Over the last few weeks, I've been on a redecorating (aka... finally getting to my decorating-to-do-list) binge.
Over Christmas Break, with the kiddos and my guy home, I didn't do a lot... I read Hunger Games. The whole series. Which is saying something for the books. Considering the fact that I've been plugging along one chapter at a time in "The Help" for about 4 months now, it seriously means that the series is GOOD if I can finish a book in a few days. If it's meant for preteens/teens and is a popular series, I'd probably like it. LOL... that says something about me, huh? The only other time I've read this much is plowing through Harry Potter and the Twilight series. :)
But, in January, our schools have two consecutive Mondays off due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Teacher-Workday for the nine-week-grading-period end. The first three-day weekend I painted our master bedroom and bathroom. I'll post those pics later. I've been stalling because, in general, the room is not "done". Rather just cozier with paint. But as it seems our budget has stalled, and it's going to look like this for awhile.... might as well post the photos. :)
Over New Year's Eve weekend, we decided to go looking for some new living room furniture. We used to have this when we first moved in:
These sofas were so comfortable... no denying that. Plus we'd had them for over five years with hardly any wear-and-tear, despite four kids and two dogs. (Shout out to La-Z-Boy non-reclining furniture!!) My problem was that I was just *done* with olive green. Our whole downstairs is neutral with tans, browns, blacks, off-whites, and a tinge of light green. The red/olive look in this room was too different.
Back in the summer, I changed out the coffee table for a $10 find that I painted black. But still... we had the green sofas.
It was a tough thing to replace, but we found the most perfect substitution for the size of our family and family room. It arrived last week, and we LOOOOOOVE it!
A brown leather sectional from Haverty's... the Radford, if you are interested.
In the store, we had a slight concern of it appearing too red, and this photo shows that slight red-tendency. But I believe that was the flash... we never see the red in reality.
Here's the view from my fireplace into the kitchen. See the LARGE GAPING NOTHINGNESS in the middle? Yeah, that's the breakfast room that isn't. :)
One day we'll get a table and chairs.... maybe next New's Year's Eve Weekend during the sales? For now, it's the "dog crate room".
I bought new end tables too. We only had one before, and it was a Pottery Barn game board table where you can lift the lid and play chess on the other side. Cute idea, but that table just couldn't stand up to the wear and tear of the family. Peeling laminate, stains, wobbling, and literally the top could lift off the bottom if you tried to move it. So, I found these two tables at World Market. It's *mostly* solid wood in a mahogany finish, and they are nice and big to hold lots of stuff, whenever I figure out what stuff to put there. FYI... World Market has great furniture deals at the beginning of January. We bought our desk there last January and love it.
Once our old floor lamps have reached the end of their lives (one has already been chewed by our dog and is surviving due to electrical tape... yikes!), I want to move toward table lamps instead. That should fill up the space.
Anyway, the room is not complete. We have two small chairs on order through Overstock, and they should arrive on Monday. They aren't big and impactful... but they'll give us the extra seating we often need when visitors come. Our family uses the entire sectional ourselves... :) We also still have an old Ikea Poang chair (tried to crop that out), which suffices, but still rings of "just graduated from college"... and it's been nearly 18 years since I graduated!!
I still want a rug... we used to have one. Then we got her:
No, no, no...not the girl. She doesn't pee all over rugs. The dog!!
Dear ol' Lucy... love that big crazy dog... but if you put carpeting/rugs in a room with her, she will pee all over them still. Ugh. It was quite a disappointing day when I trashed our 8x10 new rug this summer. (It. Was. Gross.)
We also plan to get some sort of a nice hi-leg recliner at some point... but that may be awhile, too.
At least for now, we have a comfy, cozy, awesome new sectional.
{sigh}
