I think we all have that one room that gives us trouble decorating. For me, it was our formal living room. It's where we practice instruments, read a book away from the noise and mess of the family room, and where we talk on the phone. I've always tried working with what we had and found a look that I could at least live with. Here it is before it's most recent tweaking:
Not bad and I liked it enough for a few years like this. But that tweaking-bug struck and I was just ready for a light, less-formal look. I wanted to play off of those old windows and go for a vintage look. Here is the room now:
I decided to move the sofa to the other wall since it really was the focal wall of the room. Also, those old windows-turned-mirrors needed a heavier piece to anchor it. I rearranged the windows for a fun shape and not the "wagon-wheel" look (too country for me.)
I made some cute pillow from a nice chevron fabric (from fabric.com) and made the monogram pillow from iron-ons from JoAnn's.
I found these cute tuxedo-style lamps at a garage sale last week and just love them. They were just the lines I wanted. I'm not happy with my end tables as-is, so I'll probably refinish them soon. I made the two old bus-roll signs to go on either side of the mirror.
Here's the other side of the room where the couch used to be. I got rid of the plum wall and painted it to match the rest of the room. I kept the antique violins we've collected from our travels (my husband and two daughters also play violins-so they're meaningful decorations for our family.) I changed out the artwork to something with more blue in it to tie in the fabrics. I actually just got the print from Costco's online photo lab. They have tons of art there for free that you can have enlarged to any size for unbelievable prices. I think this huge print was only $12.99! I love the colors and texture in it! I pulled in these accent chairs from another room and plan on either dye-ing them or recovering them if that doesn't work out.
I saw this gorgeous suzani print fabric a few months ago and knew I had to use it in this room. It's from premier prints also. We get a lot of sun in the mornings so I lined them and was really careful when I cut and sewed them to match up the design so they looked good when they were left drawn.
I wanted a fun rug to tie in the blue, browns and black and was getting frustrated at the prices. I sold my old plum rug on craigslist and found this perfect jute rug at Lowe's for $49!
I'm so happy with it so far. I would love a fun vintage, industrial piece for a coffee table. I'll be scouting the garage sales for that this summer. Maybe an old railroad cart or iron piece like these:
(Costplus "Aiden" table)
So, I guess a decorator's room is never really "done!" It's just too much fun to collect pieces and tweak as the mood strikes! For now, I LOVE it! It feels so much more open and flows better with the rest of the house.
Have fun!
This week's link parties are:
Show and Tell on BCD
Whatever Goes Wednesday
Frugalicious Friday
Flaunt if Friday
Remodelaholic Friday
At the Picket Fence
Vintage Friday
FFA Friday
Saturday Nite Special
Roomspirations
