Evolution of a Living Room

UPDATE: Two commenters asked for the sisal rug source.  It's actually from CSN--now Wayfair.  I can't find the exact rug, but I think after a 20% coupon and free shipping I paid about $160 for it.  My kitchen and dining room sisals are from Overstock.  The Overstock rugs are acutally heavier.  I will order from them next time, and I recommend them more.  Overstock rug links here and here.  I wouldn't hesitate to buy either of these again.

We moved into our Texas house in July 2009.  This is a listing photo of our living room in our Arkansas house.  It was cozy~

Then we moved to Texas where everything is bigger.  This is the same furniture (plus, the previous owner's leftover gold panels) in our Texas house circa Christmas 2009.  Ha!

The first thing we did was order a set of club chairs at the beginning of Crate & Barrel's fall 2009 upholstery sale.  The husband and I agreed that he could choose the chair, but I got to choose the fabric.  I did steer him a little, but he ultimately chose the chairs.  We ordered our chairs in September.  They showed up in the middle of Janaury. 

Lesson #1: If you order custom furniture from Crate & Barrel, be prepared for to wait. 

Lesson #2: Don't make decisions that make your husband hate Crate & Barrel. 

Then I lost my mind.  I decided I wanted I wanted a modern club chair.  I chose Bassett's Fleming chair, which I still love; however, instead of getting the fabric I originally chose, I decided the room needed some flair and chose a loud fabric.  Sometimes when the husband is suddenly in a buying mood, I make stupid decisions.  The chair arrived...  I loved the chair, but it completely clashed with the kitchen paint and rug.  Now they had to be painted and replaced.  Boo.  Dumb me.

Lesson #3: Never order a loud fabric pattern without seeing a fabric swatch in your room and thinking about it for at least 3 days.

Lesson #4: Don't paint your kitchen sage green when blue is your favorite color.  You'll only have to repaint it a neutral later.

Next, I ordered a set of framed prints from art.com...they're currently for sale on Craigslist.  No joke.  Then I worked from home one day with David Bromstad's color splash on in the background.  Suddenly, I decided that I needed color.  Enter the accent wall.  I also bought a new coffee table.  It was on sale, though.

Lesson #5: Don't order online art if you question it at all and it's not returnable.  Really, don't buy anything that's not returnable or feasibly returnable.

Lesson #6: Color Splash looks good when David Bromstad does it.  Not so much when you do it yourself.  Just say no to the accent wall.

Lesson #7: Don't buy something just because it's on sale.  Find what you want and wait for it to go on sale instead.

And, this is the point that I called Emily.  Her immediate instructions: (1) paint the brick on the fireplace; (2) paint the accent wall back to it's original color; (3) start looking for a rug; and (4) buy a console table to put behind the sofa--bring the sofa further into the room to make it cozier.

Lesson #8: Hiring a reasonably priced interior decorator or commissioning an online design board will only save you from yourself.  In the long run, it's much cheaper than contining to make design mistakes. 

So, I got my paint brush out and un-color splashed myself.  Then, Bob Villa--no wait, it was just my husband--built a huge console table for me.  Love him!  Then, I took myself over to Overstock.com--why do they try to call themselves "O.com"- it's not their name--and ordered myself a rug (with Emily's approval, of course).  Although in the end, I changed out the rug, it made such a huge improvement in the room.

Next up was the great debate.  To paint or not to paint.  That was the question.  I said yes.  He said no.  After not so subtly sending my husband random pictures of painted fireplaces for 2 months, he caved.  I also painted the interiors granny apple green.

Lesson #9: Persistence is key.  This applies to all aspects of life.  Everyone eventually gets tired of listening to you whine.

I had the sunburst mirror in my entryway.  We moved it to be the centerpiece of the mantle.  It was too pale, though.  Enter spray paint.

Lesson #10: Diamonds are a girl's best friend.  Spray paint is her second best friend. 

Next, I added some dramatic lamps to the console table to frame the living room wall.  I knew what print I wanted, but I was waiting for it to go on sale.  See Lesson #7 above.

Then, the polka dot chair moved up to the game room and our old Pottery Barn Brooks Chairs got moved back downstairs (or as my husband would say, they got called up from the minors).

Next, I added my bamboo blinds.  Love them.  No lesson learned other than I love them.

Then we finally bit the bullet and ditched the carpet.  Some people like carpet, some don't.  Some warned that it was dumb to add more wood with three dogs.  I didn't listen.

Lesson #12: If you keep your dogs' nails clipped, there is no reason you can't mix dogs and wood floors.  You will have to sweep a lot, though.

So, then I was at that point.  The fork in the road, if you will.  This was a good living room, but I wasn't in love with it.  Do you settle or marry for true love.  I married for true love.  Time to keep tweaking the room. 

Then came the art~

The room still seemed too heavy though.  I have no way to describe it other than "too heavy."

After lusting for banded drapes for months...seriously, months, I broke down and ordered the fabric and had them custom made.  This was a huge deal for me.  Made me feel more adult than signing mortgage papers did.

To make the room feel even lighter, I sold my impulse purchase coffee table and my rug on Craigslist.  Becuase they were in such great shape, I made enough off of them to completely cover the cost of my new coffee table and rug. 

