One of those projects is drapes for my living room windows. Our west facing living room gets flooded with bright light on summer afternoons. The drapes for my tall and wide windows will have to be custom made to function properly. The previous bamboo shades did not cover the top transoms, and it didn't quite go with the look of the room.
I could put them back up temporarily, but then it would cause holes that would need to be repaired in the new window trim. Besides the functionality, drapes on each end of the windows would help soften the wall. It just feels so bare since the Christmas tree came down. Those chairs need some color, too. Good grief, these January pictures are depressing!
Custom drapes will be expensive, and I do not want to have to replace them with future home decor changes. I had already been considering changing up my living room so I decided to go ahead with it before adding the drapes. It will be a small update of just adding a bit of blue to the already cream and gray color scheme. That means the high contrast black and white abstract has to be moved to another room to make way for a softer look.
I didn't want to add too much blue because I want the option of adding different colors in the future. The gray will not be going anywhere. It's in my media center and my kitchen island. I'm happily stuck with gray! I've heard it is on it's way out, but I don't believe that for a second. I do think you may see it blended with other colors instead of just gray and white/cream. However, that is just my prediction. Or maybe it's because I am tiring of my ultra-neutral room? It needs some life! Actually, in real life it isn't quite this washed out. This is really just a result of using my iPhone to take pictures. These are probably the worst pictures I have, but it shows you what I'm talking about. I have to brighten up the photos, which tends to white out everything. Regardless, I'm ready for a softer and more colorful look. Maybe I'll start bringing out my Nikon when I photograph this room, too!
The first thing I did was remove the small pictures from above my TV and not put the black sofa table back after Christmas.
I have always been frustrated with this view of the TV. I'd love to have a very tall built-in media center with doors covering the TV, but that is way down the line in priority so I decided to add larger artwork with a bit more interest/color. My foyer art is perfect!
It has blue, gray and tan/caramel in it. It's also part of a series so I picked up it's companion and hung it above the TV. I haven't taken a picture yet because they are hanging by the previous nails and need to be moved. I'm also painting the silver frame a champagne gold color to go with the living room decor. The blue color is small enough that I can choose to bring out the blue or ignore it if I go in a different direction in the future.
I love abstract art, but for the big wall I decided on something a bit more like a landscape so they weren't competing with each other. I also decided it should not have blue in it to keep it to a minimum in the decor I won't be changing for a while. I knew instantly the painting that would be perfect. That's the benefit of keeping on top of new items to the market. It makes decorating a room much easier!
I just love this abstract landscape! The best part is I didn't have to move the nails. It's exactly the same size as my old art. The leopard pillows are temporary. I just moved them from the media room until I buy new pillows.
I added a bit of color albeit gray to the chairs in front of the window. Oh, you can see the art above the TV in this picture!
You might notice I'm also moving around the accessories on the fireplace, media center and tables. I only need a few things and I'm pretty sure they will be picked up at Homegoods for a low cost update. The art and drapes will be the only high cost in this room, but I did get the art 50% off (order via phone or in-store for the discount). I'm ordering custom pillows for the sofa, but thankfully they aren't that expensive on Etsy. I haven't quite decided if I'm going to keep the pillows on these chairs. It depends on the color combo I come up with for the sofa. I just love the direction it's going so far. The colors are still muted to keep a serene feel but contrast better for more interest. I love to add pops of color in the florals or a couple of accessories. I can't quite do a blush color in a pillow with four men in the house, but I can add pink florals without it looking to feminine.
This week (and probably next week too) I will be deciding on pillows, painting the silver art frames and looking for accessories. I'm hoping the drapes will be decided on as soon as I get samples and quotes. I decided on a solid cream color and possibly a gray tape trim on the leading edges for a look that will last years. I'm hoping I can wrap up this project and the office in the next 4-6 weeks, but if it lasts longer that's fine too. As long as I get my drapes by summer I'll be happy!
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