Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: My Living Room Tour


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My Living Room Tour

Hello friendly friends.

How ya doin'?

I have been trying to show you my living room for about 2 years.

2 Years!?  Say what?!?

Yeah, 2 years.

This is a room that's been pretty much finished (except for some tweaking) for quite awhile.  I just have had a lot of trouble getting a good picture of it.  It is somewhat of a narrow room and it's hard to get a really good shot of it.  I need a wide angle lens but until I get one, you're going to have to look at these shots and realize that that the whole room doesn't quite fit.

What are you waiting for... come on in!

This first shot is a small part of the view you see from the front door.  Most of the room is missing in this shot but just pretend like it isn't.

monochromatic living room



The picture below was taken while I was standing on a chair at the top of the stairs (risking my life!) trying to keep the banister out of the picture.  I thought maybe you'd be impressed with the cool and artistic overhead shot.  It's not every day that you see an overhead view of somebodies living room ya know...

monochromatic living room

Here is a shot looking into my living room from the dining room.  I'm standing on a chair (again) all smashed up in the corner by the ceiling trying to get the whole room into view, it just barely fits.  At least you can see both chairs and the couch (the other chair is hiding behind the tulips down in the left corner, you can see the arms sticking out).

monochromatic living room

Here is a view towards the front door.  I love our sunburst window.  It's totally nekked on top and I like it that way.  The sun pours in and the room is always bright with lots of natural light (except at night).

monochromatic living room
For the longest time I didn't have a lamp on this little table because I thought it was too small.  Then I found this perfect little lamp.  I heart mercury glass and I love the shape and texture on this one.  I also love the linen shade.  Did I mention that I love this lamp?

mercury glass lamp


Here is my big comfy chair that was hiding behind the tulips in the earlier picture.  Can you believe this big fat chair could hide behind a vase of tulips?


leopard print pillow

I am in love with another lamp.  (shhh, don't tell the other one)  This one is also mercury glass (one of my latest obsessions) wrapped in beachy looking jute rope (another current obsession) with a linen shade (another obsession!)  I actually bought this one for a client, but then, I couldn't give it up!!  This lamp is like my own personal form of decor crack!
document fabric lamp shade


The other lamp in the room is not mercury glass (don't want to be too matchy-matchy) but has a French Script or "document" print shade.  Trendy or not, I'm still a huge fan.  See my post all about trendy French Script here.

This room is my "formal" living room.  We do "formal" things in it like sitting quietly,  running into it when on the phone and the boys suddenly start screaming, leading unexpected guests to it to avoid the messy kitchen and family room.  When I'm really lucky I get to take my laptop and coffee into my comfy chair for some blogging.  That's my favorite use for it.  My boys call it mommy's "fancy" room.  We have a family room off the kitchen with the TV where we do most of our "informal" things like hanging out, making huge messes, horsing around and watching TV.  

People come in and ask me how I can have so many breakables down at kid level with 2 little boys in the house.  I tell them if the boys break anything they know they will be grounded from TV for the rest of their lives.  

Just kidding.  

The boys don't really play in here very much.  However, it is not off limits.  I don't want to be the mom that's yelling "Get out of there, don't touch anything, don't make me come in there!!"   But, they do know that it isn't the playroom and it's not the place to horse around because there are breakables in Mommy's "Fancy" room.  I'm more worried about them getting hurt if they break something, not about the actual thing of course.   It's important that they learn to respect other peoples things so I can take them places without worrying they will use someone else's couch as a trampoline.

mercury glass decor

This tray on my ottoman is full of breakables.  It is right at the perfect level for my 3 year old to knock over.  He (and big brother) have never broken anything in here, they don't mess with it.  

But, recently I noticed there is a fruit snack wrapper inside the skinny necked brown vase (pictured above) that will never come out.  

Ever.

So much for not messing with my stuff.  

