New House Living Room Inspiration Board

Last night I needed a diversion from packing. Can I admit I'm already tired of it and I've only scratched the surface? I've spent most of this week in my office/studio trying to make some sense out of all the crap,  junk, supplies, treasures,  stuff that I have. I may not be at my all time "best" through this move. It's a good thing my husband is patient and longsuffering... 

So I hopped on Polyvore once he went to bed and thought I'd put together an inspiration board for the Living Room. Our "soon-to-be" house is small, folks, so nothing is going over there that isn't functional and doubles as storage. Let's just say that most of my furniture and fun stuff is destined for a very large storage unit.

The new little house has a lot of  "wood", in the form of cabinets, woodwork, trim, etc. not my favorite "white". So I'm having to go with a more masculine vibe. Maybe I can translate that into a little of my favorite, "English Country". I can't paint the walls or anything else, and frankly we'll probably only be there a year, so I'm not going to totally "decorate", but I have to feel like I have a "home". (we'll just be leasing until our house sells, then buy something permanent or build) So hubbs and I came up with a plan and we pooled our pocket change and bought a Chesterfield Sofa and Loveseat. Believe me, there is some great looking furniture out there that doesn't break the bank, and I was determined I'd find it.

So we purchased the sofa and loveseat and a couple of new lamps in a bronze tone with linen shades. I have to decide what I'm going to sell, but for now I'm justifying this purchase because all the downstairs furniture will likely be sold. (And it was our anniversary present to ourselves.) I was secretly wanting to do something different downstairs anyway, so please... be careful what you wish for.

These examples of furniture from Polyvore are just representative of what we're using. I have an old cedar chest that had a horrible finish that I painted a Country Gray, which I'm going to use as a coffee table. It's pretty rustic and not at all what you'd find in my current living room, but hey, I'm making the most of this and using or repurposing what I have. 

I have a beautiful black area rug that hopefully will work

 under the coffee table/trunk. If not I have my taupe-y one.

Then, I'm hoping to use some stacked suitcases and a few decorative tole trays and wooden boxes for end tables. I also have a really wonderful very old school desk from Atlanta that's like a tea table. It's been hidden downstairs the whole time we've lived here; I think that will work with a lamp for an end table.

Hubbs has a great leather recliner that we'll use 

and I have another chair that hopefully will fit.

I love me some leopard/cheetah print so I'm going to try to find some throw pillows, cause the pillows that came with the loveseat and sofa are not what I'm going for. 

Love that chair above, but like I said, just "representative" of what I'll be using, something that I already have. How many of you bought the "required" massive entertainment center when big screen tvs first came out? Oh yeah, we bought a doozy, but it's still pretty, and we have one large wall that needs to be filled, plus we need the storage, so we'll be using that puppy.

Every time I feel overwhelmed I take a few deep breaths and try to remember why we're doing this. Let's see...do I remember why? Oh yeah, we're downsizing so we'll be ready for retirement and whatever else that might bring. Actually, this house is adorable, and I'm super grateful that we found it. It will be perfect for us, I just need to get used to this downsizing business. 

you get the idea?

Hope you're having a great weekend, 

more snow in the forecast...brrrrrrr.

Joining in these parties this week:

 Dwellings
Mod Vintage Life
Cozy Little House
Confessions of a Plate Addict
A Stroll Thru Life
City Farmhouse
Savvy Southern Style
Craftberry Bush
Jennifer Rizzo

xoxo,

Today's Sponsors

Nostalgic Artifacts 

and 

Nostalgic Summer

The Autumn Holiday Cupboard

Since Fall is my favorite time to decorate the house, 

I also love gathering my odds and ends for decorating The Holiday Cupboard.

 I've tried to make it "The Ironstone Cupboard", 

or "The Transfer ware Cupboard" 

or "The White Only Cupboard",

 but I just can't make those stick.

It always becomes "The Holiday Cupboard".

It's the odd kitchen cupboard and the little chippy dresser that got married.

I always enjoy a good love story, don't you?

It's downstairs in my little sitting area that I showed you yesterday.

This time of year I like to bring in the oranges to compliment the white.

And there are always a few stray squirrels, owls and pumpkins

that need a place to live.

...so they end up here.

There usually is a gardening and nature theme going on

along with whatever "Holiday" might be coming up.

These open books are two old nature encyclopedias from the early 1900's.

My new little "Be-Owled" frames found a spot here, too.

Each time I show the Holiday Cupboard I'm asked about the white suitcases on top. I just used several coats of white interior latex and a lot of time. A small roller on the larger parts and an artist's brush for painting around the hardware. I have several more ratty suitcases that need this paint treatment. I'm a sucker for an old suitcase, if the price is right.

For previous Fall Holiday Cupboard renditions,

look HERE and HERE.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend,

it turned cool after a day of rain.

Almost time for boots.

yay!

 Joining in on these great parties:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Knick of Time Tuesday

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style

Blissful Whites at Timewashed

DIY by Design

Inspiration Exchange at Ella Claire

TTT at StoneGable

From My Front Porch to Yours

French Country Cottage

Craftberry Bush

The Cottage Market

Today's Sponsor

Sweet Magnolias Farm

A little weekend randomness...

You all know we've been spending a lot of time in St. Louis for hubby's doctor appointments (hopefully, they will be winding down soon), but when we're there we are so blessed to be able to stay with our daughter and her husband, oh, and can't forget Vinnie, the grandpuppy.

Pic of their 100+ year old home taken last Fall.

I wanted to share this guest room that doubles as Erin's dressing room. She has a relaxed eclectic style; mixing traditional, vintage, and modern pieces. She's not a "fusser and floofer" like me, she loves antiques, but isn't into shopping flea markets. She would like her vintage goods and antiques to magically appear for her decor pleasure. (sometimes I'm her "picker") She's not into clutter, piles of junk, or white chippy furniture. What?...I know.

I've told her that if this white set of vintage monogrammed luggage goes missing, 

that it probably came home with me by "accident".

When the Ritz Carlton in Clayton was renovated a few years ago they bought several sets of Birds Eye Maple furniture with king size beds for their guest rooms for a song. 

Aside from the great mix of pattern, color, and comfort, I just love how she's used this tiny children's suitcase  (or doll clothes case?) to corral some of her jewelry on the nightstand.

They are bulldog lovers and over the years they've found some fun bulldog collectibles, that are scattered throughout the house. If you look closely you can see a set of glass dogs that were popular in the '50's. Keith is an "all things tobacco" aficionado, so she also has this wonderful little Dunhill ladies lighter from the 40's here too.

I neglected to take a photo of her shoes on display.

She's a heels kinda girl, and let me just say that

she has quite the hoarding and shopping gene when it comes to fabulous shoes.

photo by Kortni Wu 

(for more great photos click above)

And for a little inspiration we stopped by The White Rabbit (click here for their blog and shopping) LOVE this store! I could hang there all day, but we were on our way out of town so I kept my visit short, but just had to grab this photo of a wall of moss in the garden area. so wonderful.

And one of our fave spots for a relaxed dinner is Pi. "On the Loop". President Obama had pizza there a year or so ago, and he gave it a rousing thumbs up. yummy. This license plate art is hanging on the wall. It's a good sized piece, and since it's reflective, everything else showed up black on this phone pic. pretty cool.

This will be a working weekend, hopefully we can get the pool opened and the patio furniture out and cleaned up. Our other son-in-law is our right hand man when it comes to jobs around here.

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend.

I'll be here for The Marketplace on Monday as usual.

Come by for a visit in between cookouts and family fun!

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings

Mod Mix Monday at Mod Vintage Life

Make it Pretty Monday at The Dedicated House

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm

Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House

The Scoop at Cedar Hill Ranch

xoxo,