Defining a Living Space :: Rearranged Living Room

You all have heard me complain about my “crazy” living room wall.  It basically was a whole lot of pretty stuff trying to accent our rather large flat screen.  I will admit I am as guilty as the next person, that I allowed my decoration to revolve around the TV.  When TV watching is the main purpose of the room, it is hard not to.  But I had had enough.  And it was time for a change. 

Rearranging is very crazy.  And you may notice my step risers in the background.  When not watching TV, I often work out in this room so my workout equipment gets hidden behind couches and under tables.  Because, let’s be honest, if you have to dig it out of somewhere, like your garage, you probably aren’t going to use it very often… It doesn’t help to leave housework unfinished (like not putting away clean laundry).  It only gets in the way. And you should try not to make too many barriers, trapping yourself in one room.  But if you are lucky, you will have a bar you can fling your body over onto the couch.  And somehow after rearranging, I still had all of this that once was in our living room.  Scary how much I can fit into one room.  The new-less cluttered-non TV centered-multi-functioning living room (that has yet to be painted):

I needed to break up the biggest wall into sections.  I now have a TV space centered around decoration and a separate desk space that helps the room be sectioned off into a better flowing space.  That was a mouthful.  Feel free to read twice.  It is tempting to think that by cutting up the room with a couch like this would make it feel smaller, yet it somehow actually makes the room look bigger.  This little table behind the couch is the top of a two piece desk.  We sold the desk and they didn’t want this top piece.  I painted it, sewed some drop cloth curtains, and bought two tension rods to make it into a functioning side table.  We hide all of our games under there.  I love that as you walk down the stairs, there is a focal point to look at now.  It finally feels pulled together…finally…Have you allowed your TV to take over a room?