I have sisal rugs under my dining table and my kitchen table.  I love them.  And, I love that they're cheap.  I ordered another for my living room.  I wanted to layer my rugs, so I ordered a cowhide from Cowhides International.  I've ordered from them before and love them.  You can choose your exact cowhide from their website.  If you've got questions, call and they'll pull the rug and answer your questions for you.  And, they're the most affordable source for good cowhides that I've found.  Love them. 

I knew I wanted a gold metal coffee table.  I couldn't find one in my price range, but I found this silver one at IO Metro. 

Lesson #13: Spray paint is now a girl's best friend.

Then, I added this awesome Schumacher Zimba pillow from Etsy seller Lab Designs~

So, here we are today~



How did your living room evolve?  Did you do it all at once or was it a slow, progressive effort? 



Rome Wasn't Built in a Day- Living Room Updates

If you've followed the blog for a while, you know my biggest ongoing project is our living room.  I've been working on it for almost a year now taking things step by step adding furniture and accessories as my budget permitted.  Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was my living room.  It's not finished yet...but it's getting there.

Last year I got to a point that I was so frustrated with trying to manage the space.  I completely failed to make it cohesive.  So when my husband went out of town on a business trip, I invited Emily Hewett of A Well Dressed Home over to give me some advice.  I wanted to remain very involved in the design, but I needed help.  And, I'm just sneaky like that. 

Later that night when my husband called, I confessed that I'd had company.  He asked who, and I tried to soothe it over by simply explaining that a girl around our age from Dallas who was starting her own design business came over to give me some advice about the house. 

He quickly summized, "So you hired an interior designer without discussing it with me?" 

In my effort to maintain my status as a good wife, I corrected him.  "You could think of her more as a rug finder...an accessory guide, if you will.  And, her name is Emily."  He was aware of my burgeoning design blog addiction.  This should have come as no surprise to him.

He followed up with, "Seriously, Jenny.  A 'rug finder'?"  And that was the end of our conversation.  His silence was consent.  And, so the journey our my living room really began.  Emily was such a pleasure to work with--I highly recommend her! 

When your husband moves you away from all of your friends and family only six months after you get married, it's really amazing what you can get away with.

For today I thought I would show you the current state.  Later this week, check back and I'll take you on the evolutionary tour.  You'll be thoroughly amused.  I promise.

Without further adieu~

I must learn how to use Photoshop...  And, that white chair desperately needs a pillow.  It's so naked!

Adios, Bossypants!

I always have an obsession.  May it be a project at the house, an upcoming trip, a book I'm into...  I'm always obsessed.  This week I'm obviously obsessed with rugs.  Tonight, my zebra-ish rug went to its new home.  It's actually being reunited with my old coffee table.  I'm happy that they've found each other again after their short break-up; they were good together, you know???  As I was saying goodbye to the rug before it left (yup, I'm crazy like that), I summed it up best when I said, it was fun, but you [the rug] were in charge of the room, and I wanted to be in charge.  My husband laughed out loud.  He feels that pain.   

My new rug will be on its way soon.  I fear that it won't spend much time alone, though.  See, my other obsession is layered rugs.  Not one, but two.  Here are few dreamy pictures~

{All photos via www.decorpad.com}

And, if you haven't read Bossypants by Tina Fey, you must do so immediately.  It's laugh out loud funny and a pretty quick read!

Natural Fiber Rug Finds

I love natural fiber rugs.  I have one in my dining room (last one at the bottom) and one in my kitchen.  Sticking with the theme, I'm considering adding one to my living room.  I love my current living room rug, but it's limiting some other possibilities...

As with my other switch-outs, I needed to first sell my existing rug and then have enough from that sale to pay for the new rug.  That means I needed to say under $300.  In case you might be in the market for a natural fiber rug, too, here are a few of my favorite inexpensive finds.  All prices are for 8 x 10 rugs!

$254.99 + Free Shipping and currently 20% off!

http://www.csnstores.com/

On sale for $223.00

http://www.westelm.com/

On sale for $319.00

http://www.westelm.com/

 On sale for $249.00

http://www.potterybarn.com/

On sale for $299.00

http://www.potterybarn.com/

Currently $192.99

http://www.overstock.com/

Currently $221.99

http://www.overstock.com/

Currently $183.99

http://www.overstock.com/

Have you seen any others that you are loving??

A month or two ago, I sold my old coffee table on Craigslist.  It's pictured here~

I bought the coffee table before I started re-doing our living room.  With the evolution of the room and the the patterns we brought in, I felt like the room was just a little too heavy.  I'm not a huge fan of our leather couch although it's super comfy,  but with three dogs we really had no choice.  It makes the room heavy, and the coffee table wasn't helping lighten the load.  Basically, it just wasn't right for the room.  So, like the fate of many other past purchases, onto Craigslist it went.  Thankfully, I was patient and got close to what I paid for it on Craigslist. 

Unfortunately, I've had a tough time finding a replacement table.  It's a large room, so a lot of tables would be dwarfed in the space.  I seem to be gravitating to glass and metal tables.  Here are pictures of a few rooms that include them.  Most of these room mix modern and tradition, which I really like.

{All images via Decorpad.com}

What do you think?  Do you like a more traditional wood table or do you like a more modern touch?