When we moved into our new house earlier this year we gained a lot of space, but it was a very different use of space than what we had at our old house… At our old house we had a living room and a family room. At our new house we only have a living room; there is no family room (yet!). So, even though this house is bigger, suddenly we were short a living space. And this means that our TV is now in our living room.
Now… some people like having TVs in multiple rooms for easy TV viewing… but not me. I thoroughly enjoyed having only one TV in the house, and having it not in my primary living space. And others did too — I received multiple compliments on my not having a TV in my old living room. In that space we were able to enjoy conversation, parties, games, reading, and music without having a big TV there to distract us (even if it’s off, it’s still not pretty to look at). But, as I said, in this new house we don’t have the luxury of two living spaces any more.
Shortly after we moved in, and before my TV was “hidden”, we had some friends over who noticed right away that there was now a TV in my living room. They commented that it felt strange to have a TV in my living room… but I had a plan. I wanted to “HIDE THE TV” with a wall arrangement!
With the help of pinterest and my mom, I began to pull together ideas and pieces for my new arrangement. Some things were from arrangements at the old house, a couple things are family pieces (an old skeleton key from my great-grandmother’s house, an old key-shaped thermometer from my grandmother’s house), some were new, and some Matt and I made. The pieces all focus on home, love and beauty. (Who doesn’t want those messages portrayed in their living room?) :-)
Here are a few boards and pins from pinterest that were especially inspiring:
When I felt like we’d collected enough materials, my mom and I arranged the pieces on the floor and then convinced my dad to help us hang everything up! (Thanks, Dad!)
Now we have a beautiful arrangement around our TV that I love to admire and my guests like to look at too. And it’s fun to talk about — Matt and I have colored in the states that we have visited together (it doesn’t count if we didn’t go there together!) and we put special markers on cities that have special meaning to us: we have a heart on Fort Collins (where we live), a heart on Muskegon (where we met), and a block M on Ann Arbor (where we went to school). And there are pictures of us in Muskegon at Lake Michigan, and on Horsetooth Mountain, overlooking Fort Collins.
Now this room feels cozy and comfortable, and it’s so much more interesting to look at! (And soon we’ll even have some curtains too!)
