Family Room Dilemmas

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Our little 1963 bi-level has blessed us with two living room areas. I have kept the upstairs more formal and the downstairs as our "pseudo home theatre". We've been looking at a new tv; maybe one we can mount on our gigantic fireplace. This would be more beneficial first because of the layout of the room, and second it would free up some much needed floor space. Basically, I'm all for Jeff buying a new tv and how many husbands can say that about their wife? So my dilemma now is color. This room is downstairs, and with all of the speakers and equipment I would prefer to keep this room as un-fussy as possible. My first thought is white. White walls and woodwork would simplify the room, especially with the red brick. It would also brighten the space considering it is partly underground with little tiny windows. The issue is Jeff is against white. He believes it cheapens the room. Basically, it's boring. Is that true?

My thought is to add color through paintings, throw pillows and blankets, window treatments. So, I'm not sure how many people read this; but if you do, comment and add your thoughts on white. Is it too plain? Help!

NEW FURNITURE!!!!!

Thanks to my amazing in-laws we now have some furniture in our house!! Check them out. We're definitely enjoying sitting on them.

Loving the nailheads! I'm planning on recovering the pillows to go with our decor. Just another project on my list. It's getting pretty long!

Family Photos

This is a photo of my grandparents on their wedding day. I believe they've been married almost 55 years! (Correct me if I'm wrong mom). I've been searching through my computer looking for old photos I can print and frame for our house! I love these. There is something so personal about them and even though I wasn't alive on their wedding day it brings back memories of growing up and visiting them.

Here are a few more of my favorites...

My Dad and his father

My mother's parents

My Mother and her mom

My mother and her dad

I love these. Hopefully I'll find a good place for them in my house!

Front Door Lovin'

found here

I have to admit something... I'm addicted to decorating blogs. Apartment Therapy, Design Sponge, Decor8, Making it Lovely. All of them. What I love about these blogs is that they keep my mind rolling, and the possibilities become endless. Inspiration for me is in the weather, colors, places I've lived as a child, and of course... the homes of other artistic strangers. Currently I'm thinking about my front door. We put new hardware on it and a new mailbox. I have other things I'd like to do, like repaint the woodwork, but maybe also do some more landscaping, maybe paint the concrete! I love the photo I posted above. How genius is it to take ugly concrete and make it beautiful? You know what? I have a ton of ugly concrete. I mean, a ton. No exaggerations. Now I can't help but think of what I can do to it! Maybe a small chair to read in? A topiary or an urn of white draping flowers? It all sounds awesome.

My issue is that I get inspired at 11:51 pm. Oops!

In other news our mantel is coming together. I have to finish the other two walls still, but thats okay. I am also hoping to finish a few crafts before my Grandmother-in-law's 70th birthday party we're holding at our house. I'm hoping to make an awesome cake, some streamers and maybe a Happy Birthday banner? I also bought some yellow balloons and I'm making a wreath out of them for our front door. I'm pretty stoked about it! It could stay up for more than just this occasion; well until Jeff forces me to take it down.

Okay, time for bed! Bon soir!

Old Man and the Sea

This is probably the best thing I've found on Etsy to date.

Almost there!

So I pretty much have the blue wall done! I just need to peel off the tape after it dries and do any touch ups. Here is a preview...

I do want to add that this photo's lighting is not that great. I took this mid afternoon and thats when the sun is on the other side of the house. Once we have a mantel I'll post a better photo. This color is called Covington Blue. The shade is by Benjamin Moore, but I hated the consistency of the testers paint so I had it color matched at Home Depot in the Behr formula.

This photo is probably a truer representation of the color. Shadow was a good helper by the way.

I really want to get a bunch of these for the living room. They're pretty cool. Apparently I inherited my mothers love for pretty junk. Oops.

Some Stuff I May be Falling in Love With

This rug

Funny Faces

Aqua typewriters

Isn't this beautiful?

Color Color Color!

This weekend I plan on tackling the living room. Our plan is to paint the fireplace white (I know, it's a sin to paint brick but I don't care), then to paint the same wall a strong color. The other walls will be a very pale gray, almost white, and the furniture will all be neutral in tone. I really want some strong contrast! Like in these photos

My fear is that I will overwhelm the space, so finding the perfect balance may be a challenge. While both of these photos are completely different, they have one commonality; strength in color with a balance in furniture and accessories. I honestly prefer the first photo for it's simplicity so I feel like that will be the way I'll lean. We'll see.

Which of the colors on my wall do you prefer?

EDIT:

Wait! One more photo!

p.s- all of these photos come from apartmenttherapy.com

Thriftiness and the Home

Since we've moved in it's seemed that our list of projects has grown exponentially. New floors, new wiring, new lamps, new furniture, new roof, etc etc. I'm trying to offset these costs by coming up with creative ways to decorate. So this week I've set a goal for myself: No eating out all week, and no coffee from the coffee shop on campus. Sounds little, but we seriously eat out way too much. I've also become pretty good at digging around for decorating ideas. Etsy is my new addiction (actually it's not that new). Check out my link below and dig around! You can find some pretty amazing things, from handcrafted to vintage finds. Other places I've tried is the thrift store, our local antique mall, and hopefully eventually I can hit up some garage sales. But really, check out Etsy!! It will be true love a first site.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade laurennoel33.etsy.com

RUGS

Yesterday we received a 10% off coupon for West Elm. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that company seems to rarely send out any kind of coupon and their stuff is just a little too expensive for us. I'm pretty tempted to use it honestly. So here are some options. We need a rug for the living room. I'm not sure of the wall color yet, but we're looking for brown leather chairs and I will be slip covering a huge blue couch I have. The hall color (which runs into the living room as the fourth wall) is a very cool, very light gray. In fact it's almost white. Help me choose a rug, or at least dream of a rug. (love you Jeff!)

This last one is my favorite, but I'm a little scared that the off white may fight with the pure white curtains I've already purchased. The first rug also comes in a light blue, but I'm still undecided on the wall color. See my dilemma???