Living Room Updates

You’ve seen the salon wall with the gold table underneath. Several of you said I must get rid of that table, that it just wasn’t big enough. But, you know what?  I like it a lot and think it fits that wall just perfectly.

I can’t have anything really wide in this walk-way, there’s just not enough room and the hubby would have a fit. And this piece is just enough for me. It’s a yardsale find from a couple years ago, I think I paid $20 for it and it has a sticker under it from Illuminations (whatever that is) for $175.00, so I did get a great deal. I love the shape of it and like how it anchors the wall of pictures. So, sorry I’m not moving it!

In reality, it looks great on the wall and that’s what counts to me.  So, I got out some left over paint.  When we moved in here, the former owners had painted the master bedroom teal and when I came in, I changed all the colors around here and that one was a must to change. It really was very dark in the master bedroom and besides, teal wasn’t what I was going for in there.  But, there was a whole left over gallon of paint in the garage, so I tested it out to see how it would work for my furniture makeover.   I couldn’t quite remember what shade it was. 

And guess what?? It’s perfect!  I didn’t want a whole room in this, but it’s perfect for some furniture painting.

Several of you asked the color, so here you go.  It was mixed at Lowes and the color is Green Water.  Looks like the label is from Valspar paints, but it was mixed in Olympic. It’s an eggshell finish.  How lucky for me that this leftover gallon of paint that’s been sitting in our garage for 4 years was the PERFECT color for furniture refresh!

This is what that little table looks like now.  I sanded it back and the gold peeks out from underneath, just what I wanted, with even a little darker red coming through too.  Perfectly distressed. 

Moved it back in place under my salon wall.  And you know what was perfect on top?  Those yardsale books that I scored for 25 cents each!

I love the little grouping on that table and love how the table pops with its new aqua/teal paint.  I’m going to have to paint out those wall plates under the table to match the wall.  They are old cable hookups.

Cute, cute, now the table serves a purpose and further anchors the salon wall and gives that pop of color over there.

You’ll notice I moved the books around after I took this pic.  I meant to put the gold Bible book in the middle to divide them up visually.  Those fleur de lis book ends were a yardsale find from long ago, so I was happy to drag them back out for use.  The bunny vase I picked up here in Birmingham and it is by Peter’s Pottery, out of Mississippi.  And of course, that aqua color really comes alive now with this grouping.

I was so happy to find a spot for those recent books I found and I love it all together!

That bunny vase is one of my favorite pieces, not a yardsale find,  although I did get it on sale.  This table is a beautiful spot to me now with the books and special pottery piece.

So, these are some of the changes I had in mind for the living room.  I added in an aqua throw, also from a yardsale to this chair and I’m loving the mix of golds and aquas.  This pair of pillows was a giveaway win last year from my friend, Kelee, at the Katillac Shack.  What a great prize that was and they match my living room perfectly.  Thank you,  Kelee! I will have to be sure she takes a peek at them in my living room.

These leather chairs have been with me for a few years.  Some of you girls in Georgia may remember Furniture Craftsmen, a great old established furniture store that was around for about 50 years in Marietta/Kennesaw.  It went out of business a few years ago (sadly) and I scored these chairs and the multi-fabric chair in here at their sale.  I still love all 3 of them.

The oil painting (also scored at a yardsale last year for $25) moved over the mantel.  I already had the frame and just switched it out to the new painting.

You can see the new jute rug and how simple, but elegant it is. I am really enjoying the more serene feel to the room, without the pattern of the floral needlepoint rug and the big tapestry.  It just feels really calm now.  All I’ve purchased new (besides the 2 lamps earlier this year) is a new jute rug and 3 pillows.  The rest of the additions are all yardsale finds.

$25 for an original oil like this is a real steal, as you know.  And do you remember the iron sconces up there that I found last year at a Mountain Brook yardsale for $20 for the pair?  When I look around and see all the great stuff I’ve scored thrifting, it just keeps the excitement going.  How could I NOT shop like this??

Here’s the vase I just picked up and I think this might be a new collection in the making. I love these old pottery pieces and this color is one of my faves.

Know what these are?  Old telephone pole insulators (thanks Kim, for the correct word). They are glass and many of them came in this pretty aqua color. I’ve found a couple of them before and found these 3 last weekend, all for $3, a great deal. They may not stay here, but I’ll be working on the mantel with some other ideas, this is just a start.

The tapestry has come down from this wall and until I find the perfect thing, it will remain empty.  I had thought about getting a mirror, but the hubby nixed that idea.  Seems he has some sort of thing about too many mirrors and we already  have that large antique mirror coming up the stairs. So, I’ll probably look for some sort of old architectural piece for this wall.  Something BIG!   The pretty aqua piece of pottery that I got from the pottery studio sits here on the coffee table. I’m loving this color in here.

I picked up these 3 pillows at TJ Maxx and love the colors too.  This long aqua pillow with birds is a nice little accent in here.

You can see in the pics how the aqua just draws your eye around the room.  It’s been easy to add this color in with my existing things. 

And really ironic that I found this pretty little aqua and gold Italian box last year yardsaling too.  Now it fits right in with my new color addition.

Looking into the kitchen.

Remember that old rickety plantstand I found a few weeks ago?  It got a coat of the aqua paint too and that color really livens up this corner.  I found that bamboo chair a year or so ago for $5 and that pillow also came from a yardsale, I think for $1.  This is my whole yardsale corner here.  The tree planter even came from a yardsale.  I have officially gotten rid of all my fake trees and since I love palms so much, I bought 2 real ones for the living room.  Hope they do well, but they were only $10 each from Walmart, so that’s cheap enough to change out occasionally. This one has already lost a few fronds, so I’m hoping it will survive.  Any tips on indoor palms from any of you plant lovers?

I love real plants and have always had some in my house.  I’ll do another post too about real plants. 

The palm in the far right corner is also real.  I get enough light that these should do pretty well in here (fingers crossed).

Real plants do add so much to a room. 

And I hear they are good for the air.  And yes, in case you spied it, that is a real piece of cotton off a cotton plant there in that vase.  We do indeed grow cotton here in Alabama.

My beautiful clay pears have moved to the top of the antique  mirror, coming upstairs from the foyer and I think they fit nicely up here.

Just for fun, here’s a BEFORE of the living room before the de-formalizing began:

Doesn’t it feel lighter and airier already? It’s gone through a lot of changes just since I’ve been blogging and getting rid of the fake plants (those were already gone before the above BEFORE pic)  in here helped a bunch to lighten it up.   See, I’m growing as a decorator too, along with all of you!

So, that’s my tweaking in the living room for now.  I really don’t have much more that I’ll do in here, besides looking for something fabulous for that wall where the tapestry was.  I’m really, really enjoying the more casual feel in the room now.

Hope you got some ideas for yourself!  And as always, thanks for stopping by.  I love that you do!  Homes are ever changing, aren’t they?

Do you have a room you’d like to tweak?

Tell me about it.

And I like to tell you about a fun happening at my friend Sandy’s, at Reluctant Entertainer,  her new linky party, called “Home is”.  Every Wednesday she is sharing a new topic and this week is wearing aprons, so if you’d like to join in the fun and link up, go on over and visit Sandy.

Be Sociable, Share!

•