Thursday, April 16, 2015

A Litle Bit of Decorating

You all know this isn't a decorating blog right? I mean, I try to make my home warm and welcoming and a cozy place for my family, but for the most part I pick up stuff by the side of the road, and places like Salvation Army and garage sales and make it work.  When I was a young wife and mom, all of our furniture was second hand because times were hard and I chose to stay home with my babies instead of working to buy new furniture. That is pretty much how I roll. I seldom do vignettes. So when times got better and we had the budget, Earl and I went shopping for our first new furniture. I saw this red plaid set and it was set up all cottagey and pretty in the showroom, and you KNOW my aversion to neutrals and my weakness for red, and plaid, and cottagey and we bought it. And I really loved it at first. But as time went on I learned the first rule of decorating. Don't box yourself in with the expensive stuff. Sure, you can paint the room, you can change the pillows and even the accessories, but if you have a red plaid couch, well there isn't much you can do with that.
 Thank goodness the red plaid couch was poor enough quality that it did not last because I have such a hard time spending money on things that don't need replacing.  And that furniture needed replacing. So this Saturday we waved goodbye to old red and replaced it with a piece of furniture that came with a mixture of fear and exhilaration. The white sofa.  Well, it's really more of an off white or cream but you get the idea. By the way, this is not a slipcovered sofa. I know. Am I crazy?  Earl actually showered before he sat down that night, that is how nervous we were about getting it dirty.  He sat in a different chair to drink his coffee. I began to wonder if I had made another terrible mistake.  So I took the matching cushions that came with it and poured coffee on one of them. Yes I did. I had to know what would happen! The coffee beaded up and did not soak in. I let it sit for a couple minutes, then I wiped it right off! The fabric on the couch is Sunbrella fabric and it feels like soft cotton but doesn't absorb the spills.  We have our coffee on the sofa now without fear.
Why white? Because I finally realized just how fickle I am when it comes to decorating. I get tired of things quickly and want to change them up. I have a fear of commitment when it comes to decorating.  The white means I can change the pillows and art and anything else, something I was never able to do with that red plaid. The first thing I did was grab a remnant of yellow toile and whip up a slipcover for the footstool and a couple pillows.  I love how sunny they look.  Then, I got online and ordered two black and white, cotton, buffalo check tablecloths.  At $12.50 each they were super affordable and the fabric looks and feels like linen.  The length is almost perfect and I love the  boldness of the checks and the fact that, once again, I can put anything I want with them.  The company had a red and white check too, how long do you think it will be before I go back and get those for a quick change option?
 At the moment the room looks pretty bare. I have whited it out and stripped it down to the bare essentials so I can start over. I am leaning toward a much lighter, brighter look with some farmhouse touches,  I'll share as I work on the room but it is always a work in progress for me. 
I would love to hear, what is your biggest decorating revelation? Surely you have learned a thing or two through experience. Do share for those of us who aren't super decorators!

21 comments:

  1. Ohhhh you are brave! I am getting a new to us secondhand set of living room furniture. I'm going from blue to green. Hopefully, I am also going from uncomfortable to comfortable. Is your new sofa comfortable? That's the most important thing. It sure is pretty and I know that you'll be able to do more with the neutral. I think you do a wonderful job with decorating. I was really quite surprised to learn that this is not a decorating blog. =D

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  2. Love the lighter look! I have a question - where did you get your tablecloths. I want to do the same thing with my living room windows. Thanks!

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  3. I'm right there with you Kathy except I don't have a white couch yet. I still have a red couch and a big floral couch hidden upstairs. I thought they were the prettiest things ever in their time and then one day my mind changed in a snap! I think you made the right move. Throw a quilt on there if you need to when you've been working in the flower bed. :)

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  4. Anxious to see the finished product....love what you have done thus far. I, too, am interested in where you found those tablecloths! I'd like to change mine out and this seems reasonable in light of all the windows I have!


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  5. I got the tablecloths at boscovs.com. Here is the link http://www.boscovs.com/shop/prod/lintex-buffalo-check-tablecloth/94295.htm

    :)

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  6. I had a cream sofa for years in France, loved it and had it specially treated against stains. Sadly when we returned to England it had to go to another home....to big for our little house here.
    Yours looks lovely and your room is taking shape already.

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  7. Kathy, I am loving what you are doing! One of the best decorating decisions we made was to get rid of our boring tan/brownish beige sofa and replace it with chairs. I love just having chairs and no sofa.

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  8. Hi Kathy! Your home is so pretty and cozy! I just love it.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  9. Kathy, I really like it. The yellow in the throw pillows mixes well with your checked curtains. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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  10. Hello Kathy! Bragging about you on my blog! xox

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  11. I agree the white is a good idea. If your mood changes, just throw together new pillow covers and your good to go! I like the yellow toile and can't wait to see it when you've finished decorating it all.

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  12. I love your new furniture and to have it 'safe' to use is a good thing. We need to replace living room furniture but can't do it right now. I have a blue and off-white plaid sofa and I'd like to change it to something neutral. We aren't people who handle white furniture well so ours will need to have some color. I can't wait to see what else you do.
    ~Adrienne~

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  13. You are SO brave - and it's SO wonderful! You have such a beautiful flare for design....I love it!

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  14. Ahhh, it is looking great. I'm tellin' ya, girlfriend, grab a large piece of turquoise/aqua something or other and see how FANTASTIC it looks with the black and white. I, too, love red...and used it in my winter bedroom but could hardly wait for spring to get my turquoise back out...didn't want to use it year 'round as I don't want to burn myself out with it. I THINK I am getting burned out on red...at least for awhile.
    We are about to buy a sleeper love seat and I've been thinking of an off white (snow white is not for me) or a really light khaki...which is what I'd really like. We don't have a guest room in the Summer house and not much overnight guests but sometimes, one of my friends likes to come spend several days with us...and cousins and nephew so we need another bed. Haven't looked yet but I did peek at a few online..getting an idea of what I want.
    Your new sofa is awesome....and I really giggled when "Earl took a shower before sitting on it....."

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  15. So nice. I like the black and white curtains. These go very good with your new sofa.

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  16. What the heck---my comment disappeared. Anyway- I love your white sofa and you can do anything with your accessories now. I really like the yellow you have with it. So very pretty. Have fun- it is really a lot of fun to "start all over again", isn't it? Can't wait to see more--make sure Earl is dressed when you take the pictures though.....lol

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  17. Still laughing about your comment that your husband took a shower before sitting on the couch! I love the new look, especially with the toile fabric - always a favorite of mine. I have both slipcovered white couches and chairs, as well as a large sofa (not slip covered) in a light buttercream color. I have removed all of the covers from the couch before and dry cleaned them and was pleasantly surprised it did not cost that much. A good thing since we have dropped chocolate and raspberry sauce on them.

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  18. We sold our black leather suite just before last chrismas and order two 2 seater leather sofas is a light colour. I call it pale grey hubby said it is beige! Like you we wondered about the pale colour, but we needed to lighten our north facing lounge. And it has done just that, we added a white swivel chair and redecorated the wall behind one of the sofas and what a difference, I have added pops of dark red here and there, with a dark red rug on one area over the grey plain carpet. At the beginning we sat on throws in case the colour came out of jeans, but I have stopped that now.

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  19. Many a year ago I bought a huge blue plaid country couch, so like you, it does make you kind of stuck! So I didn't' learn my lesson and bought two love seats in a flowered pattern? Then they fell apart and I finally realize to stick with a neutral love seats. I bought beige love seats and so wish I had bought white ones. But at least it's neutral.

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  20. The sofa looks beautiful and I was so glad to find out that it absorbs the spills. It's no fun having a furniture which you can't feel comfortable using.

    You have a wonderful blog here, I'm happy I found it. Nice to meet you. :)

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