Thursday, February 23, 2012

Apartment Goal #2

Another one of my spaces that could use a bit of love is my living room.  I like this room as-is and I've already done some fun stuff in here, including hanging my mason jar chandelier.  Still, there is always room for improvement and I'd definitely like to make this room a bit more stylish.



I'm already pretty happy with the table side of the room.  Just out of the frame is my mason jar chandelier.  I love the convenience of my drop leaf table, but I am thinking about recovering the chairs.  That can be toward the bottom of the living room to-do list because I don't really have a problem with the blue.  I just think a brighter color could also be fun.




This side of the room is where the challenges begin.  First, ignore that big honking brown dresser at the front.  I finally moved the yellow dresser into my bedroom, but that left the brown one stranded in my living room.  This baby's going on Craigslist as soon as I get the time to clean it up and photograph it.  Maybe I should have done that instead of blogging?

In any case, even without the brown dresser, this side is a work in progress.  You can see that I put up some pictures for a gallery wall, which I love.  Other things I love in this picture are my cozy cable-knit throw and the fabulous yellow and oatmeal throw pillow on the chair.  The chair itself provides a lot of food for thought.  It's wide and deep and super comfy.  My mom found it at a thrift store and it's in great condition.  The only thing I don't love about it is the color.  The green isn't even that bad, especially once you add the pillow and the throw.  I think it's just something I fixate on.  I either need to save my money for a slipcover or find something else to focus on.

Something that I would love to have in this space is a second chair or loveseat.  Either one would be perpendicular to where the dresser is now.  I've been pretty picky about what I want though.  It's an important step to making this room look finished, but it's not the kind of essential that I absolutely have to have and so I'm not willing to settle on something I don't absolutely love.  Am I setting the standard too high?  I'm not sure.  I think I'll find something I like soonish or run out of patience and find something that's "good enough."

I think it will be a lot easier to pull the room together once I have a second chair or loveseat.  The new piece of furniture would help determine accent colors, whether I need a coffee table, and if I should hunt for a fabulous area rug.

I might add painting that bookshelf to the to-do list, but I'm not sure yet.  I don't love the dark laminate but it doesn't look bad because all my doors are painted a deep brown.  I think I'm ambivalent about that bookshelf in general.  It's made of cheap particle board and I think I could find a thrift-store piece that is more interesting and better made.  That's another thing that will have to wait until a second chair/couch moves in.


Oh and I almost forgot to mention the number one thing on my to-do list: get mini blinds for that door!  Did you see my lovely curtain?  It's not even artfully hung between two cafe rods.  I bought one used curtain of the wrong size and had to cut it into two squares to make it work for that window.  Classy, right?  I should add going to Home Depot or Lowes to my list for say... tomorrow.  



Alrighty, now to the best/worst part of the post: the part where I show pictures of amazingly fabulous living rooms.  I love this part because it's inspiring.  On the other hand, sometimes I find it depressing.  I love these spaces that I'm about to show you, but is it unrealistic for me to hope my rooms will have the same feel someday? I think the key to that question is "someday."  If I want to wake up tomorrow and suddenly have gorgeous spaces, of course I'm going to be disappointed.  If I'm willing to wait and accumulate furniture and accent pieces as I find them at a price I can afford, maybe at some point I'll have a magazine-worthy room.  In the mean time, I'm happy with what I have!

Country Living

BHG


Example of Cottage Chic from Sproost.com

BHG


As you can see, I'm really loving neutral living rooms.  I think neutrals make such relaxing spaces and I love the pops of color and neat accents that a neutral room allows you to add.

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