My favorite color is green and I love flowers and nature so I went those themes when I went fabric shopping. I looked on the websites of stores in my area and found either patterns I did not like or patterns that I loved that were too expensive. So I searched for fabric websites that had a lot of variety with good prices and found a great website, http://www.fabricguru.com/. They have $5 shipping on any amount of fabric! After days of searching and excruciating decision making, I finally chose a pattern that was fun, had hints of green, blue, and browns that reflected the theme of the whole house that I was going for, and it made me feel plunged into nature again (have I told you how much I hate city living?).
I loved the way the roman shades worked out in the bedroom so much that I thought it would be a brilliant thing to do with the smaller windows in the living room. It would open up so much space and would not weigh the room down in so much fabric and pattern. Hint: when working with heavier drapery fabric, load up the glue on the top bar of the blinds!
I was originally going to double up the fabric on the larger window with a sheer fabric underneath because I like to have light shining through but still have privacy (with houses a stone's throw away) but when I finished the roman shades the fabric proved to let in just enough light that I was very pleased with it and exchanged my double curtain rod for a single rod (and saved some money I might add!).
I really despise WalMart, but with my nothing-budget I could not afford to be picky, so I chose a really pretty rod that had a design that complimented the fabric pattern well. It was also one of the longest rods I could find: I wanted to cover as much of the wall as I could with fabric, almost in the spirit of an accent wall. I learned from my years of studying magazines and TV shows that a curtain placed closed to the ceiling will make the ceiling appear higher. With the rod stretching all the way across the wall I would be able to pull the curtains back enough to see the entire window.
[Picture coming soon - close up of rod end]
I would like to have wood floors with a very pretty area rug in the living room. I am very curious to see what is beneath the carpet, but then I think about my ten month old puppy sliding around on the wood floor chasing toys and cats, so I think I will live with the carpet for now.
Next on my list for the living room is a piece of art to go above the couch. What is there currently is part of the decor from my great aunt, and again is not my style, from the metal frame to the French city landscape. I almost got a pair of antique Audubon Society pictures at the flea market, one of a pair of cardinals and the other a pair of blue jays, but I did not want to pay the price she wanted for them (darn my cheapness!).
I have an idea to make something out of facial tissue boxes. I may seem silly to you, but some of the store brands I have been buying have really pretty patterns and I have been wanting to do something creative with them. I was thinking bookmarks, or greeting cards, but then I thought of a piece of art in the form of a grid collage, inspired by this Pinterest piece. I have started cutting out three inch squares from boxes I have and setting them aside. Once I have enough I would like to glue them to a piece of foam board and hang it on the wall. If I do not find anything better to hang above the couch, then this tissue collage will be it. I think it is a neat idea, but I think it will take me quite a long time to go through that many tissue boxes and cut out all of those squares... we will see what I can do with this.
My dog has been shedding a lot. I thought a microfiber couch would be easy to clean, but the hair just loves to cling to it. When my husband and I went couch shopping I had very specific criteria of the color. Basically it went: brown is dull, white would show dirt, and green is my favorite color. But I have to cover the couch because it collects so much dog hair, I could not see the green anyway! So I found this lovely green king-sized sheet that covers the couch wonderfully and stays in place, and can be removed easily when company comes over.
The coffee table has to go. It is old fashioned and not at all in a good way. I cannot make DIY updates to it because it belonged to my husband's late grandmother and apparently she would haunt us if anything happened to it (I never met her but I would like to know what her attachment really was to the furniture, because I am pretty sure it is her family that attaches it to her more than she was ever attached to the furniture, do you know what I mean?). I am having trouble deciding with what to replace it with though. It needs to have a solid surface because it is often used for meals. I do not want it to be too heavy and large that it takes up too much of the room and makes the room feel small and cramped. I have been thinking storage ottoman(s), but those can be expensive new. Any suggestions?
[Picture coming soon - close up on coffee table]
The latest addition that was made to the living room was bringing back a love seat that has been stored in the basement since we got the green couch. I call it Basil's couch because I wanted her to be able to get on it to see out the windows while my husband and I were out working. It is just as heavy in floral pattern as the new curtains are, so to avoid a jungle taking over the living room I covered the couch in a solid blue sheet, keeping with the green/blue theme of the house.
So there is my living room, a work in progress. I am still working as a temp for this assignment that is going on longer than anticipated, and I am still going to job interviews now and then. I hope I will find the job that makes me happy, the job that I was meant for. Just wish I knew what that was!
[Picture of current living room]
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