This is my monthly entry in:
I’m told it didn’t have to appear on a Tuesday. So there.
I think I have interior design ADD. You may laugh and think it’s funny, but I’m worried.
This is serious.
My basement TV room needs some serious work. I mean, it’s really scary down there. So, I’ve begun working on it…kinda.
I recently moved my Pier 1 black-and-white wing back chairs out of my office and into the basement and moved a pair of thrift-store chairs that I plan to recover into the office.
Okay, looking at this picture, I can see how bad my problem is. None of these pieces of furniture are even in this room any more! Oy! It’s worse than I thought!
Anyway, these are the chairs I moved into my office to recover, so they were no longer taking up space in my dining room. I also purchased a beautiful fabric…all 18 yards of it….to recover these beauties. In gray. ’Cuz gray is my new thang. I love me some gray! You can check out the fabric here.
I was even looking at this couch in gray for the basement thinking it would probably go with the black-and-white chairs. Not to mention the fact that it has a high back and I really want a sofa with a high back. Right now I have an Ikea Ektorp love seat in the basement, which is okay, but it’s too small, the cushions are too squishy and the back isn’t tall enough to lean your head on when you’re getting drowsy watching TV. And I always get drowsy watching TV.
It’s all good so far, right? Yeah, this is where it goes haywire for me.
It All Started With Paint posted her vision board for re-doing her dining room and living room in blue and white. I love blue and white. Always have. Always will. My first sofa and matching love seat was blue with white polka dots. I loved it.
Also, a Pier 1 flyer showed up in my mailbox with this gorgeous living room in blue and white!
So now, I think I want blue and white in the basement. What do I do with the black-and-white chairs, then? Maybe I should recover the chairs in my office in blue and white? Then, what do I do with the 18 yards of dreamy gray fabric?
That’s not all.
Yesterday, Mr. Wonderful and I took a trip to the “big city.” I had a TJ Maxx gift card burning a hole in my pocket and I wanted, nay NEEDED to spend it! I went looking for a pair of tall mercury glass lamps with white shades. I found exactly what I was looking for.
Apparently, Mr. Wonderful doesn’t care for mercury glass. (I know what you’re thinking? What’s wrong with him?) So, we compromised on these lamps for the basement.
And then we went to World Market because Mr. Wonderful had a 49% off coupon. Everyone knows you can’t let a coupon like that go to waste, right? Right!
So, then we picked up this 6 x 9 jute boucle rug, which was a bargain at $149.00, but a STEAL at $75.00.
Can you see what’s happening here? The two items we purchased yesterday go together fabulously. It’s like a cool beach-y vibe going.
Problems:
Um….I don’t live near a beach.
The rest of my house isn’t beach-y.
Can a basement be beach-y?
Neither of these two items go with the black-and-white Pier 1 chairs currently residing in the basement.
Neither of these items will go with the gray chairs, should I choose to get around to re-upholstering them.
They do, however go with the very light blue distressed coffee table I have.
Neither of these two items will go with the gray couch I was looking at.
Oh, but wait! I had already changed my mind on the gray couch and decided I needed a light-colored slip-covered sofa. My basement is dark, hence the light color. We watch TV and eat dinner in the basement, on the sofa. Hence, the need for a slip-cover.
So, last night I start looking at light-colored, slip-covered sofas. I know what I want, but I don’t know that I could bring myself to buy one online. A sofa is one of those things you need to sit on and experience, right? I found the one pictured above at Pottery Barn. (If anyone lives near a Pottery Barn and is willing to go sit on this sofa and report back to me its qualities, I’d be ever so grateful.)
And then…..somewhere in the searching I decided to look up purple tufted sofa. Mr. Wonderful loves the purple tufted sofa. It reminds him of old Hollywood. He loves old Hollywood.
Nothing I own goes with a purple tufted sofa.
Are you lost yet? Are you shaking your head at me now?
Can you see why I think I’m knee-deep in some serious interior design doo-doo?
So, HELP ME! Please! What would you do? Get me back on track. Guide my ADDled brain, please!
And you know what? I didn’t even mention the gorgeous linen chairs I spotted in TJ MAXX with a tufted back. I fell in love with them and they were only $249.00!! Mr. Wonderful was “agin it”, which is probably a good thing because why would I spend money on two chairs when what I really need is a couch?!!
I need to be committed.
Bye from the insane assylum,
Linking up to: I Should Be Mopping The Floor
Hi, I'm Jean. I live in historic Butte, Montana in a Craftsman home built in 1920. This blog is all about my adventures (and sometimes misadventures) in updating and decorating my house with antiques and vintage goods I find at garage sales, thrift stores, estate sales or wherever cool things from the past are waiting to be discovered.
Hummm….. well now as I have you on the therapy couch, I think possibly that gray with the beach could work. I mean driftwood is sort of gray right? I hear tell they do make fabric spray for chairs, so the black ones could be painted, cuz I really do like those lamps and the rug will go with anything, especially the beach. Is there an unwritten rule one has to live by the beach to decorate like it?
Bliss
I’m sorry, I don’t know if I can type through my laughter!!! Welcome to my world! I always have the best of intentions and plans of how a room is going to look, what style it will be, what color it will be, etc. It never, ok rarely ever, turns out like the original plan. But I have to say, I always love how it turns out as long as I’ve listened to my heart. Sometimes 1 little thing sets me off and totally takes me off the course I was on, but 1 little thing usually creates the best rooms! So, if the beach look is what you love, I say go for it!! The slip covered couch will work great, re-upholster the other two chairs in something beachy, move the black and white chairs and VIOLA! – you have a beautiful new room that you love!!! And Bliss is right, you don’t have to live near a beach to have a beachy room!
