Heeeeelllo friends! Again my apologies for the sudden and unannounced radio silence around here. As you might suspect, our move is in full swing. And while I’m not quite ready to fill you in on the latest (so many Kansas projects to wrap up first!), trust that life behind the scenes has been a touch crazy and nonstop in recent weeks. I’m trying my darndest to get back to my usual blog rhythm and appreciate your patience while we catch up with life! I’ve still got a few final Kansas rooms to wrap up in the coming weeks, so I’m popping in today with the “reveal” of one of my favorite rooms in our Kansas home: our preppy living room!

(As I do in all my room reveal posts, the resources and tutorials are rounded up at the end!)

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Before I dive into all the details of this living room space on the upper level of our split-level home, let’s take a quick look back at what it looked like the day we arrived!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

This room (what we call the living room) is the large upstairs gathering space, just off the dining room, entryway and hallway leading to the bedrooms. It has a great amount of space with tall peaked ceilings, and the fireplace and large window provide just enough interest in the room while leaving plenty of wall space for all of our stuff!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

I was originally SOOO worried about the neutral walls throughout this house. However, this room is truly brought to life by the accessories and things in it. The result makes me a true convert of neutral walls! Have a look!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

There is just so much I love about this room (it might just be one of my favorites of all time!). From the striped fireplace feature wall to the upholstered chairs and colorful accessories…the patterns and colors work so well without being too much (such a hard balance for me to find!)

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

The center of the room is anchored by a new couch from Home Decorators. Admittedly, I LOVE the aesthetics of this couch (yay for a neutral couch with gorgeous tufting!) but it is not at all comfortable for movie watching and hanging out (so we often go down to the playroom for movie time!).

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

One nice thing about a totally neutral couch is that you can really add as much color and pattern you want through pillows…and I didn’t really hold back, using four different fabrics!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

The most optimal furniture layout for this room meant that we couldn’t fit side tables next to the couch. A quick and easy IKEA hack sofa table gave us just enough space for lamps, drinks and a few decor items! #bestsolutionever

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

What to place in front of the couch became the main conundrum for this space…I just didn’t know what I wanted! I found these faux bamboo tables for $35/pair at the famous West Bottoms in Kansas City. I originally snagged them to turn them into little ottomans, but the color and size really worked for me here, so they never got their makeover!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

The couch paired with the sofa table and coffee table(s) really turned out to be both a functional AND aesthetic solution in this room!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

In the back right corner of the couch we have one of my favorite DIYs of this entire last year: our “Where We’ve Lived” state prints. Not only does the gold metallic paper they are made with shimmer in the sunlight, but they make for great conversation starters with our guests!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Next to the state prints in the back right corner of the room is a clunky bookshelf that I’ve always hated but works perfectly for holding a ton of books! I originally had plans to paint is and never got to it…a blessing in disguise because the wood tone really works here!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Most of you long-time readers know that one of my all-time favorite patterns is stripes, and I use them in almost every space in our home. They just provide so much visual “bang,” and this striped wallpaper feature is no exception.

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

I found a single tube of this removable navy/white striped wallpaper at Target for $15 on a clearance end cap. This simple and inexpensive DIY completely made this space and added the perfect preppy punch to an otherwise formal space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

I used brass, white and kelly green accessories throughout the room, and they worked really well in unifying the whole space on the navy/white/neutral backdrop! I don’t think I’ll ever ever tire of kelly green and navy!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

We balanced out the state prints on the left side of the fireplace with some of my all-time favorite family shots on the right. They are getting pretty outdated, but I just can’t bring myself to replace them yet!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

The rocking chair was placed here because we had no where else to put it. It turned out to be great extra seating when we do have friends over to visit!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Across from the couch/window wall is a 2/3 wall that separates the living room from the kitchen/dining room. I always feel so cut off from Henry and Greg when I am in the kitchen, but I am happy we had a solid wall to place our beloved media stand. This tall wall always feels super bland and boring to me and is one of the few spaces in this home I wish we had some paint!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

The last side of the room is rounded out with my two favorite navy/white upholstered chairs. Not only do I LOVE how these chairs play off the stripes around the fireplace, but they also round out our seating situation! The furniture placement in this room worked out so well!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Back behind the chairs in the final corner of the room, we placed a butterfly cabinet that holds all of our china and crystal. Above it is a framed piece from Minted that reminds me of a lot of the different places we’ve lived and brings the kelly green to this side of the room!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Room Resources

I’ve done my best to round-up the products used in this space. If there is something I’ve overlooked, let me know in the comments!

  • Couch
  • Sofa table – DIY
  • Lamps – Target + DIY
  • Glass candle holder on sofa table – Marshalls
  • Brass winged bowl – Thrifted
  • Coasters – DIY
  • Yellow Planter – Red Envelope
  • Navy and white curtains – Bed, Bath and Beyond
  • Pine Needle Artwork – Minted
  • Turquoise Acrylic Box – HomeGoods
  • Striped Wallpaper – Target
  • White lanterns – Marhsalls
  • Tall White Vase – Target
  • Brass candlesticks, criket and bird – thrifted
  • Gold round mirror – New River Pottery
  • White owl planter – New River Pottery
  • Ottoman – DIY
  • Rocking Chair – DIY
  • White and yellow dot pillows – Marshalls
  •  Navy, green and white floral fabric – Hancock Fabrics
  • Yellow and white fabric – Hancock Fabrics
  • White/navy dot fabric
  • Green linen fabric

New Projects Since Moving To Kansas

Need a quick and easy sofa table without the hassle of tools and lumber? This one comes together in just 10 minutes using off-the-shelf items from IKEA! DIY State Silhouette Artwork Wallpaper DIY Acrylic Frame-01 No-Sew Ribbon Pillow Tutorial Knob Finials-15 Making the Case for Curtains-01

Other Projects Seen In This Space

Blue Upholstered Chairs-001 Dresser Makeover-001 Lamp Makeover-001 Polishing Hardware-014 Tile Coasters-001 DIY Ottoman-001 Modern Rocking Chair

I love this space so dearly and am hoping to be able to recreate it (mostly) in our next home! Only time will tell. Until then…one more look at the before/afters!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

I hope you guys love this space as much as I do! I’d love to hear in the comments what your favorite element is!

Neutral furniture and colorful accessories transform this boring rental living room into a preppy and playful family space!

Back here on Thursday, I’m going to have the first look at this house coming apart (eek!) with a wallpaper follow up I’m sure many of you have been wondering about! See you then!

Megan Signature

P.S. I’m thrilled to have this room featured in Shutterfly’s Round-Up of How to Decorate a Small Living Room. You can check out lots of other great living room decor ideas here!

See You Soon!
Megan