As promised, here is the living room in all it’s Maximalist glory, finally (mostly) complete since buying the house in October 2017. I completed all the painting and wallpaper in a busy two-day whirlwind of back-aching labor, and it was worth it! So happy to have this part finished. There will be a couple small odds and ends to come (like a proper curtain and rod and the main window) but it is for all intents and purposes Fini!

BEFORE

This is what the living looked like when we moved in, sans the previous owner’s furniture.

AFTER

I LOVE how the room came out! The paint is 3 shades of grey, dark eggshell on the ceiling, medium on the walls and pale grey semi-gloss on the trim and baseboards. The big splurge was the Ellie Cashman floral wallpaper (about $400) but so worth it for the big drama. Most everything was brought from the old Denver house; the sofa, ottoman, rug and 2 etagere are new, all found online at great deals.

The sofa was a big mark-down at Z Gallerie ($699), the grey velvet ottoman $160 at Wayfair, the rug $140 on houzz (I don’t buy nice rugs because, dogs 🙂 and the brass and glass etageres were about $260 each. I did a lot of comparison shopping and it really paid off. (painting to the right by Sandi Calistro)Almost all of our art is thrifted, gifts, and trades with other artists. The big floor lamp was an awesome free alley score! I found the portrait painting on the right on shopgoodwill.com.

The big lucite sofa table and 2 pink side tables were all thrift finds back in Denver, as was the signed “Los Angeles” print on the left, the white ceramic pots, and much of the accessories. The oil painting on the right I found recently on shopgoodwill.com.

Yes, there are 3 disco balls on the bookshelves 🙂 (and yea I know, I really need to hide the wires…) Herman the Peacock (A yard sale find) seems quite at home here among the flowers.

Here’s where I really let my inner maximalist out to play. Inspired by the amazing art of Nick Cave, I bedecked our old chandelier in about 20 pounds of costume jewelry, most of which came from grab bags at the thrift store.