Making Over My Sister’s Apartment – Living Room & Kitchen Nook

This is my sister, Kimberly. Isn’t she the cutest? Her apartment on the other hand was not so cute. She enlisted my help to makeover her living room and kitchen nook. Growing up my sister and I shared a bedroom until I was in ninth grade I think. Every summer between school years, I would makeover our bedroom. New paint, new theme and potentially a new layout. Being the older sister I am, I made the executive decisions on, well, everything. She was my assistant wether she liked it or not.

My decorating skills and team management skills have improved greatly since middle school. It was a true team effort this time. I know my sister’s personal style pretty well after 28 years together, but I still had her pull together some inspiration photos for me as I figured out the layout in the oddly shaped living room.

The first thing I always do when decorating a space is to figure out the layout of the furniture and flow of the room to the other spaces. Her living room has these big, beautiful bay windows, but they make for an oddly shaped space. We decided the best layout for the room was an L-shaped sectional on the only two 90-degree walls in the space. This was the perfect spot for a sectional because it kept the space open to the kitchen and you could watch TV comfortably. The flow was open and inviting. Just what you want in a living room.

In the bay window bump out in the living room we place two matching chairs floating off the wall. Between them we added a round, woven storage ottoman.

Then we grounded the sectional with a square rug (I talked more about why I choose a square one in the video tour of the space) and a rectangle coffee table. I feel like many people avoid adding a rug to a carpeted space, but I think it helps to define open spaces. Choose a rug that has a heavy weight to it. Avoid flat lay rugs overtop carpet. They will never lay nice and flat. We balanced either side of the section with a floor lamp and large plant.

Above the couch we hung a pair of matching large wall frames on the right side to balance out the large scale of sectional. Above the left side of the sectional there’s a soffit, which can make it tricky for hanging framed artwork without the ceilings feeling very low. Inside of more frames, I DIY’d a set of three pottery wall hangings. I absolutely love how these came out and will do a tutorial for them very soon!

We added this cabinet on the wall between the kitchen nook and living room space to help add definition between the rooms. The cute little cream poof is the perfect addition to the space for added seating when friends are over or use it to prop up your feet when watching a show.

The kitchen nook was tricky design wise, but I think we pulled it off. My sister wanted her dining table and chairs to be in the window. Makes sense. The windows in their place are wonderful and it’s fun sitting in the window seat and watching the street below. That left us with this funny recess on the back wall of the kitchen nook. The solution, a pair of floating shelves to extend the kitchen space. I styled the shelves with all the pretty things you find in a kitchen like cutting boards, jars, cookbooks, plants (lots of plants everywhere), glasses and pottery pieces. We anchored the area below with another cabinet. Fun fact: our great grandfather made those cabinets. Next to the weathered cabinets I added a full snake plant to balance the space and add a sculptural moment. This might be my favorite place in the whole house.

The dining table set is a hand-me-down from my husband’s grandfather. It fit perfectly in the space, but was dated with its old upholstery fabric. The solution, reupholster the seat cushions with a modern fabric and the set instantly looks more modern and fitting in the space. Not to mention, it only costs about $20.

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