Wednesday Perk: Living Room Inspiration

Recently one of my friends gave me the best compliment I could ever hope to receive about my little home.  She told me that she loves coming over and hanging out because it just feels so cozy.  This thrilled me because cozy and comfortable is exactly the feeling I've been trying to create.  I love nothing more than a living space that invites people in and whispers in their ear "why don't you just sit for a spell".  While I love that I am apparently moving in the right direction with my living room, I have to admit that I personally feel that it is far from done.  This actually has less to do with it being unfinished and is really more about the fact that, as I look at it, I realize I am tired of the current accessories. 

The couches and chair are staying as is, the coffee table is staying for now although I am currently in year 2 of my hunt for the perfect, affordable replacement.  However, artwork, throw pillows and table accessories are all up for grabs and I simply don't know where I want to end up with them all right now.  So, in hopes of sparking some inspiration for myself here are some knick knacks, as well as some lovely fully decorated rooms to get the 'ole brain working, and hopefully they will help any of you also looking for ways to change things up. 



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 I realize this picture is of a dining area, but the colors are what I am finding some inspiration from.  The green seems to be similar to green of my throw-blanket, which I spent two months crocheting myself so it STAYS, and I love how well the aqua coordinates.  This color combo could really brighten up the dark colors of the couch and chairs.  FYI, the reason we chose such dark furniture colors is that we are realists, we spend most of our time in the living room so the furniture is used constantly, lighter colors would never stand a chance.

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These two living rooms look super cozy and plush to me.  I love all of the throw-pillows and blankets on the couches, they just scream "come lay down".  I also adore the coffee table in the room on the right (why can't I find one like this for under $500?), and the candles add so much ambiance.

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I love so much about this room, the pillows, the colors, the lamps, but what really draws me to this picture is the oversized print over the couch.  I think the photo arrangement I currently have is just too small in scale, I really want to get some oversized prints hanging in that space.  Hopefully some panoramas I took in New Zealand will print out well and fix this issue for me.

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A rug is a great, easy way to instantly pull a room together and up the cozy factor.  I really love both of these.  They don't seem too crazy, but they look like they would add excellent accents to my room.

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I don't know what it is, but I am just crazy about this lamp.  It's just so interesting and could add a touch of whimsy to the room.  If I ever do purchase this I would have to name him, I'm thinking Harvey would work.

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Clearly my top priorities are comfort and coziness, and judging from my inspriation rooms at the top of this post, for me that means lots of pillows and blankets.  I have one nice, comfy throw blanket currently, which I made myself but that took about two months.  Perhaps if I want to grow my throw blanket collection I should just buy one or two, like this West Elm blanket on the left which is only $29. 

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 Throw pillows on the other hand are super easy to whip up with my sewing machine, the hard part is finding the fabric I want.  I really love these coordinated fabrics on the right, which seem to match the color scheme I like, so perhaps I should browse around L&S Fabrics a bit more.

Are any of you feeling the itch to switch up your living room decor?  Oh and I promise the home office makeover is coming along, in fact tomorrow will have a quick update featuring a DIY tutorial for a custom cork board, so be sure to check it out!