this time of the year. 

The pillows on the hearth have really come in handy. We had folks sitting here when we had a birthday party here recently. It's a nice deep hearth...perfect for extra seating when we have family and friends come over. We both have fairly large families...excited for all the fall and holiday entertaining in this place. 

This is the view from the entryway. We scored that mid-century turn-table credenza in San Antonio on Hildebrand Street (a fantastic place for people who like old things). I debated about painting it. And then took it to Facebook where I was threatened with excommunication if I took a paintbrush to that piece. So, it's as we found it.   

The lamp is another Tuesday Morning score.
And on the left side of that picture is that ding dang floor plug. 
Y'all, this is the new standard for floor plugs...a cover that has to stay UP when the plug is in use. Just kill me now. We hate it. But kind of like its functionality at the same time. And of course, this was the biggest ordeal, ever.  

I put my flea market gallery wall up behind the turntable credenza...
in the hall that leads to our bedrooms.  

The splurge of this room was these two-fabric, nail-head trim chairs.
They actually were super affordable. They're slightly smaller in appearance than on the Joss & Main site, but they work well in this space. But the burlap & nailhead get me...in the opposite way of the stupid floor plug.

 Tufted buttons. Be still my heart.
Our sunroom is on the other side of those windows.

Everyone seems to like these drapes, too. Another Joss & Main find.
We used a 20-foot plumbing pipe as the rod at the time.
You can see how we did the one in our son's room here. 

The coffee table was my very first painting project on this blog in 2011.
I'd link to it, but I'm horrified of the photo quality back then. ;)
I made the DIY tray a couple of years ago. Check it out here. 

A little before and after to call it good on this post. 

What do you think?

Neglect your chores like me and don't miss a thing:

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