Decorating the Living Room

For most of us there is a mystique about decorating.  At least I like to think there is and I'm not the only bozo challenged person when it comes to decorating.  When I look in magazines or on blogs it seems like a very hard task and I will have to buy a lot of new stuff because my stuff doesn't look anything like the picture. 

I was inspired by Shiny Red Houses to do something, which I didn't do, except in my head.  She said to take everything out of the room.  I didn't do this because where was I going to put it?  And I would definitely be bringing the couch back in.  But I did mentally take everything out and save only the things I liked and started imagining them in different places. 

Next I had to come up with a color theme.  I didn't have a color theme.  Or I thought I didn't have a color theme.  You're supposed to have 3 main colors and then accent with 1 or 2 other colors.  They said this on BHG so you know it's true. 

I started taking pictures of the things I did like and weren't going to be going anywhere.

Notice anything?  All my favorite stuff has 3 colors with 2 accent colors.  Red, tan, and brown with accents of black and little bit of green.  In fact, this blog's background has those colors.  So if you're having trouble with colors, they are probably already all around you.

Now I could make a plan of attack.  This included wearing new ankle boots and pretending I had tons of money.

Something you hear on all the shows is how things "tie" together.  One thing that can really tie a room together is the rug.  This is the one thing I knew I should spend money on because it would get the most use, I would have it awhile really really long time and need to like it..a lot.  I like it because it has my colors and also has floral patterns with nice square ocd shapes.  This rug totally works for me!  Not to mention that it's soft as a baby's butt.  There's serious chastisement for putting shoes on it.

Something else I knew would change a look is throw pillows on the couch.  When I brought these home Jace said, "oh god, you brought home more pillows."  Pillows tend to breed like rabbits around here.  I don't know why I think just the right pillow will bring me pure happiness, but I've got about 20 pillows that will all attest they thought they were THE ONE.  I had the brown pillow already.  I bought a 2 pack of the solid red pillows and a 2 pack of the pillows with squares.  Each 2 pack was $12. 

Here are the remaining things I bought.  I needed a picture frame because I had a new picture to display.  The mirror tray is actualy a mirror that hangs on a wall.  It was on clearance for $7.  I left the hardware on the back so I can hang it later on if I want.  I have a soft ottoman so for now I'll use it as a hard surface to set things on like those candles.  I got the candles and glass holders on clearance for $.48 each.  My other most favorite purchase was this blanket throw.  It's super soft and the colors are gorgeous.  I could've made this but by the time I finish it would be next summer and no one wants a blanket in the summer.  I need it now.

 

Isn't she cute?  I'm going to eat her up.  It has the total "aww" factor because she's sticking her tongue out.  I let her pick out her clothes because I remember the horrendous outfits in my school pictures that were picked out by not me.

Here is the result of my hard work.  $150.  I was having unclean thoughts about the chair in my bedroom.  Mostly that I wanted to move it to the living room.  I'm still looking for the perfect slip cover for it and the ottoman.  For now we will just have to live with it.  There's other furniture on the other side of the room and I can say that the rug really did tie it all together.  It created a smooth transition all the way across the room.  There's a couple of other things that I will do/add to the room soon.  I need bookshelves as you will see there is no t.v. in this room.  Shelves are kind of like pillows in this house.  They keep showing up...everywhere. 

I am really happy with my results.  I love the colors.  It reminds me of really good pasta sauce and fried food.  It makes me feel cozy.  So thank you BHG and blogosphere for helping me understand decorating and figuring out I already had most of the stuff I needed.