Modern Boho Living Room {Winter Edition}

Last winter I shared Our Eclectic Boho Main Floor and the post ended up being one of my more popular posts with my readers (all of you Darlin’s). Since then I’ve slowly been playing with the look. A couple weeks ago I needed to flip the living room around basically, and I realized my look had really blossomed since last year. So of course naturally my next thought was that it might be fun to share the changes in this Modern Boho Living Room {winter edition} post.

I’ve had so many people comment on our living room style, so I thought that while I’m at this post I may as well reveal my secrets on how I discovered and created the perfect home style for our family all on a budget, and how you can too if you don’t already have a home style you love.

BTW, here’s a super fun video on how I created our boho style on a dime, and it includes some easy plants for beginners too!

Why Winter Edition

So we’ve only been here a year, why switch things up already, right?

There are two reasons I switched things up for winter. Okay, maybe three!

Reason one is because over the summer I needed to extend our school book shelving area.

We have a super long sofa, and when it’s on the north wall (behind me in the picture above) it covers one of the two wall heaters on this wall. We only had two bookshelves on this wall last year and so it worked to cover the heater pictured above. But since I needed more space for books this year that wasn’t going to work, the sofa would be covering both heaters if left on this wall. So with the cold northern winters here I needed to find a way to expose at least one heater.

The second reason I wanted to move things around was because winters here in the north are long and can be dark. I wanted to assure my jungle (which boomed through the summer) has enough light through the dark winter months.

Okay okay, so there is one last reason. I like to mix things up! I get the same feeling changing my house around that I get when I’m creating some thing new! I love creating and I love playing with interior design!

So after much thought on what to do I finally made a flipperoo.

It is definitely a little bit less spacious than before, but I feel like it’s more attractive. We are really loving it! I especially love that with things this way we have a spot to sit and soak in our lovely four mountain range view! You can see one of them in this picture…

What Is Modern Boho?

The Spruce described Bohemian or Boho interior decor perfectly. They detial boho homes as being full of life, art, culture, interesting items, and are relaxed and carefree.

Modern boho could also be described as being full of life, art, culture, and is also relaxed but generally with modern boho the colors are more Scandinavian inspired. There may be pops of color, especially browns and reds. Texture such as furs, weaved items, and plants are also an important item in the modern boho themes. Another important element in modern boho is the use of organic and artisan elements, such as handmade wood pieces and pottery.

Boho is sometimes also referred to as Global if I’m not mistaken, and Modern Boho could also be referred to as Organic Modern.

Why I Choose A Modern Boho Living Room and Home

There are so many reasons! But to start with……..

…..you know when you see a scene and it just resonates with you, takes you places you want to go, and seems to invite you in? That’s what eclectic -specifically boho vibe eclectic-scenes do for me. I’m not good at being still and taking breaks. Like my oldest boy I have ADHD (he get’s it honest).

So I like to be moving. In fact, unlike my oldest boy I may have a bit of the the hyperactivity factor and I like to be on the go so much so that I have a tendency to run run run till I crash-and when I crash it’s not pretty.

This last crash involved a year’s worth of increasing health issues finally leading up to a message from my dr’s office on the first day of our new school year informing me I have hypothyroidism! What a way to kick off the first day of school right??!?!?!

But you know, being a homeschooling mom of 6, it’s not exactly like my chosen lifestyle provides a lot of opportunities for me to to take breaks anyways!

So I think this one reason why I’m drawn to the whole boho vibe. We all know that Boho themes convey the whole “peace” and “chill” vibe. I love how they call out, “Hey, come on in and chill.”

I especially loved the idea that boho scenes are relaxed, allowing me to create an inviting (yet easy to tidy) space for my family where it wouldn’t be a big deal if blankets and pillows were strewn all over the place.

But another reason I chose a boho living room and home style is because it truly is what naturally fit my family’s lifestyle, but more on that in a moment!

It’s Affordable

One reason I love Boho home style’s is because in a nutshell, I’m a tightwad. There. I said it. Now you know.

In my defense-as a homeschool family of 8 living one one income-I kind of have to be.

Okay, that’s a bad defense. Truth be told I’m pro sustainability and probably would have been thrifty regardless!

I’m not sure there is an easier style to create on a budget then the eclectic Boho theme!

