Lensch Living: Living Room Tour

I’d like to preface my newest post with a list of excuses as to why there have been no posts for two months. Between Thanksgiving and now, I went to Chicago for a weekend, Iowa for nine days at Christmas, Texas for a weekend, started a new job, started some contract PR work, and have been volunteering my time for a new nonprofit initiative in Wyoming. While I apologize for the lack of actual posts, I like to think it was all in an effort to report more good news to all of you. Because really, it’s all been pretty great!

I’ll report on some of the events I mentioned above soon, but today I want to present a new series I’m calling Lensch Living, which will all add up to a tour of our first home. I warned you all that this blog may become a wannabe home improvement blog from time to time, so today I’m going to make good on that promise.

Buying a house is a daunting task. On one hand, I was excited about all the possibilities for making my HGTV dreams come true. On the other, I realized that my mom is the true home decor genius and she lives in Iowa. Somehow, with her help via FaceTime and many project requests to my handy husband, I have finally put together several rooms in my house.

I’m going to kick off this series with a “tour” of our living room. This is where Drew and I spend 99 percent of our time, so it was important for me to get this put together fairly quickly. When we moved in, everything was painted white, and so far we haven’t painted anything but the bathroom, bedroom and office. We will eventually paint the living room, dining room and kitchen, so I’ll keep you all posted when that does happen.

Without further ado, the Lensch Living Room:

Despite the fact that my dog is 50 lbs., his favorite spot in the house is on the back of that couch looking out the window. I’m going to appreciate the amount of fluff in that middle cushion while it lasts. 

We rescued this piece of furniture from a dumpster. A new top and a coat of paint later, we had a new entertainment center! 

We desperately needed a larger coffee table, so Drew made this one out of pallets. It still needs to be sealed, but it is the perfect size for between our couches. 

This rug is from Walmart and cost $17. I’m also on the hunt for some baskets to go on the bottom of this coffee table. 

Another Handy Husband project request. I drew the Elk on the pallets, then he cut it out and glued it to the vertical pallets. I love how it turned out!

I left for a weekend in Chicago in December and came back to the floating shelves I had been hinting at for quite a while. These are on the wall between the Living Room and Dining Room. I’m looking for a short bookshelf/table to put underneath them as well. 

For now, I’m considering this room 85 percent complete. I can’t wait to get everything painted, and I am looking to add a few other touches, but overall I’m really happy with how it turned out. We’re also planning to update the door knobs and light fixtures throughout the house as well, but its all an ongoing process. I’ll try to continue this series as we update other parts of our house, including the bathroom we’re installing in our basement. Home ownership is no joke, but I’m really enjoying channeling my inner Joanna Gaines when I have the time and energy ;).