Mix-And-Match Livingroom Grouping

As we've updated other rooms throughout our house over the past several years, our livingroom furniture has gotten displaced. A leather chair now resides in our master bedroom. The recliner has a new home in the basement. The couch we purchased when first married has replaced the stained, cream/baby blue/mauve floral couch from my college/single days in the basement.

While we have been on the look-out for livingroom furniture consistently over the past year or so, this weekend things really came together. Here's how it happened.

We purchased THIS at a benefit auction some 5 years ago b/c no one else was interested in bidding on a used, gold & avocado lamp with a tacky lampshade. Go figure!

This weekend, while looking for a totally unrelated item at our local thrift shop, I spied this chair priced at $200. Initially I hedged at the cost but upon closer inspection made the purchase based on the following criteria: (1) chair was brand new, (2) covered with high-quality (nuetral but not completely plain/solid) fabric & a solid/sturdy frame, (3) VERY comfortable but still structured and (4) slightly over-sized. These characteristics matched up with our 'requirements' but the price was several hundred dollars less than what we'd been able to find at retail.

We purchased this item at another benefit auction earlier this month. Its unique shape & bright color makes it a perfect 'statement' piece without being too over-the-top.

And then there's THIS. A scarf purchased for $2 at an open-air market in Ethiopia. One of my favorite 'decorating techniques' is mixing in things with sentimental value; this scarf makes me smile with fond memories everytime I walk past.

Put it together and what have you got...bibbety-bobbety-bibbety-bobbety... Ahem! I guess I have been reading too many childrens books lately :) THIS: A unique & bright sitting area for any everyday space.

Livingroom MakeOver

Several months ago, we found a faux oil painting that both Blake & I immediately loved, loved, loved! We had been looking at pictures for above our livingroom couch for a number of years and this one was IT. There was only two small problems. (1) The painting was not quite large enough to fill the space available (general rule: the picture/picture display above a couch should fill at least 2/3 of the wall space) and (2) We found the artwork at Marshalls (a discount store) & knew that finding a duplicate/corresponding image would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Nevertheless, for the past several months we've looked at numerous stores without success & decided to come up with an alternate solution. ENTER: Hobby Lobby's 90% off home accents sale. Last night we found just what we needed for pennies on the dollar!

Combining the painting (which, did I mention, we LOVE!) with randomly-sized photo frames, we were able to extend the size of the display above the couch while keeping the focus on the painting itself. For less than $100, ($70 for 3 foot-by-3-foot painting + $24 for frames), this is what the wall in our livingroom currently looks like.

A simple solution for 'enlarging' a piece of artwork that is too small for its designated space.