Thursday, March 31, 2011

Living Room Tour: March 2011

Check it out! I finally have updated pics of my living room!

It could be fun to do a little house tour, one room at a time. And since the living room is the entryway into our humble abode, let's start there!


After walking in the front door, this is the first view you would see of the house. Sure, it's a little bland, but I'm looking at the neutral tones as an opportunity to amp up the color with wall art and pillows. I haven't decided on the color palette yet. A fiery red could go really well with the grey. I'd love to see something bold like the throw pillows (below) from Martha Stewart's site:


Can you tell that my taste is ADD? I am seriously all over the place!

Moving on ... this is the view you would have over your right shoulder from the entryway.


I reupholstered these chairs when we first got them three years ago. I recently stripped the fabric off of one of them to make sure it wasn't more difficult than I'd remembered, which hopefully explains why they're in two different fabrics. For the next project here, I'm hoping to refinish the wood in a darker stain and reupholster them (yes, again). Now I just need to find the perfect fabric...


And above is the view of our tv. Not so exciting, but I wanted to show yet another barren wall and voice my intention of picking out a proper tv stand. See those wicker baskets full of dvds? Those puppies have got to go!

Here's the view of the kitchen from the sofa:


I'm keeping it real for you by not tidying up the kitchen before snapping the picture. That was totally intentional. :)

And here's my final shot from the kitchen. The picture turned out super dark, and I used all the photoshop tools I had to bring it back to life. Sadly, it's still pretty grainy, but I think it gets the point across.


And just to give you an idea of the progress, here's a shot from May 2010:


We've come a long way, no? So here's my 2011 list of action items for the living room:
Refinish chairs
Reupholster chairs
Find wall art
Declutter book shelves
Find tv console
Find throw pillows
Hang blinds/add molding to window (a whole post in itself)
Paint the walls (any suggestions?)
Replace the floor lighting
Find a side table (for in between the chairs)

And that wraps up the living room tour! Lots done and lots more to do!

7 comments:

  1. I LOVE robin's egg blue for walls. I think that would go great with your ideas of red in the room. :) Your living room looks awesome! I need to do something to mine badly.

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  2. You have some gorgeous neutrals. The couch and the kitchen table have great lines. I'd go to a fabric store and find a fabric with the red that you love that also has other color worked in. Then take those colors and use them as your palatte for the room. You could even end up using that fabric for pillows-- or alternately, covering a canvas with that fabric for a big, cheap wall hanging. Take that fabric swatch with you when you shop for pictures, decorations, and side items. Pillows will definitely make that couch more welcoming-- and so would some wall decorations. Love it! So fun :o) -- Molly

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  3. @Heather, I love the way robin's egg and red look together! I'm just not sure I'm bold enough to try it.

    @Molly, I've been struggling with finding cool upholstery fabrics. Do you know of any good places in ATX? Etsy? Also, do you use upholstery fabric for pillows?

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  4. Amanda, sadly on numerous occasions I have painted an entire wall one trial color after another to see what I loved most. I have done one wall as many as five times! Play, experiment, have fun!

    I love how the room is coming together. Color, pillows, maybe some crown molding and a built in cabinet could be just the trick to make that space pop.

    I agree with you about the red accents... Jen and I do love red. We love you and all that you are doing! I wish we were close by! Kim

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  5. I like the ceiling fan...for me it's always the last thing I think to purchase, but it's usually what bugs me the most when I look at the furniture in my house!

    It all looks good!

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  6. I never bought upholstery fabric when I was in Austin, actually. I imagine that the fabulous ladies over at Stitch Lab http://www.stitchlab.biz/ will be great resources. I bought most of my fabric at Craftorama (sadly, no longer-- but owner Hayley is on my friends list and teaches classes at Stitch Lab. She designs fabric and sells on etsy and maybe even through Stitch Lab? not sure)... anyway... I bought a TON of fabric at Austin Sew and Vac: http://www.austinsewing.com/ I love that place. I also bought at Hobby Lobby. Yeah... I'm a fiber junkie. I'm sure all of those places would have fantastic advice... or even inspiration. This book is awesome for inspiration: http://www.amazon.com/Joel-Dewberrys-Sewn-Spaces-Projects/dp/0896899241

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  7. Thanks Molly! That's a lot of inspiration (and help!) right there!

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