What I think is so beautiful about doing your own renovation & decoration is the stories that come with it. The living room renovation is a conglomeration of many stories that bring such personality and life to the room. I feel a different kind of connection to the space than if I had moved into a turnkey, fully-furnished condo.

Fun fact: the only thing I kept from the previous owners are these curtains! They had hung these white, gray, and blue curtains to accessorize the cantaloupe colored walls…questionable design choice, but I digress. J They were in good shape, so I wanted to keep them in case I could work them into my own future décor. Turns out, they match PERFECTLY with the gray walls, white crown molding, gray couch, and dark blue armchair that I chose for the room. And I feel like its kind of fun to keep a piece of the condo’s previous life, even as I have breathed new life into it with the complete renovation.

Another fun fact: When I went to the condo for the showing, you’ll never guess what the only piece of furniture in the whole place was. It was an ORGAN. Like a straight-from-your-grandparents-church organ. When I was at the closing, the seller let us know that they ended up donating the organ to a church shortly before closing. I’m very glad it got a good home, but that could have been QUITE the conversation piece!

Each of the furniture pieces tells a story too…a TV stand I bought from a nice family in a Waconia parking lot on a snowy afternoon, the coffee table that I bought from a girl off Facebook Marketplace who just went through a breakup and needed to get rid of her furniture ASAP, and a couch from a family that had just bought a bigger house for their growing family. The antique fruit crates that I got at the last Minnehaha garage sale, the “poof” footrest that came from my Eden Prairie EVEREVE store when they redecorated, and the shelf I made with my dad to house all the scrapbooks I’ve made in the last 10 years. Oh, and of course the shelving unit that led to me getting asked out on a date off the NextDoor app!

I’ll forever remember the pizza party I had on the floor 6 days after I bought the place, with no silverware or dishes to my name. And the late evening I spent taping the crown molding, as my friend held up the 1 lamp we had in that room so that I could see.

But by far my favorite story is contained in the wooden cross wall hanging in the living room. My neighbor from growing up (Mr. Manion) made this for me, using wood that we found in my grandpa’s garage after he passed away. We don’t know exactly what my Grandpa was saving it for, or where it came from, but now it has a permanent spot on the wall of my first home. And I intentionally chose that as the first thing I put up on the walls – with a prayer that the conversations had & relationships fostered within my 1,090 square feet are pleasing to the Lord.

Here are some before and after pictures from the Living Room renovation: