Living Room Decor

My headings are the most boring headings in all the land.
Anyway...

Time to post pics of what the living room has been looking like lately. We had the sectional separated into its 3 pieces for a while. It worked in some ways, but not in others - we couldn't use 1/3 of it (the chaise part) because there is no cushion (Peegate 2010, ahem... Pepper... We still haven't gotten it replaced, but that's the plan. Ugh. Pets!)

I digress. So, the chaise was out in left field by itself, and basically was only used by the cat, who would get up there regardless of what we wanted her to do. I admitted defeat and threw a towel on there, so at least all her little hairs aren't imbedded into the couch base.

Real life - blankets strewn, towel on the cat's lounge chaise lounge, laptop hanging out on the couch, ya know... the exciting life we live.

Adding on to the wall, frame by frame. I need to find something un-frame-like to break it up a little.

The mantle. I'm pretty happy with it, even if leaning the mirror came from plain ol' laziness when we moved in. I've had the wrought iron thingy since my apartment days, and I like it leaning there :) The mercury glass candle globe-y things were from TJ Maxx, as well as all of the candles. And the wooden candle lantern was on clearance at World Market for $8, because it had a small scratch on one piece of the glass. The non-scratched ones were $20!

The giant, wood-framed mirror was a lucky-as-hell $14.99 Target clearance purchase from when I worked there in college. It was originally part of that limited Global Bazaar line $150, and a lady returned it while I was working at the Guest Service desk. It just so happened that all the Global Bazaar stuff was marked down to 90% off - they were clearing it out, and all that was left of that section were single cloth napkins and weird odds & ends, and this lady walks in with a kickass item! I saw her walking up to the desk and called dibs. Huge Target perk there!

A you-are-not-a-photographer pic of my newest little pretty thing up there.

This is just to the right of the TV. I still need something to go on the other side...

I do have this, which doesn't have a home yet. It's been sitting up in the entryway on the console table. (You can see our paint samples here - I'll post that when I actually get around to cleaning taking the pictures!)

And here is the TV stand we found at HomeGoods. We needed something on the small side, since we didn't want the room to be completely filled with furniture. I want to get some low-profile shelves (like the leaning kind) to go on either side at some point.

So, that's it for now. I'll post more as we go along :)

**UPDATE**

So I had a root canal done Monday, and afterwards I was feeling so great that we wandered over to some of the shops nearby. My endodontist's office just happens to be right next to one of my favorite shopping areas because they have pretty much every store I love: Target, World Market, Pier 1, and of course...a HomeGoods/TJ Maxx combo store. The funny thing is, I don't really remember wandering around shopping. This morning I was trying to remember when we got our newest stuff, and it's only then that I realized it was only YESTERDAY! I was on some major painkillers. (Which is why the rest of the afternoon was spent getting sick. Gross, I know. Toooo many painkillers!)

Anyway, I'm glad I was feeling so great immediately after the appointment, because we found a great deal on one of those folding stair-step styles shelves at Pier 1. It was the floor model, and it had some dings in the back, so we asked for a discount. You'll never see the back, but Pier 1 doesn't have to know that; they gave us an additional 15% off :)  Woo hoo! Here it is, in our living room, alongside the entertainment console:

With the discount, it came out to around $127! I've been eyeing a shelf like this for the side of our console forever, and I see them everywhere - but I always hold off, because they're usually at a much higher price, like this one from Pottery Barn:

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/studio-wall-shelf/?pkey=ccabinets

So cute, but at $299, it's definitely out of my price range. Our patience paid off, and our white shelf came out about 57% cheaper than the PB design!

Spring & Summer Yard

Some of what's up in the yard this summer. Some before/after shots for ya...

Before:

After: (mid-summer, Lantana planted in front of the Indian Hawthornes)

After: Updated 8/23 - the Lantana are now ca-ray-zeee...

Some of them have grown better than the others, for reasons I can't explain. But some color is all I'm after, so it works I guess.

These are the two to the right. The far right is also a different color than the others. (Lesson learned: make sure whatever you're buying has blooms, so you know what to expect!)

And this is the one that just can't get going. Poor little guy! He's front and center, it's like he got stage fright.

Before: (plain walkway, dying Chinese somethingorother on the left)

After: (baby Petunias planted along the walkway, Chinese somethingorother still looking decrepit)

After: (mid-summer, a shot of the lone Snapdragon left from the summer or 2010)

After: (mid-summer, the baby Petunias growing)

Ummm, except this guy... Uh, nothing to see here! Moving on!

Before:

After: (view of the new baby Petunias)

Before: (sad little Chinese somethingorother, there to bring your whole day down as you walk up to the front porch)

After: (mid-summer, looking so much better)

After: Updated 8/23 - this little guy has made a full recovery :) And the baby petunias have gotten huge!

Before: (the other sad little Chinese somethingorother, also dragging you down as you walk around to the side of the house)

After: Oops, don't have one. Stay tuned...

More Paint!

Coming soon... pics of the dining room, kitchen, entryway, office, laundry room, and hallways...all painted and lookin' pretty. Get ready for some Filtered Shade.
:)

Bathroom Chaos

Finally got serious about getting the cabinet organized ok my side of the bathroom. It always looks worse before it looks better, right??