It seems our living room has made some dramatic changes every year since Ben and I got married in 2006. 

When I met Ben in 2005, our living room looked like this.  Fortunately, we have made some improvements.  I moved in (with a love seat and some accessories) and the living room looked like this in 2006.

Ouch.  Not much better.  We still had the 80’s hand-me-down entertainment center, cow rug, mismatched furniture and a lot of clutter.  Oh, and we didn’t have trim around the windows.  Ben was recovering from knee surgery, so we also had a total gym upstairs. 

2006 became 2007 and we found a black leather couch and love seat set in the paper for $800.00.  It wasn’t the best looking, but at least it matched and fit our budget.  We repainted the trim white and the upper color became a darker beige.  We donated the entertainment center and built cabinets.  Ben also cased out the windows, so we had a more finished looking room.  But, we were still waiting to build the bookshelves until we got a new flat panel TV.

2008 was a much better year for our living room.   That was the year we got model furniture from the builder I worked for.  Now we’re getting somewhere.  The couch and chair matched, but we still had the rocker.  I bought a new rug from Flor.  It added some style and warmth.  I made some throw pillows to add more color.  At the time, the scheme was blue and red. 

We got our new TV and finished the bookshelves.  What a big difference that made!  A few accessories later and we had this:

Ben’s boss gave us a little desk.  Nothing great, but it works.  We finally got some framed pictures on the walls, too.  Notice I said some. 

Fast forward to 2009 when we bought two side chairs and side tables from Target.  We moved some furniture around and changed up the color scheme to blue and green.  I sewed a few pillow covers and made some artwork to add more color.   

Green and white books, silver picture frames, candles and new artwork and photos revamped the entertainment center.  I also switched out the door hardware for a more modern feel.

That’s where our living room is now.  What is going to happen in 2010?