The living room is the center of our apartment — where we spend most of our time, eat our meals, and where I work. For that reason, it's always been the focus of our decorating efforts. Number one on my list for this apartment refresh was replacing the 5x8 rug we've had forever with something more dynamic and investing in a bookshelf that is visually interesting in and of itself.
I headed to Wayfair for both of those pieces. I've always appreciated how many options the site has; and while I browsed for an embarrassing amount of time, what we landed on really did transform the space. For the rug, I opted for the Novogratz Tallulah Wool Indoor Rug ($265, originally $519). I am absolutely blown away by what the rounded edges on this carpet do in terms of such a simple design change. It has more clearly defined our lounge area, and it is the adult upgrade we needed.
As for the bookcase, we opted for the Red Barrel Studio 71" Tall Arched Bookcase ($230, originally $270), whose rounded arch perfectly mirrors the rug. Because most of our gallery wall frames are black, we figured a black bookshelf would be the statement piece the room needed, and we weren't wrong.
Lastly, we finally got rid of an old accent chair that had been ripped to shreds by our feisty tabby cat Leo. We found our forever replacement in the Medley Burr Accent Chair ($1,706, originally $1,895), a beautifully- and sustainably-made style. You can completely customize your chair, so we opted for Acer Velvet in Rust, future-proofing the chair against our cat's terror. It took a couple months to make the chair, but the finished product was very much worth it (and extra plus that the brand provides white glove delivery!).