The cabinet below is one of my favorite pieces.  It was my great grandma's and holds a lot of sentimental items.  My wedding bouquet is crusty and yellow on the bottom shelf but it is still in one piece after 4 moves and 12 years. The cabinet is tall and also serves as a divider between the living room and dining room since there is no wall between them.

antique bookcase


Did I tell you I love mercury glass?  I did?   So you can imagine how excited I was when I won this lovely little mercury glass bird at a Christmas cookie exchange party.  I love it!  
mercury glass bird


Usually at the cookie exchange I win something like this:
These Are the Year's Worst Christmas Presents
Scariest/Ugliest elf ever.  (Source)
My little mercury glass bird sits on my ottoman tray all year.  You can bet that scary/ugly elf guy wouldn't even make it into my garage sale pile.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed my living room tour.  Stay tuned for more of my house tour.  Hopefully it won't take me 2 years until I do the next one.

Source List:
French Script Pillows: TJ Maxx
Brown Zebra Pillows:  Gordmans
Brown Textured Pillows: TJ Maxx
Leopard Pillow: TJ Maxx
Curtain Panels:  Bed Bath & Beyond
Small Mercury Glass Lamp: TJ Maxx
Mercury Glass & Jute Lamp: Gordmans
French Script Lamp Shade:  Tuesday Mornings
Let me know if you want to know about anything else... it is most likely from one of the above stores. :)



13 comments :

  1. I love it all Kate! The lamp shades are perfect! Thanks for having me over! XO, Aimee

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  2. Oouuu so beautiful livingroom!! I love it!! Its perfect! :)

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  3. love, love, love it!!!

    You are hilarious! That Elf! haha

    --Katie
    @ Creatively Living

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  4. Looks wonderful. You are such a great decorator!
    I'm a follower and big fan of your blog. I would like to invite you to be a part of an event I'm hosting on my blog , A Rosie Sweet Home, called Autumn Celebrations. Since fall is a crafters dream when it comes to decorating for the season, I will be dedicating the month of October to all thing Fall, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. I would be so flattered if you would like to be a guest on my blog, You may share any thing you like that has to do with this wonderful season. If you are interested in participating in this event contact me @ roejoe2@gmal.com for more information or if you have any questions.
    Thanks,
    Rose
    @ http://www.arosiesweethome.com/

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  5. Beautiful room! I love that small mercury lamp and all your accessories! Great job!

    sara @ applestonedrive.blogspot.com

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  6. Looks fantastic Katie! What a great job.

    I agree, the elf-looking thing is scary!

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  7. Absolutely beautiful! I love every detail, especially the pillows on your couch... did you make them yourself? Either way, they are dee vine!

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  8. Love your fancy room! ;) you shop at all of my favorite places!!!

    Nancy

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  9. The room looks great and I especially love the lamps!

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  10. Kate your beautiful room is so elegant I am especially drawn to the lamp with the rope details and linen shade decor crack u crack me up lol pass the pipe haha and I can so relate to the scariest elf ever that is what I usually win.
    RaNae

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  11. How very very pretty! I never child proofed much in my house and I've had very few things broken by my kids. I also agree that they have to learn how to act around breakables and non-playables so you don't have to worry so much when taking them elsewhere. Kids that do not know how to respect others property can be very stressful!!

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  12. Can we please talk about paint colors? I am loving your wall color! What is it? Have to pick out paint for our new house. Not as much as I thought it was going to be lol. Too many choices!

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  13. The room is beautiful! I love it! It's been a long time since you posted this, so you may have already gotten the wrapper out of that gorgeous glass vase, but if you havent, you could always try a pair of extra long tweezers! http://www.amazon.com/SE-513TW-12-Inch-Stainless-Tweezers/dp/B000T68ZUM/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1394037850&sr=1-1&keywords=long+handled+tweezers

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I L-O-V-E love your comments! :) I read and try to respond to every one! Thanks for taking your precious time to leave me a comment.

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