My Living Room {A Work In Progress}

I hate posting pictures of my decorating when a room is not finished. Things have slowed down decorating wise for me though, so I figured I should reveal something. This is the living room currently. Here is the view as you walk into the living room from the front door...I really had no plan for this room when we moved in. I knew that my teal vintage chairs had to go in the room, because they didn't fit anywhere else in the apartment. We had no living room furniture at all and not a big budget! It all started with the huge ottoman we found at a thrift store... We used the ottoman for weeks as a couch as we searched thrift stores almost daily looking for a sofa! Evenutally we found our green beauty from a thrift store on the Air Force Base, which also meant it was FREE...The couch has grown on me. It's really comfy and the size is perfect for the room. I am not up for the challenge of reupholstering it, so the green has to work for now. I will however be recovering the ottoman with hot pink fabric and painting the wood frame white. I have no artwork for over the couch and my lamps are a little small for the space. I just have to use what I have for now though. I also decided to hang the vintage curtains I found in our living room. It really added some color on that wall...
The room has so much green and blue. Not what I planned at all. Once the ottoman is recovered though I think the look of the room will really change. I would love to get a huge shag rug to complete the room. Probably just white or cream. I know the dogs would love it! On the other side of the room is where I placed some of my IKEA bookcases...
Here you find more colors! This is also where most of our Vinylmation collection ended up. At first I just placed a few in the bookcases, then a few turned into a lot. I just really wanted to enjoy them daily. The bookcases are mainly full of photos, vases and my Marilyn Monroe books...
It took me probably a total of 5 hours to arrange everything in a way I loved. Arranging displays is one of my favorite things to do. I plan to post detailed pictures of my bookcase display later. For now I keep searching for artwork and pillows for the couch area...
I really want to add more pink to the room. (Poor Cody) I am open to suggestions for artwork over the couch. I think I will end up painting something on my own. I can never find anything I like in stores. I have ideas of course, but not sure what feels right yet. We'll see....

TRIP TO IKEA

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been super busy the last few days. The movers finally brought the rest of our stuff late last week. I gotta say Cody and I plan to never let anyone touch our stuff again. Most of my furniture got damaged and they lost a few things. I probably will get paid some money back for the damages and loss. No one will ever care or handle your stuff the way you would. People don't care. For example, my IKEA bed frame now has a dent on it from a hammer. Yes, a hammer. I guess someone got a little to excited when hammering our crate closed that contained our bed frame. On a happier note though, we did end up getting paid a good amount of money for all of our traveling. Originally we didn't think we would get paid for much of it or any of it. The Air Force came through for us and made things right. With that said we had some extra money to go buy our TV stand. We decided to drive to the Denver IKEA on Saturday. We took Chloe and Muffins with us. As you can see from Chloe's face, she was very stressed. She hates riding in the car.
When we finally make it to IKEA, this sign was posted....I didn't panic because I know IKEA. They will do anything in their power to re-open their store. They don't like losing money on a Saturday. Cody and I were lucky because their was a mall right by IKEA so we had something to do. The rest of the time we just sat in the car waiting...
A few hours went by and they finally re-opened. It was great because we pretty much had the store to ourselves! The Denver IKEA has a parking garage. I am not used to that. I was glad it wasn't busy because I don't think I would of been able to remember where Cody parked the car. I fell in love with the Volvo they had in their lobby. As you can see Cody was very excited that we didn't waste a 2 hour drive....The IKEA store was nice, but I miss my Ohio IKEA. I really miss working there also! I never thought I would miss my job but I really really do. The people I worked with were awesome and I had a fun job. Now I'm not sure where I will work or what I will do. (That is a post for another day!) We left happy with our new TV stand....Here it is put together and setup in our living room....Yes that is the vintage couch. I really like it. It's not the prettiest thing, but I've seen much worse. I still have lots of finishing touches to do in the living room. I have no artwork for over our couch. I want some throw pillows and I need to re-cover the ottoman. For now I am still hanging pictures and unpacking.

VINTAGE SOFAS

I am so sick of looking at the same couches over and over. I look at the same stores and the same websites. Everything I love is so expensive. When I get back to Ohio I hope to hit some thrift stores in hope of finding a great vintage sofa. I may be lucky and find something awesome!
Design Crisis
I find that vintage sofas are very comfy! Look how happy this little doggie is!
Bluish Orange

Enduring Arts
Tara Ferreira
2 Register Guard
The Rebirth of Fresh

Inspiration: Sofa & Living Room

Whenever I do finally decide to buy new furniture I am really going to have a hard time picking things out. I like to many different colors and styles. I have always bought neutral colored sofas so that I can change the color scheme in my rooms easier. I am bored with white sofas now. I would love a pop of color! Here are 4 styles of sofas and color schemes I love right now...
{LINKS}
Sofa | Room 1 | Room 2
{LINKS}
Sofa | Room 1 | Room 2
{LINKS}
Sofa | Room 1 | Room 2
{LINKS}
Sofa | Room 1 | Room 2

I am already bored with my apartment, which tells me that my design tastes are changing. My apartment is just "cluttered" to me. I really like simple interiors and that is how my old house was. I kept my living room the same at my old house for over 3 years because I decorated it right for me. I can't wait to move at the end of the year with Cody and design a place that we will stay at for at least a few years.

*I Want A Vintage Sofa*

This photo may look at little out of place on my blog. If I saw this couch at a shop by me I would buy it. Behind the ugly pillows I see a great Damask Patterned Pink Sofa with great lines!! I would love to have it....



I am hoping to find a great vintage sofa at a thrift store or antique shop. My Crate & Barrel Lounge Sofa has to wait and it is way to big for the apartment I plan to rent.









{* Click on images to go to photo sources *}