Since my budget bedroom makeover is complete, I felt like I might as well work on the rest of my little apartment. I can't really do anything with the kitchen, so that leaves the living room and dining area (they're not really separate rooms).
I shoved a bunch of furniture from the bedroom into the dining room during my bedroom makeover. Now it's time to reorganize and do a low-key minimalist makeover of my living room and dining room!
Here's what's in store in this post:
- My current living and dining room layout
- Prep and decluttering
- Choosing a theme
- My new floor plan
- Decorating my space
If you don't have time to read the article now, you can save it to Pinterest for later.
1. My current living and dining room layout
In case you didn't catch my last post, I took my desk, chair, and a bookcase and put them in the living/dining room. The existing furniture included a futon I use as a sofa, a TV on a TV stand, and some miscellaneous items. Here's what it looked like before I moved furniture in from the bedroom.
I'm using that app that only has one template for drawing again. which is why the upper rooms (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen) are listed as "partial." At least half of them aren't visible.
Anyway, you can see how the main area has one big window and the entry is in the bottom right corner (the brown indicates the fake wood flooring). There's a half wall at the entry that I use to rest my keys, sunglasses, etc. To the left is the living room, and to the right is the dining room.
The kitchen is open to the dining room (no separating wall) and has a 2-level countertop. One level is taller, but the part that's in the dining room is table height. I think maybe you call it a breakfast bar? I have a couple of chairs there, and it's where I eat many of my meals. I have a little tray table too, and sometimes I eat in front of the TV as well.
When I moved into this apartment, I was using the futon as my bed and I didn't have any living room or dining room furniture. I had a roommate in my first apartment, and she brought all the furniture for the common area. When we went our separate ways, I got this place. Since it had that bar area already, I decided not to spend money on a dining room table. I upgraded my bed instead, plus I bought the TV stand, a TV, and the chairs. I do lots of arts and crafts stuff, so it's more important to me to have a place to do that than it is to have a dining set.
I don't have a coffee table either, because the futon opens up into a bed and it would have to get pushed out of the way if I had a table. Sometimes I use the futon for guests, but obviously not lately. Sometimes I lay it flat just for myself to lounge on while I watch a movie.
I didn't buy end tables in the living room because the arms of the futon are wooden and they're flat, so I can set a drink or the remotes on there.
When I was younger, I guess I was really into pine with a light-colored stain, because that's what color all my furniture is. So it all looks similar. It isn't really my favorite anymore, but there's no way I'm replacing everything anytime soon. So it'll work for now.
You could say this area is already sort of minimalist. But with the addition of the desk and bookcase, I feel the need to organize things better and make my space look nicer. I also hide my workout stuff and arts/crafts stuff in my bedroom closet when people come over because it looks messy to me. But I want to keep them out and also have everything look nice.
2. Prep and decluttering
As with my bedroom makeover, I did a declutter and deep cleaning of the living/dining space. There wasn't much to declutter, but I did take down all the artwork/photos from the walls. I didn't want what was already there to influence my decisions about what would come next, so I stacked them against the wall in my bedroom.
My main issue, as I mentioned, was the stuff in the dining area. I've thought for a while that I needed better storage for everything over there. I don't like how it's all just laying on the floor in plastic containers or not in any container at all.
3. Choosing a theme
As with my bedroom, I can't paint the walls or change the flooring. But there are a few things in my favor. First, all the furniture has similar wood grain and stain, so nothing looks mismatched. It's also neutral enough in color and design that it can sort of blend into the background.
Second, the futon has a zipper cover in forest green. I can't for the life of me remember why I loved dark green and pinewood when I was younger. But I can easily change out the cover.
So that just leaves deciding on an overall theme and colors. While the blue and white theme in my bedroom is soothing, I don't think it's exactly what I was looking for in the common area. I also don't like the way the paler blues look with the pine furniture. That's why I moved it out and stuck my pine dresser in the closet.
I researched what colors go well with pine, and the recommendation was for jewel tones, especially dark green (haha). But I just kept going back to blue. Not blue like my bedroom, but I found a teal blue cotton twill futon cover for only $30. I looked everywhere, and as usual, Amazon was the cheapest. Other places I looked at had similar options for $60-$150. Other colors in jewel tones were navy blue, purple, and burgundy. Two of those looked too dark, and the third (the purple) looked kinda weird to me. More red tones than I would like. So teal it is!
Given that the futon is the only piece of upholstered furniture in these rooms, the theme became "teal and pine" or something along those lines.
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| The color of my new cover on a futon frame similar to mine |
4. My new floor plan
Other than changing the color of my futon cover, there wasn't much to do. I just needed to arrange any new furniture brought into the room and think about decorating the walls.
