Hi friends! Thanks so much for the love on our new kitchen! I'm excited to share our living room and keeping room with you today as those are the two rooms on either side of the kitchen. We planned an open concept main living space, so the living/family room, kitchen, breakfast nook area and keeping room (an old-fashioned term for a hearth room located next to your kitchen) are all basically in one big open area. We've only been in the house for about two months, but this space has become our absolute favorite place in the house to spend time together as a family. And it's been great for hosting large groups!

We vaulted the ceiling of the keeping room (FYI this room sits at an angle off of the back part of our house, almost like an add-on) and added wooden beams along the ceiling line. We actually just built out the beams with stain grade 1x6 pieces of wood which saved a lot of cost (and weight) instead of purchasing real solid wood beams! The walls, as you can see, are all shiplap. And we added French doors on all sides of the room- one set going out to our courtyard area and two sets of French doors going out to our back patio. 

Our living room is pretty simple- with only two walls, we made one a wall of windows looking out over our outdoor living area and the other a wall of built in bookshelves surrounding the fireplace. We don't have a playroom downstairs, so all of the kids toys are now in those shelves. It's working out great for us so far and we love having them playing in our main space so we can keep an eye on them while we cook dinner or hang out on the couch.

I think the star of the show in both rooms are the fireplaces. We designed them to match our simple farmhouse trim work but they've also got a little touch of traditional and a little touch of Craftsman. I. love. them. And for those of you wondering, they are B-vent gas fireplace logs (that I can turn on with the flick of a switch! score!). We actually have been using both fireplaces almost every day. I usually wake up and one of the first things I do is read my Bible with a cup of coffee by the fireplace in the keeping room. And of course we've had the fireplace on in the living room most nights we're in there! And, hello, it was so fun to decorate two mantels for Christmas.

So here's our main space! Hope you like it!

S O U R C E S :

wall paint color- Sherwin Williams Alabaster

trim color (and shiplap color)- custom color to match our cabinets

ceiling fans

beam stain color- Early American by Minwax

brick- Old Georgian Tudor with Savannah White ivory mortar

living room cabinet knobs- Hobby Lobby

living room sconces