Decor

Rug Talk

Now that my antique chair is almost done being reupholstered (only the cushion left!) and back home in the living room, it may be time to revisit the rug. This is the current rug with the new/old chair (sans cushion), the sofa that I plan to purchase soon, and an IKEA lamp I'm contemplating (wall color and stripes shown as reference).

living room rug existing

The existing rug's not terrible with the chair, but I think we can do SO much better.  I do actually love having a darker neutral on the floor- it doesn't provide high contrast with the floor, but it adds needed texture to the space.

I considered a larger scale pattern like a Moroccan trellis, but If I were to chose a rug right this second, I'd probably be buying this one:

living room rug trad gray

Same neutral texture that I love, but with a larger overall pattern, it's not fighting with the ikat on the chair.  Having these neutral grounding pieces, allows me to go crazy have a little bit more fun with pillows and accessories.  But since I'm indecisive, let's visit a few more options.

I thought it might be fun to try one with a bit of color, but the jury's still out.

living room rug colorful

After my love/hate relationship with Clifford the big red chair, I'm paranoid that a rug like this will overwhelm this small room.

Following the theme of color, this one's not yelling as loud.

living room rug purple

It may border on too traditional for me, but hey, if you had shown me the first rug a year ago I would have said the same.  My how tastes have changed in my old age!

I even toyed with the idea of a natural fiber rug with a small geometric, but that got swiftly nixed.

living room rug neutral

Even with a smaller pattern, the natural color just doesn't jive with a beige sofa.  Or maybe they jive too much.  Either way, no me gusta.

Time for you to weigh in!  Which one would you pick?

All rugs are from Rugs USA, but I was not compensated, nor do they even know who I am- they just have a great selection to peruse!  Beware, they'll suck you in for hours!

 

Bookcase Style: Take 1

Nothing like styling an 8 foot tall bookcase to make you realize how few books you actually have!  Seriously, I grabbed books from my office cubies and hubby's office built-in and maybe had enough to fill a shelf.  Good thing that tag sale season is about to start- I need to go on a (cheap) book buying binge! As you might be able to see if you pay close attention, I painted the back of the shelves a very light gray to add a bit of contrast.

Styled Living Room Built-in

 

I'm fairly confident that this styling will be evolving greatly over the next few months as I acquire more books and the room grows around it, so consider this Style Take 1.  I'm also still hunting for the perfect baskets and/or bins to live on the bottom shelf.  I wish I had gotten these before they sold out.

Styled Living Room Built-in side

I'm practically bouncing out of my socks in anticipation for my newly reupholstered chair to come home this Wednesday after my last upholstery class.  At that point I'll be banishing Clifford the big red chair upstairs to hubby's office (YAY).  The reupholstered chair won't be 100% complete and I'll still have some homework to finish but GUYS, IT'S GOING TO MAKE THIS ROOM!  I'm not excited at all.  nope.  not me.

Styled Living Room Built-in Full

The other major change in the room will be a sofa.  I'm very very very impatiently trying to wait until we sell Frankie to order it, but Mitchell Gold is making it difficult and having a stellar sale.  I have, however, narrowed my fabric selections down to 2- velvet or microsuede??  I think the velvet would be top if I knew how it would work with the kitties.  Any crazy cat ladies with velvet sofas out there??

Back to the shelves!  In addition to an embarrassingly small collection of books, a little bit of everything made it on there from wedding pictures to IKEA art and quite a few thrift finds.

Styled shelves 1

Styled shelves 2

 

Styled shelves 3

Styled shelves 4

Now I have to revisit styling throughout the rest of my house since the majority of my small items have now found a home here.  Darn, more styling to do.

Styled Corner Built-in Bookcase

So what do you think?

 

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Shelf Candy

Styling my new floor-to-ceiling bookcase is an ongoing project right now- that's a lot of surface to style apparently.  I'm shopping the house for books and accessories and no surface is safe!  Most likely I'll need to restyle every surface in the house once the bookcase is set, since I'll be stealing accessories from almost every vignette.  Sounds like a terrible problem and no fun at all to solve.  No fun at all. With a new bookcase with unlimited styling potential, I've also been noticing new books that I'd like to add to the shelf.

Design Book roundup

 

1// A Life Less Ordinary by Alex Legendre & Zoe Ellison

2// The Flower Recipe Book by Alethea Harampolis

3// Elements of Style by Erin Gates

4// Vintage Modern Style by Emily Chalmers

5// The Nesting Place by Myquillyn Smith

6// Design Sponge at Home by Grace Bonney

7// Paper to Petal by Rebecca Thuss & Patrick Farrell

 

I'd love to hear your design/decor book recommendations!