Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Re-decorated Living room

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

18 comments:

  1. It looks great. I love how you turned the mirrors and made it look completely different.

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  2. Okay I absolutely love it! I love the change of the mirrors, they looks perfect and yes, less country than before. I would not have thought to do that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fabric on the curtains. In the very first "re-do" picture that's what I was drawn to, a perfect print for that room. I can't wait to see it in person.

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  3. Wonderful I love the curtain print as well.

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  4. I love the vintage look and the instruments on the wall- SO clever! Thanks for sharing

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  5. I love that mirror~ what an amazing piece! Your room is gorgeous - so many wonderful touches everywhere! New follower- would love for you to come share at Feathered Nest Friday sometime! Have a wonderful weekend! :)

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  6. I love how your room turned out! Love the mirror arrangement and the lighter feel to the room. As always, your curtains turned out beautiful, too!

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  7. What an amazing room, I could easily sit back and relax there! The violins are a nice touch. Just found your blog, really enjoying it.

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  8. I LOVE the violins hanging on the wall! Thanks for linking up at the Sassy Sites Free For All party! When you get a chance, come back by and see what we've done for the American Crafter's competition... and maybe vote for us too! *wink*

    xoxo!
    Marni @ Sassy Sites!

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  9. An industrial piece for a coffee table would be perfect. Great room transformation! Love the mirror over the sofa!

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  10. Love how this turned out! The mirror is just amazing. it looks comfortable and liveable. Thanks for sharing the inspiration at VIF!
    xo Debra

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  11. It looks wonderful. I love the music wall especially. Could I make one suggestion? Not a criticism but a suggestion. Pull the chairs out into the room a bit. Everything is up against the walls. It will make the room even more inviting! :)
    Thanks for sharing.
    Shelley

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  12. I think it looks beautiful! I love what you did over the sofa, and I love the pillows.

    I have one suggestions for your antique violins, how do you think they would look with an antique/old picture frame around them? I think each of them would stand out more . . . just a thought!

    Have a lovely day!

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  13. I know, I love the chairs kept further out. But you know what keeps happening? The kids or hubby vaccuum, moving them and then SHOVE them back in the corners! I pull them out, they get shoved back, I pull out... Sigh. It's kind of like how they all open the curtains and yank them all the wall to the sides, crammed to the extreme and I open them, yet arrange a slight overlap with the window frame, shake them out so the hang right. Oh well, it IS a family home! :)

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  14. Hi Erin, I am so in love with your window turned mirror! What a gorgeous piece. Love the subway art and violins too.
    xo,
    Sherry

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  15. Love love love the violins on the wall! We're thinking of decorating our living room with a music theme too (it's where our piano is). Thanks for linking up to Roomspiration today!

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  16. What a nice update! (See, sometimes the tweaking bug isn't so bad.) The chevron fabric is really pretty. And how fun is it that you could rearrange the mirrors?

    Visiting from the Roomspiration party! :)

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  17. Nice change! I really love that Suzani print, might need to go get me some of that. Also love that you have the violins on the wall and that they are meaningful to your family. Great job and you're right, we are never really done with a room.

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