August 12, 2011

Moody

So, today I decided to try a little bit of a different sort of post. Kind of  an actual-planning-slash-decorating-and-design post.
Hmm. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I guess, I should first start out by explaining that a couple of days ago, I broke down and got a Facebook account. Yes, I can hear all of your shouts of joy (and probably smug I-told-you-so-ness) from all the way up here.  I’ve been swearing for years that I would never have a Facebook, despite everyone’s pleading that “it makes it so easy to keep in touch with people” (to which I always replied, I do keep in touch with the people in my life…all thirteen of them) and “but then you can check out all my pictures!” (my rebuttal? If you want me to see your damn pictures, email them to me) and, last but not least, “it only takes up as much of your time as you want!” (HA! You LIE! Facebook is like digital crack!).
But, here’s the thing: there’s this other website called Pinterest (if you don’t know what it is, check it out immediately and come back—I’ll wait), which I absolutely adore (although it too is rather crack-like, I must admit), and to create an account on Pinterest, you must have a Facebook login. Much. To. My. Despair. I cannot stress that enough. I was devastated when I read that you have to join the ranks of Website-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named in order to create your own beautiful inspiration boards on Pinterest. But I resisted anyway. For about three months now, I’ve played around on Pinterest, creating my own poor-man’s-version of an inspiration board, saving hundreds of design photos and color palettes and inspiring snapshots to a thumb-drive.
And then my thumb-drive got tapped out. Even when I moved half of my pictures to my home laptop, there just wasn’t enough room for it to be functional any longer. And with the creation of this blog, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to show everyone all the cool things I am inspired by? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to just point everyone towards a simple website so they could see what I’m thinking when I say that I want to paint all my window sills black?” 
Answer: it would be very nice. Therefore, in the interest of Pinterest (haha), I got a Facebook account. But let it be known: it exists only for the purpose of my Pinterest account and I will not be posting to it or making friends or putting things on my “wall.” I will. Not. Do. It. I will not be this girl. (Even though she is pretty hilarious)
Anyway! /End rant.
Now that that’s out of the way, back to my original story. I decided to do up a little inspiration board to show y’all (no, Mom, that doesn’t sound right either) the kind of look I want for each of my rooms. So far I have done only the lower living room because, dang, mood boards are way more work than they appear! But here it is anyway, along with my thoughts on the whole shebang and where to find each item if you too decide you are inspired (be warned though, some of these items are stupid expensive and I plan on scouting mine out at sales and, hopefully, at thrift stores).
Drum roll, puleeze…

Ta-Daaaaaaah!
Yes, it is rather brighter and bubblier than I normally go for, but I think that it’s a good look. Not too grown-up, not too childish. Kind of bright and light, which is what that lower living space needs. In short: it’s juuuuuuust right. Now, for the breakdown.
1. Ever since seeing some similar color palettes for weddings, I’ve been really attracted to this combination (you’re thinking about my wedding colors now, aren’t you? See?). There’s something about the green and the blue and the coral that just makes me very, very happy. So, why wouldn’t I try to incorporate it into a space I will spend considerable time in every day?
2. Now, this is one room that I found really inspiring, partially because it uses a variation on my fave color palette and partly because of the versatility of the design. You could easily swap out the pops of orange/coral for another color and give the whole thing a brand new look with minimal effort. This is important to me because I can be very capricious when it comes to decorating. (Just ask my Mom; I switched up the design of my bedroom almost every single year from the time I was small all the way into high school.) Oh, and I also like the layout of this room.
3. A while back, Denny and I went and looked at couches and we came away with some very distinct likes and dislikes. For example, I discovered that couches with pillow-backs (like this one) drive Denny up the wall and he found out that I’m more of a fabric person than a leather person. This one shown here is a good compromise. It’s also a nice neutral color, which allows us to change our minds on color schemes later on down the road (unlike this hot little tangerine number, which although attractive, pretty well sets the color scheme in stone).
4. This chair (we would need two of them) isn’t an exact match in style to the sofa but, with it’s neutral fabric and similarly styled legs, it still fits well. Also, it’s comfy looking and, yet, still structural. Not just a beanbag masquerading as real furniture, you know? I’m particularly attracted to slipper chairs, but I know that I couldn’t live with an armless chair for any real period of time. I mean, what kind of quality of life would it really have? (Did you get my Office reference?)
5. For the area rug (which anchors the arrangement and creates a focal point), I chose this green patterned one from West Elm. It’s actually a pretty good deal (by West Elm standards) and I like it enough that even if I did decide to eliminate green from the palette someday, I know I could relocate it to another area of the house and be just fine.
6. So, lately I’ve been very into clear lamps. They’re functional, but they kind of fade into the background, allowing you to highlight other knick-knacks and objects without making everything too busy and crowded. Bet you didn’t even notice the one in my inspiration pic, did ya? See? Totally cool.
7. A lot of designers think that curtains are a good place to feature a big, bold pattern, but in my case, I think maybe just a nice bold color will do. I like how these ones are boldly colored, but still kind of sheer. They also feature a subtle chevron pattern, which is very in right now. ;)
8. And, last but not least, pillows! I’m looking forward to building a layered and eclectic, but still polished, collection of pillows for this room. These are just some of the ones that inspired me (and I already own the middle, burnet velvet one and the lower left rectangular one, btw).
So, there’s a little look inside my head. What do you think? Can I pull it off? Can I go from this to this?

Inspiration Breakdown:
Pillows from Pier 1 Imports and West Elm - $8-$65
Caney Beige Microfiber Accent Chair from Overstock.com - $173
Tucker Custom Sofa in Chenille Tan from JC Penney - $899
Jonsbo Orod Lamp from Ikea - $50
Dhurrie 8’x10’ Area Rug in Citron from West Elm - $479
Zigzag Beaded Curtain in Teal from Urban Outfitters - $89
Color palette from Design-Seeds.com
Inspiration room source unknown

PS: To view my Pinterest account, please go here. To follow me on Facebook, go here.

5 comments:

  1. My thoughts...
    I like the overall look. (Now I'm thinking of a denim couch and red and white checked pillows and maybe some a vase of wheat stalks for an accent piece.)

    Let me try again: I like your vision for the room. It will look great when you complete it.

    I DID notice the clear glass lamp. My thought on that was: Really? Huh...

    I didn't get The Office reference. I'm glad you included the clip because HaHaHaHa. Good one!

    Re: The Facebook. Would it really hurt you to 'Friend' me?? Whatever...

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  2. I am glad I clicked the "Follow me on Facebook" link, because if it was real and you hadn't friended me, I would be seriously displeased.

    Also I think that it is amazing that you could find a room with such a similar layout to yours... Maybe I need to check out this Pinterest business.

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  3. @KaydeeMcDee - I was totally confused by your name at first. I was wondering if I had picked up a strange reader somewhere along the line! I'm glad it's just you (it is Mom, isn't it?). And I'm not sure I'm feeling the "overall" look. Haha. But if you feel strongly about it I could maybe do up the guest bedroom that way, then you could enjoy it whenever you stay with me! :)

    @Amanda - I'm glad someone followed that link! I got a little link-happy on this post, but it was pretty fun. Did you watch the Office clip?

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  4. Ashley, I AM your mother...or AM I?? Bwahaha!!

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  5. PS-You couldn't have picked up a STRANGER reader than I. I thought you knew that...

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