A New Look for the new Living Room

I've been looking forward to sharing this new living room space with you at the new house. I've taken photos several different times in here, but the light hasn't been "right", and to top it off, I left my tripod at the other house. But I decided to just show them anyway. This house is just darker because of the wall color, so photos just aren't as easy.

But I do love how it's come together and that it's cozy and comfortable. When we knew we were leasing this house we decided to buy a new sofa and loveseat. They're not the most expensive, but I really love the new look. I'm sort of fickle with furniture, I get restless for a new look long before they wear out. What I love one year, I'm often over, five years down the road. But I DO, and always have, loved a Chesterfield Sofa. We found these at the Ashley Home Store. The fact that they are classic styling and a neutral color will make it easy to change things up. I wanted a more casual look at this house, with a more masculine vibe. After all, hubby has to hang out here and feel like he can relax.

These shots show the wrinkles that are starting to ease out. They had been wrapped in plastic and sitting in a warehouse for weeks, I'm sure. I couldn't use my other sofas and white furniture here...they are just too big, and the white furniture looked bad with these sofas. The white just looks "dirty"next to these walls.

I couldn't have picked a better color if I'd designed these sofas myself. It's a nice taupe/beige/gray in a looser weave, almost looks like a linen-y burlap. At the showroom it looked lighter with all the bright lights glaring down on it, but when it was delivered it was darker. Fine with me, I prefer the darker colored fabric.

I didn't have a coffee table that was the right color or size, so I painted an old cedar chest that had the most horrendous finish on it. I painted it before I knew what color the sofa and loveseat were, but it turned out a pretty good match. The finish is a coat of Old White ASCP, the taupe from our bedroom walls, and a little wash of some gray paint I snagged in a Valspar paint sample pot at Lowe's. I did a stain glaze and liquid poly on top. It received some "extra" distressing during the move.

I had this gray washed wood tray on my coffee table in the other Living Room, which adds to a rustic look.

My good black rug from the lower level family area works I think, it's a nice contrast, and pulls the black in the lamps and pillows together. Miss Jenkins approves.

The arched window above the loveseat was becoming a cat perch so it needed something to deter "bad cat" behavior. Looks sort of cluttered, but it does the trick. You can see the kitchen through the arched pass through. A little of the Entry is shown here. There's not much to it; I'll share that a little later. (I tweaked my little white dresser)

Gray washed wicker basket with a galvanized tray from Pottery Barn.

We are short on space in here, so I had to improvise with this little accent table from the other Living Room. It had been white, but got the taupe paint on top, like the cedar chest. We bought 2 bronzed lamps from Lamps Plus on a 2-fer special. I liked that they matched the legs on the sofas and the rest of the hardware throughout the house.

Southern exposure almost drowns out hubby's leather recliner.

Here's the Inspiration Board I created on Polyvore right after Christmas. I kept pretty close to the plan, and it worked to help me see how to bring all the different elements together.

I knew before I even found the sofas, that I wanted to use leopard print pillows as accents. I found these at Pottery Barn. They even feel like real fur...meow.

I've always loved Charles Faudree's designs, where he used animal prints often. So I felt I had approval for the leopard print pillows on these sofas.

I think my Restoration Hardware pillows that were downstairs

 work well with the leopard print.

I'm keeping prints, paintings, and wall decor to a minimum, so just a few things are up.  This old print from the '40's matched the color scheme in here.

I had this little wing back traditional chair in our master bedroom. It had been reupholstered with two complimentary fabrics which I love, and just matches the rest of the room. I didn't have room for a table so this little floor lamp with a shelf from WalMart filled the bill. Since we have dinner in here with a tray on our laps it works for juggling a glass. WalMart...who knew... Miss Wrigley is waiting to lounge on the fuzzy blanket on top of the ottoman, which is usually here.

I debated on whether or not to show these last couple of photos. It's just part of renting a house. Like most houses there are things we'd like to change, except with a leased home you usually don't get to make those changes, like you would if you were buying. Case in point, the black marble fireplace which is in the corner has a piece of wallboard at the top, creating a functional place to have a tv or mirror or art. Only problem, someone painted what a 5 year old might consider a faux marble accent. My valiant attempts at convincing the landlord that it would be much better with a coat of the wall color, fell on deaf ears. This will be the one and only time you see it. I stressed about it for days and although we have an idea or two how to make it disappear, for the time being a large painting and some faux ivy will have to do. I'm not sure what looks worse, the yucky faux marble or the yucky faux ivy... The mantel may stay bare, I don't want to draw attention to it.

Maybe if I make the photo real small you won't see how bad it is...

the good news is the gas log part works great and really warms the room.

And another issue is the monster flat screen tv, I really dislike an uncovered tv. Call me picky, but it has never worked for me. The large entertainment center we had planned on using didn't fit, so we were left trying to come up with a quick replacement. At least the monster entertainment center would have camouflaged it somewhat. An old "Partner's Desk" that my husband used downstairs has had to work. Be sure to notice all the wires and cords underneath...such a great look. I guess more yucky faux ivy could be stuffed in there to hide it.

