Good Morning,
As you know we are coming around to the two year anniversary of when we bought our home and sadly because we don't see it all that much there has been a distinct lack of decorating that has happened, that and Jason's aversion to anything that isn't beige. Ugh. I am always thinking of things that I want to do to the house, and we talk about what areas we will decorate next and what we will do to it, we watch a ton of decorating shows where I point out to Jason as much as I can that decoration does not have to equal clutter.
Don't get me wrong there is TONS to be done to our house, sadly I feel that it doesn't really feel like a home because there is not much for decoration in it. Basically when we moved in we furnished the necessary spaces with the necessary items (all of which I love.. mostly.. those damn couches...) and then have SLOWLY worked away at the rest. We have done a lot to the office which at first was not a priority and although there are things I would like to change (carpet, I don't like it anymore. Don't tell Jason) mostly there are things we need to add. We have a bookshelf we would like to buy but have to be there to have it delivered, and we have pictures to hang but they cant go up until we get the bookshelf and decide 100% where it will go. Work in progress, none the less I love the desk and chair and am OK with the slow process there because there isn't much we can do about it at the moment and right now its still usable.
We are pretty much done with the spare bathroom and bedroom upstairs, I think I would like to get another picture of something for the upstairs bathroom but that will come with time. Same I suppose for the spare bedroom, we have a bed, dresser and night table in there, I would really like to change out the bedding and possibly put another picture up.. but again its functional so all in good time.
One of the only good things about not being at home all the time is that we can slowly work away at buying the things that we want and finding unique things. It also helps the bank account when you aren't decorating everything that once. Besides short of demanding a colorful accent chair for our living room downstairs and euro pillows for our bedroom (Jason is so resistant to everything) I think a lot about of upstairs loft space and what to do with it. We have talked about putting a TV up there with one of those IKEA couches like you can see
HERE and making it like a little media area. Honestly this is not up there on my top choices on account that we have a huge living room with a big TV mounted on the wall and we have a huge TV in our bedroom, there are only two of us there to watch TV so really how many TVs do we need?
So I would naturally like to turn this space into a beautiful sitting/reading area! I know.. big surprise right? I think it would be a great place to have another bookshelf for books (which I have a lot of), it would be great to have some extra seating and just a quiet place to enjoy! Its also a place to enjoy a book with no distractions such as the TV (which is my selling point to Jason, I can read anywhere anytime no matter who or what is around but Jason is more distracted and this area would be PERFECT for him!). So I thought I would stop by today and share a few ideas that I have for this space and see what you guys think, maybe y'all can help me persuade Jason!
Of course where do you go for room inspiration.. Pinterest of course!
These two are somewhat of what I am thinking, nice decorative chairs with pillows and a small little table for a tea while reading. Naturally like in the picture directly above I would want to put a little lamp and some decorative accents to give the room a little lift. I do believe we have a picture we bought a few years ago from a gentlemen Jason worked with but sadly we have yet to get it framed.
Because the downstairs furniture as well as our bedroom is larger wood furniture I would definitely like to tone down the furniture in the loft space and give it more of a feminine feel to it.
In this picture above, obviously similar to the first two I feel the feminine vibe. The chairs are plush with soft edges and the accent pillows aren't too vibrant giving you a warm cozy feel. The white followers (although I would buy fake flowers) and the white washed table in between. I love this.
Also we paid a lot of money for blinds in our house and don't get me wrong they are amazing, easy to clean and I absolutely would no trade them I think because one whole wall of the loft space is large windows putting up some curtains, light of heavy depending on what design look we eventually went with would really set off the room. I feel that there are something about curtains that makes a room feel more cozy and we are lacking that in our living room. Side note - Jason was morbidly against curtains in the living room and I really wanted to do a heavy curtain on either side with something sheer in the middle to give the room a little more color because that particular wall is dark as well as give the room a more home like feel. We went back and forth for a really long time, neither of us willing to budge, we finally starting looking at curtains, fought about curtains for a long time then bought some. They were more ones that Jason liked and there was no sheer piece to go in the middle. Jason begrudgingly put them up and walked around for the next few days insisting he hated them. I gave up and took them back because it was easier than listening to him. I laugh about it now but at the time I was pissed.
I also love the idea of doing something like this! Still very soft looking but more inviting, lots of pillows and soft blankets to curl up with, again a table for tea or whatever your heart desires at the time only because there is a couch having it a little bigger to accommodate the length. Subtle accents so not to take away from the warmth and simple atmosphere in the room. I absolutely love this picture above and would be extremely happy with something like this.
I do not see us using this area to entertain, it would be more of somewhere to have some quiet time alone in a quiet space, and therefore it is no necessary to have a ton of seating such as a couch and we could if desired go a lot simpler with the picture below.
I have always wanted a chaise lounge and there are a huge variety to pick from but I do love the simplicity of the one above. If we decided to not furnish the loft space extravagantly (and I use that word loosely because I think these are all very simple ideas) then we could go more sparse with a chaise, small table and a book shelf.
Of all of these looks I would definitely like to include a bookshelf of time kind. I had always thought that we would get an IKEA bookshelf such as the one pictured below, I didn't intend to use the baskets however I don't hate the idea and we would just style something like this...
And although I am still not opposed to something like this because its on the cheaper end of things when it comes to bookshelves, it would be great for storage and is completely functional I would also love to find something a little more weathered with more character and if the opportunity was to present itself make it my own. If I could find what I was looking for at Good Will or a garage sale I would love to paint it myself and give it the exact distressed look I am going for.
Something like pictured above but in a distressed white state, as well as longer! I am not aiming to cover the entire wall in a bookshelf, as well depending on how we were to set it up the bookshelf could potentially be up against a half wall so I am look for it to be about this height but longer! I would say its probably going to be hard to find. Although I would say if you are looking for unique furniture with a rustic look
World Market is an amazing place to look! I actually quite like
THIS option from World Market!
I think the bookcase would be the hardest to find because I am so particular about what I am looking for, and trust me I have done a lot of looking for this post to be able to show you guys exactly what I am talking about and didn't have much luck!
For me personally (which is where Jason and I have a hard time) a room really comes together when you've added all your personal touches, a couch is just a couch until it has throw pillows on it, a dining room table is just a dining room table until you have a runner on it with flowers or candles. The personal touches you add are what makes it home, its what makes people come in and see your personality in all the little touches.
To me this room is perfect, its cozy and inviting the different pillows, different shape bring it all together. The pillows are all different textures, the basket on the table is simple but the candles dress it up. I like how they have used the clear glass vase for flowers but placed it on a stack of magazines to give it a higher elevation making it more of a focal point than it would have been sitting level and being simple. This room is inviting, someone spent time putting it together.
Accent pillows alone can really change the dimension and feel of a room as you can see
HERE, in many different ways. You can use the colors, shape and patterns to liven up or tone down any setting and generally in a pretty affordable way!
So that's just a few ideas I have for our loft space, I don't know when we will ever get around to making it happen but a girl can dream right? I do like in a way that we can work away at things slowly and find the perfect pieces and make it ours, but at the same time I get such great satisfaction out of seeing a finished project and come on, looking at that picture above tell me you don't want to curl up on that couch in and amongst all of those amazing pillows and read the night away. No? Just me? I'm alright with that!
Are you decorating a room in your house right now? If so where do you get your inspiration and how do you turn an inviting picture into a reality in your home?
