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!

Well, Hello There!

I know, I know -- I've been gone a loooong time. Have you been wondering what I've been up to?

I've got lots of updates for you, not the least of which is that I'm back in school part-time. I'm taking some computer courses at ACC and so far, am LOVING it! More on that in some other post.

But let's get to the good stuff! My living room has been slightly transformed. It's nowhere near complete, but it is off to a start!

The picture above is where we stand today. Not bad, right? Especially considering that this is where we were a mere six weeks ago (see below).

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the changes! We still need some art on the walls -- but I'm working on that.

We would both really love something original. JP and I were chatting about it the other night and remembered that we used to live next to a really talented painter and his super creative wife. They've since moved to Dallas, but are still making work. Here's his website, if you're interested.

Also, I don't mean to tease, but there have been some pretty big changes to our back yard that we're working on. More on that soon!

Inspiration: Living Room

As promised, here are some photos I've been gathering as inspiration for the living room.

I didn't even realize that I was drawn to the yellow/orange color palette until I put these pictures all next to each other.

I should also note that my favorite pictures are the bottom two. The rooms feel warm, airy, and welcoming. They're full, but not cluttered and they have a nice mix of modern and traditional.

But more importantly, I think it's important to work with what you have. I don't want to impose a style on the house or for the decorating to feel forced.

Wish me luck!