Living Room Updates

I haven't mentioned it since this Living Room furniture post, but we got a few new items for the Living Room, which is slowly making it's way from "Place where our old and hand-me-down furniture used to live" to full fledged "styled-for-the-space room".

We got our new, big ottoman in the other day.  This bad boy has plenty of storage inside, which we have dubbed specifically for baby.  Right now it holds diapers, spare blankets, burb cloths and a few rattles and chew toys that will be used early on.  Since this Living Room is really the center of our house, with the Kitchen over looking it, I imagine that I'll spend most of my time home with baby in here, and it will be nice to have a few important items near by instead of having to run down to the Kid's Wing to change a diaper. 

 We also got a couple of new lamps, both in a dark metal with a matching linen shade make them coordinating, but not matchy-matchy.

In true 1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back form though, we had a little set back.  We left for Memorial Day weekend for a little R and R, and when we returned we found the art on this wall smashed on the floor.  Seriously.  For a quick moment I headed for the door because I thought we had been robbed, but in the end it looks like the box frame it came in (originally from Home Goods) gave way some how and the whole thing just collapsed.  Now our color inspiration for the room lives pathetically leaning against the wall on the floor until such time that I can make a new frame for it.  (Because of course the photo is not standard size and I can't buy one.)  Apparently the Universe thinks that I have lots of extra time to build extra projects.  Boo.

And the look from the other way shows that we still have a lot of work to do on these blank white walls. 

 Once our painting goes back up that should fill up the far right wall, and we plan to hang a flat screened TV on the left wall, with a slightly larger, but simple console table underneath it.  Maybe something like this:

We'd also like to eventually invest in a couple of more substantial end tables which would help us visually fill up this huge space better. 

These are just inspiration pictures (by no means in our budget), but we're liking this one to the side of our brown target slipper chair:

 This one to the left of the couch as you look at it, (first to be seen as you walk in):

And this one to the right of the couch, to help bridge the space between the couch and the left scoop back chair:

I'm thinking I can build that one in the middle, eventually.  You know, in all our spare time.  In the mean time I'm thrilled with how its all coming together:

Before

After

Wow!  I didn't realize how much I hated that pinky-beige love seat and chair until now.  Switching that out made a huge difference.  Anyone else been living with a piece of furniture for years that drives them crazy?  It's amazing what saving up for a few tweaks can do to a room.

Cutting a Rug?

When we first moved into this house 10 months ago (has it been that long already?), one of the first big purchases we needed to make, after we put in the new wood floors anyway, was a big, 8 x 10 rug in the Living Room.  Our inspiration for this room as always been the warm and colorful Dream Home 2011 Gathering Room.

Which features this gorgeous rug from Ethan Allan.  Unfortunately with the $1000+ price tag, it was way out of our league baby.  In the first few months we brought home 5 different rugs, which were quickly returned, until we settled on this guy.

Let's be honest.  I think from the beginning we knew we didn't love it.  No, I know we didn't.  But we were so sick of bringing rugs home, and it was the best we had come up with.  Plus, we got it for a pretty incredible low price for a 8 x 10 rug ($120), so we figured we could always Craigslist it down the road if it didn't grow on us.  Spoiler alert: it didn't grow on us.

Which leads us to a 15% off rug sale at Overstock.com this past weekend and an impulse buy on a rug that looked a lot like our Ethan Allen inspiration.

The rug is a little more muted than the photos, this is probably the best color representation.

Here we go again... but I don't love it.  I mean, it's miles better than what we had, and feels plush and soft underfoot.  But while we wanted the rug to bring warm color into the room, this red just feels like too much.  Am I wrong?  It may be the loveseat an chair too, which have always looked a little too pinky-beige for our taste, but it's not in the immediate plans to buy new stuff as we've got a bunch of other priorities to attend to around here.  

I'm likely rolling this guy up over the weekend and sending it back, so if you like it, or think we've found something here speak now or forever hold your piece.  If you don't like it- any ideas?  Maybe the 7th time will be the charm...

Quick Spray Paint Update

Now that the new outdoor sectional is ready for a party out in the Screened in Porch, and the rebuilt deck box is looking more like a comfy sofa on the Living Room Deck, I can't help but eye up all the summer closeout sales for some complimentary outdoor decor.  We're all about saving cash for the big stuff right now though, (two more bathroom remodels, windows for the Master Bedroom, etc...) so for now I'm trying to find ways to do it on a budget.  Here's what we're working with on the Living Room Deck right now...

The Adirondack chairs came with us from The Bungalow, and the beverage cart I built with a modified Ana-White.com plan.  The bright red beverage tub and plant don't seem to vibe with our cool blue & gray new couch though.  Nothing a $3 can of spray paint can't fix.

I slipped the plant out of the pot pretty easily, and hit the driveway with some boxes left over from the move.  Just between me and you, (the internet is a safe place to tell secrets, right?) I was a little over eager to start this project the minute I got home from work, so I got some pretty weird looks from my neighbors as I spray painted in my business suit.  I'm a freak like that. 

I almost forgot to wrap the handles, but caught myself and wrapped them up with painters tape before the spray began to fly.  A couple of thin, even coats later, we have this:

I went with a deep indigo color, so it wouldn't match exactly with the turquoise and gray of the couch, but compliment it and add another color to my palette.  (I'd love to add in a few of these deep blue pillows too.)  I've had a crush on this color for a few weeks, which was totally validated by this recent West Elm catalog.

 They love it too. 

I have to admit, when I picked out the bright indigo color at the big orange store, I had no idea that it would blend so well with the side of our house.  I was thinking "big pop of color," and I'm getting a little more camouflage here.  At least it's not red anymore, and I know I can make the change pretty easily again if I want to with another $3 can of paint.  For now it stays, and I day dream about adding other fun outdoor accessories to the mix.

How about you guys- anyone doing any outdoor decorating?  Anyone else out there shop the seasonal closeouts for stuff to use next year?  It's my favorite trick, because when you pull them back out to use for the first time next season, it's like getting something new all over again.  There I go telling you all how crazy I am again...