Pillow Fight

One of the virtues I had to constantly remind myself as we prepared to move into the new house was patience.  It was really hard not going out to every local retailer and stocking up on all sorts of fun décor finds to decorate the new house. 



As we know with any move, it’s far too often you find your previous items just don’t jive with the new space.  And it’s not always just “decorating ADD” (like I sometimes have).  It’s the functional side as well.  Perhaps you find that area rugs are now the wrong size or orientation, window treatments don’t fit, furniture isn’t appropriately sized for the space, etc. 

I knew some of these functional issues would arise for us, but I forced myself to settle into the new house before making any major purchases.  And for us, anything over $10 brings scrutiny.  As you can imagine, not much got purchased beforehand.  But I was about to move into pretty much the house of my dreams in an equally dreamy neighborhood, so I was A-OK with counting my blessings and not worrying about the rest for the time being. 

That said, I knew one of the legitimately big purchases (not just an $11 find!) would be a new area rug for the family room.  The rug we originally had in the old house was too small making it not even an option in the new house. Typically, the “area rug rule” is that all legs (minimally, the front legs) of all pieces of furniture should be on the rug to anchor everything together.  Well, with our old rug, that wasn’t possible so it was just kind of out there floating by itself which looked really odd.  As a temporary fix, we enlisted the help of the area rug from Sebastian’s old bedroom.  Sebastian’s old room had hardwood floors which required the use of a rug to soften things up a bit, but at this house it’s carpeted thereby freeing it up for other use.  However, it’s a beige shag carpet which was great for the old bedroom, but not awesome for a high traffic family room where Goldfish crackers run amok and were getting lost and crushed into the fibers.  Also, it was beige – as is our couch.  Not to mention our camel colored leather chair and walnut coffee/end tables, so it was like a big beige blur in there.

So I searched for a couple months for just the right size and color rug.  When I found my beauty, I was in love.  Like, big time in love.  But I knew I had to wait for a sale or a coupon code to bring the price down to make the pill easier to swallow.  And then about a month later, it happened.  The stars aligned and the shipment was on its way.  Let me say the day it arrived was like Christmas.  Here is the shot of me rolling around on it it is laid on top and rolled out slightly.  What a big difference!

About this same time, I was starting to dream of a new family room couch.  Ours was totally fine and functional, but I envisioned something a bit different in the new space from a size/layout perspective as well as design and color.  BUT, I know it’ll still be a while before a replacement is justified so I got to thinking about how I could give it a new feel.  Enter some fresh new throw pillows.  Of course, as goes in many marriages (or maybe it’s just ours…ha!) Eric was totally content with the throw pillows that came with the couch and saw no need to replace them.  But I had a feeling if I kept searching for the exact right ones, he’d be on board because they’d really start to pull the room colors together and make it feel a bit more cohesive.  (The colors I’m going for in here are greens, blues (mostly teal), whites, and beiges.)

Well, nothing good comes easy.  My first set of new throw pillows was a major FAIL.  Design wise there were okay, but functionally, they didn’t provide enough support if you were actually using them (versus tossing them out of the way), and they weren’t the best quality.  A few got lumpy after less than a week of use.  I could see Eric just thinking “Told you we should just stick with the original ones!”  But I’m always up for a good challenge, so I returned the failed set and started the search again.  I was winning this pillow fight.  End of story. 

And I did.  I found these lovely gems at TJ Maxx and Target for killer deals (we’re talking no more than $10 a pillow) and I’m in love.  They’re durable fabrics to withstand the boys climbing all over them yet still really comfortable.

 

  

And I also just love how the one of the end tables Eric designed and built back at the old house found a spot at the new house next to the leather chair in there.  It’s primarily walnut with a few accents of Wenge (the darker colored wood) capping the bottom of each leg as well as splines, which are those thin, narrow strips of wood at all four corners of the top’s frame.  And because that’s not delicious enough, the top is a plywood backed piece of copper with a chemical patina finish to inject greens and browns onto the copper surface.  He may not understand throw pillows like I do, but that hubby ‘o mine sure knows his way around a workshop. 

To marry the end table with the leather chair a bit more, I found a lovely oblong chevron patterned throw pillow (TJ Maxx) and a blue patterned throw blanket (Target).  I’m really digging the combo of the pillow, blanket and end table making this a cozy little corner to curl up.  Or more accurately, the place where I get climbed upon like Mount Everest by the boys.  Just an average Sunday morning in the Stefl household...  

 

  

Total Project Cost: $386 
Area Rug: $287 (Ouch. But I loooove it.)
Rug Pad: $47 (Ouch again, BUT it’s a wool rug and splurging for a quality ¼” thick pad really makes it feel cushy underneath)
Four Throw Pillows: $31
Throw Blanket: $21

Here’s the breakdown of what we’re thinking with this room so far:

• New rug, artwork
• Install new dimmer switch
• Make new window treatments - roman shade style?
• Install crown molding
• Whitewash fireplace like this
• Paint wainscoting and all trim
• If wainscoting is painted, swap out electrical boxes/covers to match
• Paint built-ins white
• Add a fun painted or wallpapered back to the built-ins for extra interest
• Additional recessed lighting? Or lamps on console table behind couch?  Both?
• New couch and/or throw pillows
• Build new TV/media console

Anyone else make any fun décor changes lately?  I always struggle with room design/décor, so I’d love to be inspired and hear what others are doing, too! 

♥,
Anne