The only other issue was what to do with the mess in my dining room. While I would love to get a fancy arts and crafts organizer system from a place like Ikea or The Container Store, that's just not in the budget right now.
However, I did need a better setup in that area so I ended up adding a few pieces that I found for free on Craigslist. There were a lot of options, but I was limited to what would fit in my car and that I could carry myself. I settled on two things:
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| I think this used to be a game table. I left the chairs behind for someone else. |
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| This dresser fits all my miscellaneous crafts and exercise items. |
The table isn't in the best shape, but that's fine because I'm using it as my sewing table and for art projects, so it will only get worse from here! Based on what I'm using it for, I saw no reason to search for something more aesthetically pleasing or to try to fix it up. It could be a good place to place food, and I have a white table cloth I can throw over it for when friends come by. The rest of the time, it's just me and I don't mind how the table looks.
The dresser just needed a quick cleaning and it was good to go. It's close enough in color to my existing furniture and far enough away from the other pieces that I'm satisfied with it "matching." The tall door on the right side is the perfect height to store my yoga mat and other workout equipment. Meanwhile, the drawers are great for fabric, art supplies, yarn, and whatever else I need to get creative.
After I moved things around a few times, I came up new floor plan I'm happy about. Here it is.
I emptied the contents of the storage totes into the new dresser and put them on the top shelf of my closet for now. I'll keep them for a while and give them away if I don't end up using them for something.
I'm very happy with how things are. When I'm painting, I can set up my paints on the new table (I was using the tray table before) and have plenty of room. My sewing machine now has a permanent spot on the back corner of the table (unless I'm using it) and I still have enough space to work on other things. If I need to sit down either in front of the easel or the craft table, I can grab either my balance ball chair or one of the chairs from my breakfast bar.
The futon and TV setup stayed almost the same. I just moved the futon back a little so there was better traffic flow now that the desk is there. The balance ball doesn't quite fit under the desk when it's on its stand, so when I want it completely out of the way, I can move it in front of the craft table.
I like having my desk under the window. I take more breaks from working to look outside. But I read that's better for your eyes anyway to move your eyes away from the screen when you're staring at a computer all day. I can tilt my blinds just right so I can see out but nobody can see back in, and it's nice to have the option of a breeze and some fresh air while I work too.
5. Decorating my new space
I thought about getting some throw pillows for the futon but decided I don't want to spend the money right now. Ditto for the meditation cushion I was eyeing. If/when I splurge on that, it will probably go in the top left corner of the living room, behind the futon. I probably get the purple color (I bet you thought I was going to say teal!).
I may also switch out my white table cloth for one that matches the slipcover (or coordinating color). Anything but white, because that's just asking for trouble if I put any food on it.
As for the artwork, I didn't really theme my choices. My decisions were informed more by the sizes and placement, plus what I want to look at. I put a few pics on the back wall where my bedroom door is. I decided the dining room (AKA the craft space) will be used to display past and future artwork that I make myself. I put up a few pieces and may add some more as I create them.
There are still some blank walls: the one next to the futon and the one behind the TV. I think I will leave the TV wall blank, and leave the other wall as more real estate for my own work as I make it.
In total, I spent ~$30 for the new futon cover plus whatever it cost in gas to pick up the 2 pieces of furniture.
I have some final thoughts I wanted to share about the bedroom and living/dining room makeovers.
- None of these changes were a necessity. I just thought it would be nice to do something different, and an interesting experience to share in blog posts.
- If you're wondering why I didn't include pictures of the rooms, it's because I'm a private person, and it feels invasive to me to share pictures of my home with strangers on the internet. Also, my current phone camera is garbage when it comes to high-quality images. I tried to take pics. No matter what angles and lighting I used, I wasn't happy with the results. You probably won't see too many pictures I took myself on this blog.
- I could have done these makeovers with less money. For even cheaper makeovers, I could have gotten a bedsheet from the thrift store and used that to make my bed skirt. I could have used a thrift store-bought comforter, throw, or pillows to change the look of my futon (although $30 is pretty darn good for a cotton cover).
- This could have been a free makeover. I could have simply moved around my furniture and/or added the free stuff I found on Craigslist. There are often decorative items for free on there too; if you're patient and persistent, you can find the right stuff.
Despite these caveats, I'm glad I did these makeovers. I think my apartment is much more functional and pleasing to the eye than how I had things before. Even though the old floor plan was fine, I didn't put much thought into it when I moved in. Looking at everything with a critical eye after using the space for some time allowed me to come up with alternatives to what existed.
If you will do/have done your own makeover on a budget, comment below about what you changed and how you like it!