Now that we’ve moved in, cleaned, and things have settled down a bit, I’ve started working on a game plan to make the living room more ours. If you read the blog post about us buying a house, then you got a little synopsis of the journey it took for us to get here. Starting with us finding a house prior to the one we actually bought. I was so excited about that house, mainly because I was excited about owning a house again, but also because of some of the features: namely – the fireplace. I’ve always loved the idea of having a fireplace, but adding another “must-have” on my already lengthy list was unlikely to produce any results. So, I sucked it up and continued on with the search, sans fireplace.

Luckily for me, I have the mentality that you can do anything you set your mind to. And it doesn’t hurt that there is a YouTube video for everything! So, being adamant in having fireplace, and purchasing a house that doesn’t have one, I searched the internet until I found something that I felt was a suitable replacement.

The fireplace was sort of the anchor to this design. I wanted something that was incredibly welcoming with neutral colors and cozy textures, but I also wanted to bring in my favorite décor style – industrial farmhouse – with the addition of brick and mixed metals.

Watching this video on how to build a wall bump out to house an electrical fireplace insert totally gave me the boost of confidence I needed to handle this project on my own. I’m planning on building it on the only open wall we have in the living room, but because my room is significantly smaller, I’m only going to do a 5 foot bump out, instead of the 6 foot he does in the video. I’m also not going to do the shiplap finish they showed, but finish it with drywall so that I can brick around it, making it seem more realistic. I want a big rustic looking mantel placed above and my television installed above that. This is totally going to help me stop constantly telling Audrey to move so I can see the TV.

Realistically, I could keep with the 6 foot length, but I wanted to be able to place this industrial-style bookshelf on one side, and my bar cart on the other. Adjusting the size of the bump out allows me to have it all.

I also need to bring an electrician in. For one, I want another electrical outlet installed behind the bump out, so all of the cords can be back there, instead of with them coming out from everywhere like we have now. I also want a ceiling fan/light installed because in the evening it. is. dark. in here. And right now our light switch works both of the outlets on the wall where the fireplace will go, so if you accidently turn it off, you’ve shut off the television, internet, and anything else that is plugged in over there. It’s super inconvenient.

For the furniture, I know I want to go from a couch and a love seat, to a couch and two reclining chairs. I also know which couch I’m going to purchase, but I’m still searching for the perfect chairs (although I did settle on a charcoal gray for the color). I’ll add some slim end tables, an area rug, and a small coffee table that I’m planning on DIYing from an old wooden military chest I have to tie it all together. I mean, there are a few other things I have going on in my head, but I’m still deciding if I want to do them or not.

However, in order to get this room to look more like the space I want, here’s everything on my to do list:

• build wall bump out for electrical fireplace
• finish bump out to resemble a brick fireplace
• install television on wall above fireplace
• repaint room a pale gray
• repaint ceiling a bright white
• replace trim and paint it bright white
• install ceiling fan and get electrical switch to work for fan/light
• install new electrical outlet behind bump out
• replace all electrical outlets (since prior owners painted over every single one)
• replace blinds with 2 in cordless blinds
• install new curtains
• add furniture
• DIY wooden military chest coffee table
• add accessories

I have a lot of work cut out for me, especially because I want the majority of this room completed by autumn. However, I feel like timelines give me the motivation to work on them and get them done. Unfortunately, we ran into a couple of issues that has pushed back the purchasing of any of these items – our dishwasher has been leaking and this past Friday, as I was watching a movie, my TV went completely black. I’m thinking the backlights died, and while I didn’t throw my TV away, and have every intention of trying to salvage it, I don’t know when I’ll get around to it – so we needed a new TV (which, if you’ve tried buying a TV lately, you’ll know it’s nearly impossible). But, I still have this autumn goal, so I’ll be working towards it, and sharing my progress along the way.