Boho Provides Room for Individual Tastes

Unless of course you are trying to mix it with the farmhouse style. Don’t do that. I tried. It didn’t work.

But something I really love about Boho home designs is I’ve found it’s perfect for combining my other top favorite design themes that suit my family’s lifestyle.

These include the Japanese Wabi-Sabi with it’s imperfect restorations and sustainable qualities……………

….I think one of the things I love most about adding some Wabi-Sabi touches is because not only does it remind us of our culture and geography lessons about Japan, it’s also beautiful way to “roll with the punches” of having a ton of kids who break things all the time, lol! You know, since with Wabi-Sabi damaged is the whole idea!

Another look is the Icelandic Hygge (pronounced hooga) with it’s cozy lights and furs, bringing cheer and warmth into those heavy homeschool winter months…..

…..and the more recent earthy sustainable trends (also called Organic Modern) with pieces made by local artisans (including woodwork by my husband) and decor straight from nature.

With our entire family being artistic, Organic Modern is a must have home style for me to incorporate. I love that this style also provides an opportunity to showcase treasures from our children’s homeschool nature walks. Very important to our homeschooling family!

And of course this style allows me to include the plants which I love collecting for duel purposes-one as decor and two as affordable and eco friendly air purifiers!

I love how a boho home style allows me to combine all these themes in one cohesive look, and that together they have a way of getting us out of the house and taking us places even when we are “stuck” in school, which is especially helpful during the cold winter months!

Speaking of which-this takes me to my favorite reason for going modern boho!

Connections With History

Another reason I’m drawn to boho home styles though is because history has always drawn me in. Although I seldom remember specific dates I absolutely love history-not just a period of history here and there, but pretty much all history from ancient Sumer to the 60’s and 70’s.

I’ve found that eclectic and boho decor, with it’s global elements, allows me to easily add pieces that have some kind of historical reference. This is definitely a good thing for our homeschool! Speaking of homeschool, that takes me to my BIGGEST reason for choosing the home style’s I have!

The Learning Feature

One of the best things about an eclectic boho look is that it’s super easy to find pieces that double as undercover learning tools-making them more than just decor!

In fact, for me when I’m out shopping the line between decor and educational pieces has become so blurred that I don’t even shop for decor anymore! I shop for educational pieces-and they generally tie in as decor!!!

The right pieces can spark natural learning conversations during the non formal homeschool hours-and even silently reinforce lessons we’ve learned by reminding us of places we’ve been in our studies and nature walks. Here are some examples;

Above, the industrial style pendulum light of course makes us think of the Industrial Revolution and the wall hangings shout “60’s & 70’s”!

This is one of my favorite corners (below). I really love how switching the living room around highlights this corner!

Like the pendulum light, the standing lamp in the corner and the industrial basket blanket and TV stand reminds us of the Industrial Revolution period which we found very moving, the hanging lights are boho and Nordic/Hygge inspired, and then there’s the nature inspired gallery wall to kind of bring the outdoors in. Also pictured is the wooden bookcase-which would fall under the Wabi-Sabi category.

My husband found it somewhere years ago and restored it back to life. It’s the perfect little bookshelf/plantstand!

I love using metal in decor because it reminds us of our studies of Sumer and Crete when we learned about the time period when metal was first developed, became a commodity and an important trade in ancient times.

Above-The metal planters are in fact plastic. I had been watching them for awhile and finally decided to “cave” and get them at the regular $6.50 price. I got to the register and found out they were actually half off!!! Don’t you just love it when that happens?

Below-our book basket. This is where the library books go so they don’t get mixed up with our books. It’s real metal and the best book “basket” ever since it’s not as destructible as a real basket!

Music To My Ears

Probably the most expensive items I wanted to incorporate into decor when we came back from the Midwest were musical instruments. And not just to help support the retro 60’s and boho global atmosphere!!

I used to be a musician (before I had so many children) and I come from a line of musicians so instruments and music help me stay connected with my own personal history. My grandfather was a guitar player and my father a professional drummer for over 30 years. I myself took 8 years of piano – a few months of voice, and I used to help lead worship (guitar) in our church when I was in my 20’s. When I moved to the Midwest I had to leave my piano behind, and once I began having children and homeschooling music was eventually pushed to the back burner for myself.

