I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner for "Show us your Life Fridays". This week is living rooms. I'm doing my Auburn one, since it's where I live now (but stay on the lookout for my Birmingham mantle!). Keep in mind the room is mostly finished, but I still have a little more to do.
The Auburn condo is really small, and considering I love to entertain, I have to make the best of my space.
People ask me all the time about my furniture and "things" around the place. So, I'm going to fill in some of my decorating tips and where I got the things, as much as I can remember.
I think the best way to describe the theme of this room is "things I LOVE." I originally wanted to do an animal print theme, but it turned into a room that defines me. (By the way, I am going to have to SEARCH to see if I have anything from Pottery Barn in here. I haven't noticed it yet, and you all know how much Girl Sunday loves her Pottery Barn!)
This is the living room from the front door. My "studio" (not quite complete) is to the left, my bedroom to the right, and, duh!, the "kitchen" (te-niny!) is in the back. Also in this picture, in the bottom left, is the rabbit cage.
This is the view from my "studio". To the right is the entertainment center.
Here is the view from my bedroom. Obviously, the entertainment center has some work to be done on it. I got it at Lowes, but you can find wire shelves almost anywhere - Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, KMart, Wal-Mart, etc. Be sure the shelves can hold at least 350 pounds each, and that it is wide enough for your TV. (Back when TVs were square we didn't have to worry about that!)
To the left of the sofa are my beloved books. I found the "Peace" and "Dream" wall art at Target this summer. The bookcase is from Pier One, about six years ago. It's their "Dakota" bookcase, back when "Dakota" was black iron with copper undertones.
This is the detail on the table and chairs under the pink flower (from Ross). I LOVE this furniture set. The copper color is beautiful and really helps tie the room together (I broke a rule and mixed metals, as well as black and brown). The result is actually better than I ever would have thought. I think the key is using tonal browns, so the colors blend and complement with the black.
Also in this picture is the best glimpse at the sofa's color and texture. As with most things in this room, I also love my sofa. It's brown velvet, but it has gray undertones, which help tie the brown into the black accents the developers used. I got the sofa last year at Auburn Furniture and I think it's by Broyhill.
Here is my favorite chair. I got it last year from Pier One. On clearance! And I saved a good bit extra by opening a credit card with them. The chair is purple velvet, and when I got the picture of the pink flower, I had originally intended to put it in my bedroom, but I saw it sitting in the den, next to the chair, and realized it went really well in the room. The chair pulls out the purple used in the painting, so it's not so intense in the room.
I mentioned earlier about using browns that are tonal. The best example of that is this trunk (in the bottom of the picture) I got from Target. It was originally a bedroom linen trunk in Birmingham, but now it is my "coffee table". Notice how some of the "reeds" (is that what they are?) are black and some brown and there are varying shades in between? That's what I mean by tonal.
Onto my console. I got the shelves at Hobby Lobby on clearance, and the table at Target. The glass candle holders are from TJ Maxx, and I put coffee beans and tea lights in them. I ALWAYS keep fresh flowers. Just because :) The turquoise/blue/teal vase in the back has dried roses from my old resident manager. (The vase is also from Pier One, about six years ago and I believe is called the "Peacock Vase". Again, it has some copper in it to help tie the room together.) I used to have a bulletin board covering the fuse box, but it fell and I need to work on that some more. :( The peace sign is a Girl Sunday original. It can be found at my upcoming craft business' website.
When I have parties, I clear the console table and use it to display food or paperwares.
"There was an old bunny who lived in a cage under the TV ..."
Yea! Feffer is back in Auburn! Sweet Bunny Boy is almost eight years old (i.e. really old for a rabbit).
Thank you for visiting! I look forward to seeing what everyone else has done with their living areas. And, thank you, Kelly, for hosting!
