coffee table love.

You all know by now I am a huge fan of any and every thing the lovely and talented Holly from Life In The Fun Lane comes up with. I mean, so much so that I should probably stop mentioning it so often because she'll start to think I'm a weirdo stalker.

(Note to Holly in case you're reading this: I'm not a weirdo stalker. Ok, maybe a little weird in my own way. And I do 'stalk' your blog. But, I'm harmless.) :)

So it's no shock to anyone that when I first came across her blog and soon after saw a coffee table she painted, I set out to search for one of my own. Hubby and I have been looking for a coffee table that we just love for quite some time now. Too bad we don't live in Canada or I would've bought this baby immediately.

Take a look at this beauty! and you'll see the appeal. It's simple and timeless and I, along with Holly, just love the little worm holes and chunky legs.

You can't begin to imagine my excitement when, while searching Craigslist ads from back home even while away on vacation, I found this:

EXACT same table. Perfect dimensions. And, the price? Wait for it.... $20. I almost couldn't breathe for a moment. I simply spun the laptop around to show hubby and he knew. I want it. Badly. That baby, in white, in our living room. *sigh* Love.

I have been dreaming of this exact table for almost 6 months now and I've already emailed about it twice saying I want it! I may not sleep tonight, impatiently anticipating a response from the seller. Please keeps your fingers (and toes) crossed that it is still available, and that the seller will hang onto it until I return home to Ohio on Saturday and can pick it up.

*maintaining hope*....

how about some table with that coffee.

I like alot of this:

and happen to have (and love) lots of these:

So it only makes sense that I would want a table to rest them on. You all may remember this recent post where I nearly couldn't breathe over a coffee table just like this lovely piece by Holly. I found it on Craigslist for $20, emailed about it from Charlotte while we were on vacation, and got a very disappointing "it's been sold" reply. I was bummed, but when I want something, I do NOT give up. So, the search continued. I knew I loved that table, and with all of the other things our very tight budget is already committed to around here, I also knew that unless it was an absolute steal (and I loooooved it), hubby wouldn't support another purchase just yet. Where does a gal go when she needs to find something inexpensive and fabulous from the comfort of her own home? You all know the answer. Back to Craigslist I went. Having no luck in our city, and no luck in a nearby city my dear friend Ashley was searching for me, I moved on to the city I'm from. I hate that she's two hours away from me, but in this case knowing my sister could help out if I found something there, I searched away. And, there it was:

(Sorry about the poor quality of photos via Craigslist). The EXACT same style (and size), again. The listing was posted on December 17, 2009. Asking price of (again) $20. So, I was sure it was gone. But, being the tragically hopeful gal that I am, I emailed anyway. *I just want to add that it causes me a great deal of anxiety when I email about something on Craigslist that I want so badly because if it's gone, it's gone, and it will be stuck in my head until I find the EXACT thing I'm looking for. Sometimes, being as stubborn determined and hopeful as I am, is a weakness.* After less than 24 hours of severe anxiety, I got the email back. "The table is still available. Everyone asks about it but no one comes to get it. My phone number is 555-555-5555, I'll be home all day if you'd like to take a look". I called immediately, got the address, called my sis (who just happens to have the day off) and, thanks to a lot of luck, $20 bucks, a sis who would do anything for me without asking questions, and her supportive boyfriend who happens to have a truck, a coffee table I've dreamed of for months now, is being picked up as I type. Looks like my "project list" just found a new item to add to the top. Man I love when something just feels meant-to-be.

living room and, driftwood?

I should probably admit I've been putting off sharing the full view of the living room because I'm still not even close to being in love with it, but I'm slowly on my way. Remember when the living room looked like this:

Just a big, blank space lacking any character at all. Well although it's not anything to "write home about", it's certainly an improvement.

Oh, what is that you see? Driftwood? Inspired by (& copied from) Holly at Life In The Fun Lane. The moment I saw that post of hers I knew I wanted to do the same thing. The problem? We live in, Ohio. Can't say I figured there'd be a ton of places nearby to search for driftwood. But, when my parents visited from Florida earlier in the summer they stayed at a beautiful campground on the Ohio River and thanks to a dad with some muscles and a supportive stepmom, I came home with driftwood to spare.

Is it too much? Honestly. I started to feel like the walls are now looking too "busy". And I'm not one for a "cluttered" space. So the Ikea shelves and my recent made over bookcase looked like this before:

And after removing some "clutter":

Better, right? My only issue has been wondering if the photo shelves are too 'modern' for what I'm going for. Since a slipcovered sectional is not in the budget right now, the plan going forward is to...