For many years music in my life was dormant. For most our years in the Midwest we lived in too small of homes with too many little curious people for anything extra. At one point we were a family of 7 living in less than 1000 square ft of space! I didn’t even have room to do laundry, let alone space for instruments. I would try to get inexpensive instruments from time to time but they would end up broken because we had no place for them.

I’m a firm believer that the gift of learning to play an instrument is one of the sweetest physical gifts you can give a child and so I was dismal that we couldn’t have instruments, and I remember feeling so frustrated over the fact that it felt as if our tiny home was dictating our life!

Then one day when my oldest was around 10 I purchased a parlor size guitar and he asked to play around it. He was a natural!

Eventually we were able to get an addition on our home and more space and so my dad and step mom sent my oldest son a nice guitar, and soon after that we were able to get a small drum set for our second son. I had worried that we had wasted years but my kids turned out to be natural musicians!

Perhaps it is needless to say, but when we moved away from the Midwest and back here to my hometown I figured that since we found a home with more space that maybe by having instruments as easily accessible “decor” it would encourage the kids to practice and learn more instruments. It worked!

…with a guitar always out my oldest has been practicing more often and getting to be phenomenal, and now his siblings are following suit.

Lately they’ve all been learning how to play together. Dreams can come true!

I was super excited to be able to add a Ukelele and a Djembe (pronounced Jem-bay) to the “decor” this summer.

I had been wanting the Djembe for my second son for almost a year. Both my oldest and second sons are natural drummers. It must be from their father (hubby plays the Bodrahn) and a recessive gene from their grandfather.

Anyways, my second son’s drums broke before we moved away from Missouri and so I thought a Djembe would be nice because it’s portable and there are less parts. I had been keeping an eye on them and one day we went into the music store and they had one for half off! Yep, I snagged it!

It ended up being a worthwhile buy. At least three of the kids enjoy playing it, and that’s not counting me!

It works out because I don’t have time to work on my own music at this point in time, but the Djembe makes an easy and fun way for me to participate with the kids.

I found the Uke on sale at the music store during a sidewalk sale and I’m so glad I snagged it. My second son and oldest daughter have been learning to play it and are doing quite well.

All this investment in instruments as “decor” has sure been paying off! This last summer two oldest boys won best of show at our county fair as well as some first place prizes. My kids are getting better and better all the time and I’m surrounded in festive and beautiful music everyday!

A Sparkle Just For Fun

Okay, so there are a few pieces that are just purely for aesthetics and retro fun. Like this disco ball. Oh my goodness. I was so excited when the kids found this piece, it’s like the icing on our boho cake.

I thought this would be a nice way to add some cheer through the coming long winter months.

And although the disco ball appears to be just for fun, even it has a history!

Yes-we did in fact have a lesson on the history of the disco ball. #homeschoolers

What’s most funny about that is later my oldest daughter wound up talking to an older gentleman when we were out shopping the other day. She mentioned something about finding this disco ball and he said to her, “Oh, you’re too young to know what disco is.”

Then he looked at me and said, “But your mother isn’t though, she probably knows all about disco.”

I didn’t inform him that he just assumed approximately 10 additional years to my age.

I almost informed him that my daughter probably knew more the history of the disco ball then he did. But I didn’t. Maybe in 10 more years when I really am 50 I’ll gain enough sass to say things like that to strangers.

Did you know that disco balls actually came out in 1897 and that it was the use of them in nightclubs during the roaring 20’s that made them popular? I think they were called mirror or glitter balls back then.

I don’t know about you but silly stuff like that gives me mini thrills to learn! 😀

A Work In Progress

If you look at my first lifestyle post after we moved you’ll notice that things were kind of bare! It has taken me a year and some patience to create a look that really resonates with us in the living room, but it’s been worth it! I don’t think we’ve ever felt more at home with a space, I know for sure I haven’t!

Okay, so the truth be told, I’m still inking my way through most the bedrooms because we are on a budget-which is why I’ve not really revealed them yet here on the blog. I’ll get to it in time though!

So tell me, what is your favorite home style? Are you still trying to figure that out? Leave a comment and tell me about it!

Are you by chance crazy about Modern Boho home styles too? Did you know you can now shop our home (including our modern boho living room) on Amazon and it doesn’t cost you anything extra?

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By the way, are you in the process of finding and creating a look you love? If so, you’ll definitely want to come back on Thursday when I’ll be revealing my secrets on how and why to discover YOUR own family’s unique style!