I had shared bits and pieces of our living room on this blog before, but I realized I had never really welcomed you guys into the space my wife and I (and our dog Samson) use most often.
The living room is the first thing (aside from our front porch) you see when you come to our house. For that reason, it is the hardest to keep neat and tidy! I am very guilty of just dumping everything as soon as I get home at the end of the day. Kristie and I have come up with a few storage solutions to handle this urge, like a big cedar chest to hold gloves, hats, and shoes; a coat hanger right next to the door; and a vintage mail sorter hanging on the wall.
(If you're curious about Samson's sock that appears in a few pictures, he's wearing it to dissuade him from scratching stitches on his neck after a recent surgery. Just so you know, you can also see some of his stitches in the pictures that follow. I promise he's okay.)
Along with figuring out what storage tricks work for us, another thing that enables me to relax almost immediately when walking through the front door is recognizing the smell of one of our favorite Unstopables Candles. We use the Fresh scented candles and fabric refresher in the living room, and the air spray in other, stinkier parts of our house.
And when it comes to having a dog, seriously you guys. Once we got our new (to us) couch, Kristie and I were a little nervous about how to keep literally every smell that comes from a dog from invading the furniture, since we can't remove the upholstery and throw it in the washing machine. Fabric refresher is a necessity for our couches and rug, and the fact that the Fresh scent ties in to the other scented products we use creates what my future BFF Nate Berkus calls "a home fragrance." Not only does this make our home more welcoming to visitors (who may not be so used to eau de Samson), but it also triggers a sense of relaxation as soon as I walk through the front door. It adds personality to our favorite space, and I can get from work mode to Netflix mode much faster.
Like I said, Fresh is currently our favorite Unstopables scent, but I find myself reaching for the Lush (lavender and vanilla) candle at the end of particularly trying days. Lavender always knocks my stress right out of the park.
Our living room is basically our home's command center. We work here, eat here (probably more often than I'd really like to admit), relax here, pay bills here, socialize here, craft/knit/sew here, and nap here. I think it's my favorite room in the house...functional, somewhat stylish, but very "us."
I'm so obsessed with this sweet face. If you're a dog lover too, or just someone who wants to take your home's style to the next level by (affordably) creating individual, recognizable scent décor, I seriously encourage you to check out the full line of P&G Unstopables products, which includes candles, fabric refresher, air refresher, scented oil, and in-wash scent booster.
Details: Gray couch, Urban Outfitters via Craigslist | Rug, Amazon | Dog bed, DIY | Radio planter, DIY | Leather tote, DIY | Hudson Bay throw blanket, eBay | Mountain print, Minted | Leather cupboard pull, DIY | Cedar chest, Craigslist | White chair, DIY(-ish) | Sheepskin throw, Amazon | Coffee table, IKEA (old) | Pillows, IKEA and Target | "H" mug, Anthropologie | Gray cape, DIY | Any other questions, please let me know and I'll answer them in the comments!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
