SOOoooo the living room. THIS has been the room I've spent the most time on, so it is also the room I'm most confused as to how I feel about it! ha..

If you're in Grand Rapids and have spent time surfing Zillow, you might remember the beautiful shots of this house when it was on the market. The previous owner was a designer, and this room was just, you know...SO beautiful! And from what I'm learning, pretty much all of us struggle with creative envy and comparison and fraudy feelings when it comes to our craft, so I put a lot of pressure on myself to make our space look just as cool, or just as beautiful, or creative, or whatever, as how it looked when we bought it. NOT COOL, LAUREN.

Anyway, it's still not where I want it to be, but it is important to develop your own taste/style and not feel the need to replicate the style of someone else. Of course, sometimes you are limited by your budget and you just gotta work with what you've got, which is kind of what's going on here...ALMOST everything in the space was thrifted, bought on clearance, or found at an extremely good price!

Of course, being in the industry for a few years now, my values around furniture quality have shifted a bit. For upholstery especially, I highly recommend spending a little more because it really does make a difference. I purchased the sofa, chair, and a matching love seat (previously seen in my office) from Value City Furniture for $900 just after we got married. It seemed like a lot -- it was a lot for us then! -- but now, four years later, the support in the back of the sofa is literally cracked and falling apart. My next purchase will be higher quality! Accessories wise, I still love to find things in unexpected places, use local art, or thrift them.

So what else?

• I spotted the area rug on pinterest and found it on Allmodern. For the pricepoint, it's ended up working out well. Its extremely thin and soft, so it really looks and feels like a vintage rug. Its a little loud, so I was fairly neutral in the rest of my color scheme.

• Coffee table is from Homegoods (used to be in our sunroom). Would love to do a giant round one at some point!

• Bar cart is from Allmodern. You may have seen it in our Design Showcase this past January.

• Green vintage chair used to be in my friend's apartment and was gifted to me when she moved (thanks, Carrie!)

• Framed photo on the fireplace is one by Chris Cox, and the print was found at Furniture City Consigment; I got super lucky, someone had just brought in their parent's whole collection of art and I was the first one to see it all.

• Giant stein was bough for me by my brother so I could participate in New Holland Brewery's "Stein Night" my senior year at Hope College. Yes, real beer was drunk outta that stein.

• MCM end table was a Changing Thymes find

• Annnnd almost everything else was thrifted... :)

This is one moment (above) I've always struggled with. When we first moved in, I was going to put the piano on this wall, but then it was wayyy to small to hold down that giant wall. Ideally I'd like one very long credenza (the one pictured is from Target, bought when we first got married, and just way to small). I'd also like a huge tree or palm in the left corner to bring in some GREEN. Give me your thoughts below!

Photos by Alyssa & Drew Photographers