• remove the white sofa
• remove the recliner (for sure!)
• repaint the buffet turned media cabinet white to match the coffee table
• move the sofa so it faces the tv
• put two slipcovered wingback chairs where the leather sofa is now
• prime, paint, and distress a side table I recently purchased to sit between the wingbacks
• and, finally get pillow covers made for the leather sofa pillows

Other than that I'm still trying to decide on what to do about those photo shelves. Leave them? Remove them and hang the driftwood there? Remove them, leave the driftwood in place and hang a vintage sailboat painting there? (More on that in an upcoming blog post. *wink) Maybe with a few baskets lined up below it filled with pillows and blankets for movie nights/snugglefests/guests to cozy up with? I'd LOVE to replace the ceiling fan with a lovely iron chandelier but Travis isn't having that. He says we "need the air to circulate since this is such a big room". Blah. :) And, the light that hangs above the entry, that can go too.

Before I end this less-than-exciting post about the 'always a work in progress' living room, I wanted to add that I've seen a few posts from fellow bloggers lately about heirlooms or things in their homes that have a special meaning and it inspired me to share a couple of mine. That conch shell you see on the bottom photo ledge? That belonged to my aunt we lost many years ago to breast cancer. Mid-thirties. Healthy. A huge heart. And, a caring soul. Taken so quickly from us. My uncle eventually remarried and understandably passed on some of the posessions he shared with my aunt to other family members. Recently my grandmother passed the conch shell to me. And it shall forever remind me not only of my love for anything ocean related, but of my love for my aunt who will always be missed. And, although the driftwood isn't something passed down to me by family, the memory of that morning near the river with my dad, stepmom, youngest brother, and Jack all walking along collecting the "prettiest" pieces while they affectionately laughed at my adventures will never be forgotten. It really is the little things in life that mean the most...

living room sneak peak.

I am obsessed with stripes. Fabrics. Walls. Rugs. Doesn't matter; if it's striped, I'm sure to love it. So in thinking about what to do with our sofa pillows and searching for fabrics I've started leaning toward doing striped linen opposed to solid white linen. I mean how could one not want a little dose of this kind of lovlieness...

                 

*all images courtesy of decorpad

Soooo, what do you ladies think?

*this* (the wide striped linen) for the large pillows covering the back of the sofa?

Or simple white linen for the large suede pillows with just a few striped toss pillows added?

By the way, recognize that coffee table? My $20 Craigslist find that used to look like this? And, the rug that all of my closest Ikea stores were sold out of but with a $29.99 price tag, it was worth my parents going an hour out of their way on their visit home from Florida this summer to pick one up for me at the Orlando Ikea. Check them out here.

So, there's a minor sneak peak of the always under construction living room. The dilemma now is, solid or stripes? Help. :)

sew that's what i've been up to; slipcovers.

Remember when I mentioned needing to not only learn how to work my sewing machine but actually open the box?

You don't?

Yeah, me either because it's been so long ago. But, I'm happy (and very proud) to say that I finally did open it and completely surprised I actually figured out how to thread the darn thing.

I've managed to sew some stuff.

=)

Let me assure you, it's far from perfect.

My lines aren't the straightest. (Although they're getting better.)

The large pillow covers may be slightly too small.

My lack of patience and normally short amount of (todddler nap) time to work with, leaves ironing to be ignored. But I'm learning how important that can be.

And I have a slight obsession with ruffles, yet my machine won't ruffle fabric on it's own so frustration sometimes runs high.

But, I think it's fun.

And, I've managed to make these:

(pillow covers and an ottoman slipcover)

Not too bad for my first.time.ever using a sewing machine, right?

I used drop cloth and it is much more practical than the suede covers that were on the pillows. *A toddler boy (runny noses, sticky fingers, leaky cups, etc.) is not a good combination with suede. And it makes the giant leather sofa much lighter and brighter.

Case in point.

The before.

The white sofa, rug, and coffee table have been replaced with a new furniture layout and a comfy ottoman. The inspiration and tutorial I used as a guideine for the ottoman can be seen here at one of my favorite blogs.

We didn't have the ottoman but once I saw that tutorial, I went on the hunt and found one on Craigslist for $50 that was perfect size in front of the huge sofa.

It wasn't very pretty...

But, I fixed that.

=)

There are still changes on the way.

The recliner is finally going to go.

I'm going to attempt to sew a slipcover for the armchair shown in the photos.

The shelves will be taken down and replaced with a big old farmhouse mantel.

*who says you have to have an actual fireplace to have a mantel? not me.

That giant orange-ish buffet will get a big dose of sanding and white paint.

And, eventually I'll love a layout for the living room and be better at accessorizing it.

Eventually.

For now, I'm happy sewing a straight line.

=)

I'm linking up here: