Our New Place-The Living Room Part 1

I know I've posted pictures on Facebook of our new place, but I wanted to share what ideas I have for decorating and see if anyone out there has some suggestions or some assurance that what I'm doing looks good. I do have a problem though and that is I love too many different styles. I'd have to have a 100 room house to incorporate all the styles I love. I love French country and sorry, but shabby chic still remains on my list, but maybe only certain elements of it at this point. I love the look of a warm cabin, a sweet cottage, or the retro look of a 1950's Formica and chrome kitchen table and chairs. I love it all and that makes it really hard to pin down MY style and exactly what I want in my own home.

This is so cozy and warm. I can hear the rain on the roof.

And this little cottage is perfection.

Do you know what I'd give for this retro pink fridge??

I love the cleanliness and crispness of white, but I must face facts that
white furniture and an 8 year old boy do not mix!

Just look at this French country kitchen design. I don't even care about cooking!

This farmhouse style calls to me, also.

I can remember my grandmother's set. Why is this so awesome??

This is so Samantha Stevens! Simple? Linear? It just appeals to me in a big way. Not the color scheme mind you, but the style of the furniture.

Do you see what I mean? How on earth could I incorporate all the styles I like into one cohesive design? Possible or impossible? And, do I have to stick with a decor that "fits" the townhome we live in now? If you didn't see the pictures, here's our new home:

I love the kitchen. The cabinets are a cream, not white.
Sure, I'd love granite counter tops, but down the road maybe.
I'm thinking an island since there's plenty of room and of course, there's
a refrigerator now as well as some items hanging on the backsplash walls.

So here's the outside. I like the stone and brick combination
and the shrubs are gardenias, which are a big favorite of mine.

I definitely need updated pictures, but the living room is more rectangular than square with patio doors on the left of the fireplace, the dining area entry to the right. There's also a double window on the left as well. My one dislike? The flooring. It feels and sounds like plastic. I hate it. But that's another something I can live with for a while and perhaps an area rug will help.

So, I have my first real purchase coming and that's my sofa. I saw it a while back at Pier One and fell in love with it. My first choice in color was going to be the sage green, but now I've decided on taupe and that's what will be here in two weeks! It is also on sale for $100 off until the end of September. Here's a picture:



I love the shape of the back, like a sweetheart neckline on a dress, giving it a feminine look, but not too much. I think it also has a retro feel with the clean lines. It's also firm without being too hard. I don't like sinking into a sofa and not being able to get out of it without the assistance of a crane.

So, my next purchase at some point will be a storage piece/bookcases for (of course) my books, photo albums, and other items. My first choice is an Ikea piece. It comes in white, which is probably my first choice since there is white moldings through the house. I'll show you a little trick I found to liven it up though further along in the post. I do like the gray/brown pictured first, but I think it would be hard to find other pieces that go with it color-wise. The chocolate brown is way too dark, I think. What I like about these are the drawers and doors that could hide things I don't necessarily want on display such as pictures not yet in albums, some old books that don't need to be subject to the light, etc.

So, I saw this idea that gives the white bookcase some pop, and I could do something like this, adding my accent color, which I think is going to be a shade of blue.

See how they painted the backs of the cases?

I love it! Not so stark, especially if the piece is bright white.

Then there is always a much more inexpensive way to have what you need. The description of this says these are wine crates stacked and secured together to make the unit. You can also purchase crates unfinished at Micheal's or Joann's, stain them, and assemble them like so. Instant bookcase/storage. Can you get wine crates around here? Is this too rustic for what I'm going for? I'm thinking maybe it is, but I could live with it.

One more shelving option is to take inexpensive bookcases, say 3 of them, stand them as close together as possible. Secure them together and add inexpensive molding at the top and to hide the joinings, making them look like one unit. If I want them white, this would more than likely require painting, which means more labor. Here's an example someone put together for their craft storage:


Pricing for the bookcases? Ikea's piece is $910. Really expensive and out of my price range if I'm honest. Perhaps I can find something similar at a lesser price? The crate system is cheap! The crates run about $5, add in some screws and paint, and I bet you could come in under $100. The other idea, with bookcases I saw at a surplus store here in town for $47 each would total under $200 once you purchased 3, the hardware and moldings, and the paint.

I'm going to ponder on this for a while and make a decision. I'd definitely need some help with the crate system or the 3 bookcases idea. I'll look for similar pieces to the Ikea item as well, to compare pricing. It would be nice not to have to do all the work and painting involved in options 2 and 3. LOL

Suggestions? Ideas? What do you think?