Melange Downstairs.

This is downstairs.  View from the stairs.  We have a major MIXTURE of things.  Things we both have accumulated over the years.

I LOATHE the slip covered sofas.  Drew loved these sofas growing up, so when he moved into this house almost 3 years ago, they came too.  They are a dark green, and would not go with my Sherwin Williams "sleepy blue" walls.  So every day and every night I re-tuck the slip covers...  We have agreed that the sectional or sofa's are our first purchase when we buy a new house. We will start looking in about a year or a year and a half.

Better view of my beloved coffee table.  My most recent roommates Laura and Kerra know how important this sucker is to me.  Yes, I did find it at the Goodwill in Huntsville for $15 dollars.  Took me an afternoon to re-stain and fix it up, but I LOVE IT.  You can tell it was hand made, I've never seen anything like it.  But it is the Danish style I LOVE!

All of the pillows came from Home Goods, one of my favorite stores.  Also my 1960's "House & Garden" magazines on the coffee table, love looking through them!  The quilt on he back of the sofa.. Drew's grandmother quilts and for each grandson that moves out on their own receives one.  For the longest time it just stayed in the closet until someone got chilly.. But I really enjoy the color it adds to the room, it also reminds me of Monica's apartment on "Friends" with her different quilts on the back of her sofa!  The shag rug is from Home Depot or Lowe's, don't remember.  It was a great buy and I am very pleased with the way it holds up.

This credenza is so many things in 1!  I love it, my find from Salvation Army!  Another Danish style piece of furniture.  Soon after Drew and I got engaged I was searching for finds all the time.  Laura and I decided to go in Salvation Army and it was love at first sight.  It is a little knicked up, but I worked on it.  Drew and his cousin went to go pick it up a few days after I found it, said it was the heaviest piece of furniture they have ever had to move!  OOPS!  It creates a lot of storage space, which is good since between the two of us we have SO MUCH STUFF.  I prefer not having clutter on it, so it doesn't chop the room up.  I love how the space is open and I want to continue to keep it that way.  The basket is for mail, magazines, and newspapers.  I try to go through it once a week so it doesn't pile up too high!

Those two little nooks would be PERFECT for built in book shelves.  I work with what I have.  The green cane chair on the right has been a favorite of mine since I can remember.  My grandmother purchased it in 1964.  She gave it to me this October, I was THRILLED.  So I put green touches in the space so it would all flow.  I brought Drew to the new "Antiques and Consignment Furniture" in the old Ethan Allen building on 31 a couple of weeks ago to look at a particular chair.. what do you know I found a chair ALMOST identical to this chair.  We bought it, its in the nook to the right.  I couldn't believe it.  So when we purchase our new sofa in our new house, I will have them both recovered the same!

Closer look at the chair.  Tall lamp we ordered from Target.  The oval mirrors are from Home Goods.  I bought the side tables at Hobby Lobby before I moved into my apartment after college, they were bronze, black, silver, and gold.  I painted them black so they would blend in better for this house.

New chair!

I always told Drew I would marry him for this sunburst.  His mother and I found it when he moved into this house.  We found it at a consignment shop, but I think it was originally from Pier 1.  I was confused by this cart at first, but now I love it.  This little area is one of my favorites in the house.  The lamp is from Home Goods.  This is a place to display some pictures, my Frank Lloyd Wright book collection, etiquette book collection, and photo albums.  Some people say that your personal pictures and things should be in the part of the house where no really goes.. I totally disagree!  I want everyone to see my family and friends and the things that are important to me!  I also enjoy my "Keep Calm and Carry on" poster.  I ordered it from etsy, the girl I ordered it from was WONDERFUL!  She got the color I tried to describe through e-mail perfect.  One day i would like a chunkier frame for it.

Closer look.

This is our living area!  I enjoy it.  Also, about the wall color. "Sleepy Blue" from Sherwin Williams.  I LOVE this color, every wall in the house was vanilla as well as the ceiling.  But this has house good, white, chunky, moulding, so I wanted a good contrast.  I chose this color for all of down stairs (I didn't want to chop it up from room to room when it is all one large space).  It also goes up the stairs and into the hall way upstairs, again so it didn't chop up the space and it all flowed.  The painters said that they thought best to just paint one room with this color because they thought it wouldn't all look good blue.  I was like.. "Ok.. I am the designer right?"  I didn't really say that but I should have!  So they called me after they painted one part, to look at it.  I told them to keep going I loved it!  When they were done painting the house, they agreed that the color was perfect and that it really made the moulding pop.  It seems clean, fresh, and light!  All ceilings were painted white as well.  Good color, I think it is a good, neutral color.  Neutrals don't just have to be vanilla!