Sarah
Okay…so here’s what you do.
The purple Hollywood couch can be slipcovered in white/cream/off-white and have print throw pillows with some blues and purples. Color, baby! The slipcovers go in the wash, and the purple couch still fits with its pillows. The pretty gray fabric would go very well in the beachy theme on the chairs – slipcover your Pier 1 chairs or those other fat little chairs with the gray. Toss a purple and gray pillow on one and a blue and gray pillow on the other…or double up and do both. Or something. I dunno.
Those lamps are spectacular. I want them. I have a serious blown glass disease and blow it in a round shape and I’m likely to tackle you and steal them.
And I’m not generally a thief.
So that means something.
Anyway, back to the beach thing…ever sat on the beach a full day, starting in the morning and hanging out until the sun sank down into the water? Early morning water is dark, deep purple out in the distance and kind of gray toward the sand. As the sun lights and reflects, you get your blues and teals and turquoises and greens and still more grays – watch the surf as it changes colors coming to shore. Your “sand” colored area rug is the perfect “shore” for your furniture to wash up against. I say…use all of the colors above (and for good measure, sneak a bit of bright coral somewhere in the room to catch your attention).
Well, it just so happens I have had that exact sofa for about a year. I purchased the distressed denim which I LOVE!! The slipcover fits very well and was easy to put on. I did not get the down filled cushions. The bottom cushions behave themselves and never look messed up. The couch is very comfortable, is deep enough for curling up in if that’s your thing. It is actually longer from inside arm to arm than the massive leather sofa it replaced. Now, here is my only complaint. The back cushions have to be “fluffed and straightened” every time we sit on it. I recently opened the bottom of the cushion and inserted more stuffing so they wouldn’t smush down. Hope that helps!
Jean, You are living my life in a different house in a different state. I have so many thing I LOVE but I can’t put them together in any one room. I have some CHAIRS that I had reupholstered -I love them so much I wan tot marry they but they DON’T GO with what I have…OMG- I need to have a fire sale and start all over I think sometimes. If it is any consolation I think they say this in AA or AlAnon or whatever it is- “You are not alone”. I swear there needs to be a support group for people like us- xo Diana
Oh, I can soo relate! I’m going to offer exactly no advice-I’m too confused about my own decorating dilemmas-ha! But the others here have some good suggestions, and I’ll offer you my support…we can be committed together
Susan
I totally think you can have a beachy room in your house even if you don’t live near the beach. Every room in my house has a different style. I even put all of my lodge furniture in the family room, a throw-back from my log home when I lived in Montana! My style is probably eclectic ADD/OCD! Thanks for joining with us for Tongue in Cheek Tueday!
Love this post. I have 2 pottery barn basic sofas and 4 pb basic arm chairs. I purchased them 7 years ago on eBay as straight sofa and chairs and purchased separate pb basic slip covers on eBay to match. So much cheaper than the retail store. I must say they have held up excellent. I have 3 boys 13, 12 and 3. They are rough on furniture. The slipcovers a super easy to clean in the wash and dryer. Also very comfortable, with great support but also comfortable to lounge on. HTH!
I have the denim, white twill and stone twill. I forgot to mention I also have the ottoman. In addition I have a PBKs sleeper sofa they no longer make in white Swiss dot matilasse and yellow brushed twill.
They wear wonderful. Glad I could help.
I feel your pain Jean! My house is a reproduction of an antique so I don’t feel right decorating in a beach theme although I would love to. Just doesn’t seem to “go”. But I do agree that you don’t need to be near the beach to decorate “beachy”. I love everyone’s ideas here – much better than I can come up with but as far as the PB Comfort – I have that couch and like Carol D has said the back cushions seem to get crunched down some after being sat on a few times. You have to fluff them up – or I just turn them around so the back is in the front and then the next time the front is in the back – it works! I haven’t washed the slipcover yet but I’m glad to hear they wash well. So, I vote for the beach theme too – I think it would really lighten the feel in that basement room…
Jan
Agreed on the back cushions. After 7 years they can still be adjusted. Oh and we have the regular version not the down.
Oh my, what a conundrum! Round in circles you go, will you end up back at the beginning? lol I love your post, it’s so true in how so many of us think. We see so many wonderful ideas and want them all! I’m hear via Suzan at Simply Vintageous to check out your Tongue in Cheek post and I hope this lasts for more than this one time! I’m now following you and will be looking forward to what you do with your basement and the yards of grey fabric.
Debbie
I know, right? I see what someone else (like my girl Linda) has and I change my mind all over again! Thanks for joining us–and for the comment–and I’m a new subscriber!
Wish you lived closer. I could give you the slip-covered sofa that I’m getting rid of to make room for the leather couch that is now in the living room but is moving into the family room as soon as the new one arrives. Oh well.
But our 15% off coupon expires today! Ack! I’m so seriously stressed. But I’m going back to PB today to make my final decision. No more putting off this purchase …
Hi, Jean
You crack me up. I love the lamps and the rug. But, I then again I have the same rug. I love this rug it’s awesome and cleans up well.
Vanessa