We've Been Making Some Changes

I have to admit that lately, after 2 bathroom renos in 3 months, a busy job and focusing all my energy on being a great mom to my 3 year old and baby on the way, my favorite house projects are the ones where you can just go purchase something and set it down in your house.  No building, no staining, just purchase and deliver.   That's why after 1 year of saving up, we're finally ready to make some changes to our Living Room.  This is the first room you see when you enter our home, setting the stage for the whole place, and being that its adjacent to the Kitchen, we use it all the time.  

If you don't remember, here's how it looked before:

And here is the very much "in progress" now:

 

We started with the rug from Ethan Allen.  Originally we went there to see the one from the HGTV Dream Home 2011 that we've been pining over for a year or so.  Once we got there we were convinced by a very helpful designer that with all the white walls and light woodwork in this room, the floor needed to be grounded with a saturated & colorful rug.  These photos don't really do the rug justice.   I think they make the rug look really dark, but in reality the colors are more muted and soft.  

 

Once the rug was in place it was time to deal with the issue of our loveseat and chair.

 While they may not look bad in the photos, these babies have been with us for 7+ years, and that micro fiber has seen a lot of action.  They were torn, stained and discolored from all the sun this room receives, not to mention that they were a little too small to really fill up this room.  We made a killing off them on Craigslist, and purchased this much more substantial couch in a tan color that has a hint of butter yellow to it.  (Maybe not in these photos, but trust me, it does.)

 

 

We're still working on end tables, lamps and other accessories, but I love how the new orange and blue accent colors work with our existing curtains and art.   (Another great suggestion from the geniuses at Ethan Allen.) 

And in place of the chair?  2 scoop back chairs in dust blue velvet give the room more seating and a pop of color.  Although Ethan Allen suggested their gorgeous wingbacks, at $900 a piece they were way out of budget.  These very similar scoop backs from Target were only $139 a piece, and I am madly in love with them.

 Did you catch that new surveyor's lamp in the above photo too?  My hubby fell in love with them when we were at Ethan Allen, but we found this look alike at JCPenny for a fifth of the price.  (Noticing a theme here?)

 The rearranging still left room for our Target slipper chair to move to the other corner of the room, and creating a more full, conversational style seating arrangement.  That armoire in the corner is still going to go, (in fact the Hubs sold it on Craigslist last night!) and will be replaced with a simple console table with a TV mounted above it. 

 
The center of the room might look pretty empty right now, but that's because we have a new, big ottoman with lots of baby storage room coming to fill up that space.  It should help to start making the room feel more full and warm.

Some more substantial end tables on either side of the couch with some big statement making lamps should cozy it up too.

So its definitely still in progress, but we're coming along.  I'm hoping that when we get all the other items in here (slowly but surely) you guys will be able to better see the vision.  I'm taking it one step at a time though, because man we have a lot to do before the kiddo shows up this fall.  My mantra lately has been "get one thing done every day," even if that one thing is just unpacking a box of baby clothes or going shopping for a pair of pants that will fit me. 

How about you guys?  Any projects at your homes?  Furniture buying?  We've been to a lot of furniture stores lately, but thankfully most have handy little stroller/carts that you can buckle your three year old into so that he doesn't try to jump on all the beds.  True story.