OK, there you have it, the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly. I'm really not complaining, I'm so glad to have this house to get away from all the work that's going on at the big house. They're tearing out kitchen stuff this week, so I wouldn't want to be living there. This place may be small with some quirks, but it's also clean and cozy. This weekend the Dining Room is the deal...packing upteen million dishes. Hope you have a great weekend!

joining in on these parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
The Scoop at Cedarhill Farm
Inspire Me at A Stroll Thru Life
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Inspiration Gallery at City Farmhouse
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage

                                                                

xoxo,

Today's Sponsor, 

Timewashed

New House Living Room Inspiration Board

Last night I needed a diversion from packing. Can I admit I'm already tired of it and I've only scratched the surface? I've spent most of this week in my office/studio trying to make some sense out of all the crap,  junk, supplies, treasures,  stuff that I have. I may not be at my all time "best" through this move. It's a good thing my husband is patient and longsuffering... 

So I hopped on Polyvore once he went to bed and thought I'd put together an inspiration board for the Living Room. Our "soon-to-be" house is small, folks, so nothing is going over there that isn't functional and doubles as storage. Let's just say that most of my furniture and fun stuff is destined for a very large storage unit.

The new little house has a lot of  "wood", in the form of cabinets, woodwork, trim, etc. not my favorite "white". So I'm having to go with a more masculine vibe. Maybe I can translate that into a little of my favorite, "English Country". I can't paint the walls or anything else, and frankly we'll probably only be there a year, so I'm not going to totally "decorate", but I have to feel like I have a "home". (we'll just be leasing until our house sells, then buy something permanent or build) So hubbs and I came up with a plan and we pooled our pocket change and bought a Chesterfield Sofa and Loveseat. Believe me, there is some great looking furniture out there that doesn't break the bank, and I was determined I'd find it.

So we purchased the sofa and loveseat and a couple of new lamps in a bronze tone with linen shades. I have to decide what I'm going to sell, but for now I'm justifying this purchase because all the downstairs furniture will likely be sold. (And it was our anniversary present to ourselves.) I was secretly wanting to do something different downstairs anyway, so please... be careful what you wish for.

These examples of furniture from Polyvore are just representative of what we're using. I have an old cedar chest that had a horrible finish that I painted a Country Gray, which I'm going to use as a coffee table. It's pretty rustic and not at all what you'd find in my current living room, but hey, I'm making the most of this and using or repurposing what I have. 

I have a beautiful black area rug that hopefully will work

 under the coffee table/trunk. If not I have my taupe-y one.

Then, I'm hoping to use some stacked suitcases and a few decorative tole trays and wooden boxes for end tables. I also have a really wonderful very old school desk from Atlanta that's like a tea table. It's been hidden downstairs the whole time we've lived here; I think that will work with a lamp for an end table.

Hubbs has a great leather recliner that we'll use 

and I have another chair that hopefully will fit.

I love me some leopard/cheetah print so I'm going to try to find some throw pillows, cause the pillows that came with the loveseat and sofa are not what I'm going for. 

Love that chair above, but like I said, just "representative" of what I'll be using, something that I already have. How many of you bought the "required" massive entertainment center when big screen tvs first came out? Oh yeah, we bought a doozy, but it's still pretty, and we have one large wall that needs to be filled, plus we need the storage, so we'll be using that puppy.

Every time I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and try to remember why we're doing this. Let's see...do I remember why? Oh yeah, we're downsizing so we'll be ready for retirement and whatever else that might bring. Actually, this house is adorable, and I'm super grateful that we found it. It will be perfect for us, I just need to get used to this downsizing business. 

you get the idea?

Hope you're having a great weekend, 

more snow in the forecast...brrrrrrr.

Joining in these parties this week:

 Dwellings
Mod Vintage Life
Cozy Little House
Confessions of a Plate Addict
A Stroll Thru Life
City Farmhouse
Savvy Southern Style
Craftberry Bush
Jennifer Rizzo

xoxo,

Today's Sponsors

Nostalgic Artifacts 

and 

Nostalgic Summer

"Fairytale" Inspiration for Easter continued...

Last weekend I shared with you a beautiful new book

by the people that bring us Jeanne d'arc Living magazine,

 entitled "Fairytale Easter". 

I fell in love with all the wonderful 

Easter and Spring inspired creations that grace each page.

Little did I know when I visited Leola's Vintage Home and Garden Spring Open House last week, that someone else had been inspired to create these same lovely decoupaged eggs. My friend Pam, who always has some of the most amazing creations and displays around, had crafted her own version of these Easter lovelies.

So a few came home with me 

for my own Easter display in an old cardboard suitcase.

They joined other bits and pieces of vintage ephemera,

 baskets with moss, and a nest or two for a little vintage Easter vignette.

Aren't these embellished vintage Easter postcards 

just precious with bits of twine, tulle, and feathers?

 One of my collection of old church fans in the background.

Jesus with the lambs are my favorites.

A hyacinth bulb and old book wrapped in stamped cotton ribbon.

It's times like this that I remember that my true love is 

"all things vintage".

Joining in on these great parties this week:

French Country Cottage Spring Thing

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Knick of Time

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

From My Front Porch to Yours

Shabby Art Boutique

Hope you have a wonderful week,