New Chairs for the Living Room

I haven't made any changes to my house in a long time. That's not like me at all! I have been more focused on having fun in my spare time with family and friends. However, I could not take looking at my French chairs in my living room one more day when it hit me how much they were not my style at all anymore. I needed to get rid of them yesterday. 

I have been using a lot of swivel barrel style chairs in my projects so I knew that's what I wanted. I also wanted something neutral because as much as I love the blue accents in my living room, I'm getting a little tired of it. It's nice to have the option to switch up colors with the seasons too. I found the perfect chairs at World Market. If you buy them online and pick them up in the store you get an extra 15% off. That makes them under $500 each with tax!

The fabric is an ivory chenille, and of course they swivel! It's hard to tell in the photo because my ceilings are so high, but the back is higher than a lot of chairs this style. It makes them comfortable enough for my 6 foot tall kids.

I don't think I've posted a non-holiday photo with the new millwork we built on the TV wall. It adds so much character to the room. Between the millwork and the new Frame TV I don't feel like this wall is such an eyesore anymore. There was a time I was going to tear out the fireplace and center it on the wall. It would have been a fortune so I'm happy I found this less expensive option.

So what's next? I'd like a bigger rug and a contemporary square coffee table. I'm on the fence about a new media center and a more modern chandelier. I'm hoping they will blend with my new things. Here is a mockup I did when I was trying to decide on the direction I'm going to take this room.  The price tag on these items are quite high so I'll have to make some concessions on the exact pieces, but I love the look. I definitely want some type of burl wood in the room. 

So there's a lot to think about! 

Fall Great Room

I'm thoroughly enjoying all things fall with the cooler weather that came through today. I want to hold onto the season a little longer before I bring out the Christmas decor. It's been so warm until today that I would feel that I never got to fully experience fall if I changed it out so early. Plus, I really love the leaves in my kitchen vase!

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Fall Living Room

There are only a few more days until the beginning of fall! We're kicking it off in Houston with a tropical storm. Hopefully, the flooding is minimal and we'll just get some much needed rain. There's also our beach house in Galveston to worry about. I'm watching The Weather Channel meteorlogists on TV a few miles down the beach from our house there. That's one good way to keep an eye on it! Thankfully, it looks perfectly fine so far. 

The temperature is much cooler because of the rain. I made apple cider tea, lit a pumpkin candle and plopped myself right here in the living room to enjoy the fall decor and candlelight. My fall decor is much lighter this year. I love the way these peach roses and pumpkins look with the blue and gray decor. It doesn't really get cool here until it's time to break out the Christmas decorations so a lighter color scheme works well with our climate too. 

I kept it simple with fresh florals, pumpkins and candlelight. I don't have much fall decor, but I love the few glass pumpkins I have. I buy most of mine at Homegoods.

I love how the colors fit right in with the rest of the room. It still semi-traditional in color to make the kids happy. I'm almost finished with the other areas of the house that I will be showing you soon!

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Client Design: Transitional French Farmhouse

When my clients moved into their new construction home several months ago they contacted me for help designing the entire great room from scratch. They had asked for a pretty, modern farmhouse with a blue and gray color scheme. I decided upon a timeless French farmhouse design updated with contemporary elements.

The living room is very large and called for an extra long sofa. I happened to find a customizable one that I could also cover in a performance fabric. The homeowner's knew they wanted a light sofa, and I knew that a family friendly fabric was a must with their three young children.

I balanced the traditional furniture with a contemporary coffee table. Neoclassical elements on the coffee table marry traditional and contemporary decor.

The light wood of the armchairs and end tables give this room the farmhouse look the family had asked for in the initial consultation.

A pop of pink!

In the next phase of this project the niche will hold a built-in bar!

These pendants are even more amazing in person! They are large and perfect for the extra tall ceilings. They are hung a little higher than normal due to the ceiling height. 

Every coffee drinker needs a coffee bar!

The breakfast room also has a mix of contemporary and rustic decor. 

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Green, Ivory and Gold Christmas Tree

I just love this year's living room Christmas tree! It's my favorite so far. The ornaments are the same, but just adding a dark green velvet ribbon and new ivory berry picks completely changed the look. I just love how fresh it feels!

All lit up at night! I've always loved the way dark green and blue and white chinoiserie looks together. I had actually planned on blue in the tree, but the green velvet ribbon just spoke to me this year. The blue just didn't look right so I kept throwing color combos up on the tree with what I had on hand until it clicked.

A closer look at the white berry picks and green velvet ribbon. I also added gold leaf picks and a gold garland for a bit of glam. It is the holidays after all! I usually don't stage anything under my tree because it has always seemed over the top, but I wasn't a fan of the metal pole showing above the tree skirt. I am a total convert! It's so much better than being empty. I love the extra string of lights draped across the base too. I think I'll keep those and drape them across the presents when I get around to wrapping.

FYI-This tree skirt is no longer available from Pottery Barn. I have linked a similar one that matches my stockings.

I have a few more details to wrap up this weekend (I feel like I keep saying that), and then I will be taking photos for a home tour next week!

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Living Room Change Up

If you follow me on Instagram (particularly the stories) you know I had a rug saga going on in my living room. I knew I wanted something in an abstract pattern with a bit of blue. There wasn't much to choose from that wasn't a silk Tibetan rug aka expensive, but I finally found something affordable that would work. It was delivered in the evening while I was at a client's house so my husband and son laid it out for me. The minute I walked in the living room I was shocked. It was a lot of blue! 

I went back and forth about keeping it or returning it. It's really pretty in the daylight when the sun washes out the blue. The contrast between the blue and cream is really noticeable in dim lighting, which wasn't the look I was going for. I can't say it's perfect, but once I looked at photos with my old cream rug and the new one I decided it looks so much better with the addition of the blue. 

I also like how it picks up the blue in the art above the TV. 

(Sorry, these photos are a bit blurry. I used my nicer camera, but must have done something wrong).

The only problem is the pillows on the sofa need to be changed out now to something with less pattern. These are old Homegoods pillows that were $16.99 that I picked up on a whim until I decided on something more permanent anyway.

I have so much blue in my house it's nice that to have it carried through to the living room now.

My old cream rug found it's way into the bedroom. I haven't photographed it yet because I need to address that big stain by my foot first. That is the reason I buy inexpensive rugs! Folex works wonders for stain removal FYI. Here is a quick Instagram photo I snapped for my stories the other day. I was excited about finally being able to wear my orange fall sweater with the cooler temps! I would eventually like a viscose tone on tone striped rug in a cream or beige, but I haven't had a chance to look yet. I need to get moving on those living room throw pillows first!

I just realized I sound like a hot mess-mysterious rug stains, blurry photos, rash shopping decisions, smudged mirror, zero time to address any of it...at least I like my outfit! 

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