Creating a Cozy Den

Another room in our home that was fun to put together is our downstairs den. The livingroom with fireplace is just above this room, same footprint. I knew when we first looked at the house that this room would be perfect for my entertainment center & chocolate brown leather loveseat, just as the upstairs greatroom with the fireplace would be perfect for the more formal furniture that is up there. I wanted the feel of this room to be more casual cozy, a place to kick back, relax and watch TV. Those 2 pieces were my starting point for this room, so I thought you might enjoy seeing the process I go through to put together a complete and finished room.
This rug was one of my first finds for the room, a great buy at TJ Maxx, all wool (8×11 for $200). I loved all the colors in it & knew I wanted to bring some blue in the den, so it was a perfect find. I already had the brown leather loveseat, the entertainment center & then added the rug to the mix. This rug was the jumping off point for bringing all the other fabrics in here. And, I might add, this is the first time I’ve let a rug dictate my choices for fabrics. Usually it’s the other way around & I have the furniture pieces before I choose a rug, but I hear all the time about choosing a rug first. This is just the only time I’ve ever adhered to that “decorating rule” since I happened upon a rug I couldn’t pass up. My motto is…rules are meant to be broken & I do it all the time. As in, I mixed this contemporary ottoman in with my traditional furniture. I fell in love with it after seeing it on the floor at Macy’s. It has 4 pullout trays all around the sides that I knew would come in handy for drinks and mixing contemporary and traditional is done all the time now.
I had always wanted chocolate brown leather & so I bought this loveseat for my den in Georgia. I knew I would always be able to use it in a familyroom setting. Next, I spotted these window treatments in a catalog called, The Company Store. They were on sale and I got them both for less than $100. They are not lined, but I loved the fabric & knew they would look great with this rug. Again, it was a good hunch & I really like them in here. They are on a simple metal rod hung with rings. Oh, and the rod was found at a yardsale too, can’t remember how much, but very cheap. If I remember right, it was gold & I sprayed it black to work in here. I start to lose track after awhile of just what I’ve done to things. Floor lamp was a yardsale find for $3.00, lampshade came from Walmart. Ceilings downstairs are 8′ while the upstairs is a loftier 9′. This is the first time I’ve ever had 9′ ceilings & I really do enjoy them upstairs.
These 3 pillows were yardsale finds, $12 for all three (they were custom made by someone). They had all the colors in the rug, so were a perfect complement to the room. The lidded pottery vase in the window was also a yardsale find for $5. I later found the candlesticks on closeout at Hobby Lobby & they look like they came together. Candles were found at Hobby Lobby too (1/2 price of course!).
A yardsale find, this little desk is tucked into the corner beside the entertainment center. Paired with a wicker chair that was painted black & a leopard print yardsale cushion, it’s a perfect little spot to accesorize & it fills up the corner very nicely. That’s a woofer speaker underneath in case you were wondering.
There’s one of my yardsale lamps that I picked up for $5, as well as the oil painting above it. It was also $5, I just had to get it framed and I found that wooden brown frame on closeout at Hobby Lobby for $5 too. The faux hydrangeas were also a yardsale find, as was the large finial.
This piece is older Henredon & was a pretty shade of stained wood, but I decided it was a good candidate to paint black & use a little gold Rub NBuff on the legs to bring out the detail. It has such lovely details & now they show up very well. Those are faux books on the desk.
Entertainment center was purchased when I was living in GA & it has served me well too. This is where my shell collection is hiding, on the glass shelves. The clock ($5) and iron/wood wall hanging ($3) are from yardsales too. Many of these accessories I already had, so I just reused them. Many came from yardsales, especially the things on top & on the shelves. I love moving things around from room to room & adding in those yardsale finds are a great way to add personality to a room. Almost every item on the top came from yardsales over the years.