Transforming a Narrow Living Room to a Beautiful Coastal Oasis

The “formal” living room space in our home has always felt like a lost space for me. I always wanted that coastal living room feel, however I never could make the room function. It doesn’t help that it is narrow and long 12′ wide by 20′ long. When a space is narrow it makes it hard for furniture placement. It took me almost 4 years to master how we use the space. Let me show you!

Where it All Started – Far Cry to a Coastal Living Room

Lets rewind though and look back to how this living room space looked when we first moved in.

There was potential; crown molding, wide door opening to the dining room and just it being an overall blank slate. However, the changes in this room took time, it had many iterations before I designed the look today.

Here is how this same space looked after a year of living here. I had this teal rug that I just LOVED, and at this time I thought this space was so pretty. It’s amazing how much your taste can change and evolve as you get older.

As the time went on and we lived here longer, and I acquired more things the room felt lost. I picked up these two arch hutches, because I think I have a problem of hoarding these, lol. And I stuck them in this room, not knowing where else to put them.

Here is a shot of the space prior to me stripping the white hutch, WHAT A MESS! But here again is a lesson that homes take time! The planning of a space takes a lot of thought. Sometimes living in it to understand how best you use the space. The original sofa in here was just too big for the space, I had to remove it.

How Covid Changed it All

I was able to strip both hutches and get them looking like a pair. Then dreaded Covid hit. I had to immediately scramble to figure out how to make this room function. Not only as a living room, but also as a study/office space for myself and the kids.

This is how it looked for all of the last year, it wasn’t terrible, but it never felt like me. My style is most definitely a light, bright, coastal style. Looking through the inspiration pages of Serena and Lily, and you’ll find all the things that I am drawn to.

With the homeschooling days behind us I did some deep thinking at 2am, when I have my best thoughts. I came up with a grand plan for this space, below was the initial mood board I had created. Far cry from the image above!

Pulling from my love of the Serena and Lily look, I incorporated more of those coastal elements. The morning side pillow covers were ones that I already had, and was happy to put in here. The raw edge being the natural color just tied in the rug and the hutches.

I added in the Westerly Bone inlay lamps next to the chairs. I did this so during the early morning you don’t have to have the bright lights above on. Who doesn’t love soft lighting! Plus, with their blue and white accents, paired with the other touches of blue it just tied it all together.

The rug is another favorite of mine and completely balance the space with its natural tones.

Adding a Fireplace

Another brilliant idea I had during my 2am design plan, was the addition of the fireplace. At that moment, and in the design plan the room felt like it had more of a purpose. Now I just had to make that all take shape! We started with the addition of the fireplace.

I took my Instagram following through the whole process of the fireplace install. Definitely head on over there to see how that took shape. But here are a few pictures to show you how it evolved.

The man in the photos is my father, and he is certainly the hero behind EVERY project!

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It may not look like much from the above image, but I was on cloud nine that this worked out! I then built my own fireplace surround, just using molding and simple wood. I knew I didn’t have a lot of space, so it couldn’t be anything super elaborate.

Here is a couple of process pictures, head on over to my Instagram to see the full build!

Creating that Coastal Living Room

At this point, this side of the room was complete! Here are some after shots of the whole space! What do you think?

The view below might be one of my favorites! It has so many different elements of the home that I love. The arch hutches, which are by far my favorite. But these paired with the Westerly Bone Inlay Lamp and Morning Side pillows just gives me all the heart eyes!

Here is a shot looking back on the whole space, QUITE the difference from before! The chandelier was originally hanging in my bedroom. This space was in need of a light so I stole it from there, haha! I am on the hunt for a light for this space!

The Sanibel Chandelier from Serena and Lily, gives me all the heart eyes, I love the organic look of it! However I will have to wait and save a little more before that can be added.

The Evolution of the Space

I have to say I am over the moon with how it looks today! The room is not done yet, I have a new rug coming!

The first picture below is from day one of move in. The second picture is after about of year of living here, and the last is how it stands today. Overall a 4 year transformation!

Definitely pin this post for later! If you have a narrow living room space here is an idea that you can use in your space. The idea of having 4 chairs has totally transformed the space, along with adding the gorgeous touches throughout the space.

I think adding in the higher end details with some lower cost items can truly transform the space. Even if just adding some beautiful pillows, from a higher end brand. Mine were obviously from Serena and Lily, but I will forever love their pieces. I feel their designs are classic and long lasting for coastal homes.

Clearly you can never go wrong with a solid piece of lighting, like the lamps I got for this space. But as I mentioned before, these spaces take time! So make sure to give yourself some grace and build your space as you can!

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