A New Rug and a Small Pop of Color

Hey y'all! I hope everybody had a great Labor Day weekend. It was nice to have an extra day off of work, for sure. I was SUPER lazy and really didn't do a whole lot except enjoy the beginning of a new football season - both high school and college. The Bub is in the marching band at his school, which is my alma mater also, so we went to the game. We were playing our arch enemies and that game is always fun. We NEVER beat them, which is not the fun part, of course. The fun part is hoping we DO beat them, trading jabs, and fantasizing about celebrating and storming the field when we finally do! Oh, what a glorious day that will be!! Now, the Hub works for a local university in the Sports Medicine department and their season starts tomorrow night on national television (Go Rams!!), so there's been lots of preparation leading up to that. It's an away game, so I won't be able to go, but I'll be watching and I can't wait for the first home game. Yes, I'm a football widow come September, but that's okay - I always spend every weekend watching football anyway! Even if I'm not sitting right in front of the tube watching, I just love having the game on in the background - it's so soothing to me when I cook or clean or work on projects. My dream would be to have a screened in porch where I could watch football in the warm afternoon sun. Who am I kidding? I'd be asleep in about five minutes!

On to the issue at hand...I thought I'd give a small sneak peek at some redecorating I've been doing in my living room as of late. I admit, the LR had gotten pretty bland. When the Hub complains that the room is "too tan", you know it must be bad! I'm not afriad of color at all, I've just always liked to keep the LR neutral so I can change pillows and accessories whenever I feel like it. So, I decided to go about finding ways to bring some color and variety to the space. My first purchase was a gorgeous chevron striped rug from Ballard's in a really pretty blue and ivory combo. I had a credit from something I had returned to them back in the spring, so the rug was relatively inexpensive. It lightened up the room so much. I was unsure about having such a "trendy" pattern in my home on such a big scale - the rug is 7'x10' - but I absolutely love it and I think it makes the whole room.

But then, I found the piece de resistance! It was a totally unexpected find and I surprised even myself by buying it, but I'm so glad I did. One morning a couple of weeks ago, I walked into the Salvation Army Thrift Store and right inside the front door was a really cool orange chair. Yes, orange, but not a bright orange. A really soft orange, like a terra cotta color. I walked around it several times, then went on about my business. Came back and sat in it. Really comfortable. Hmm...I just don't know...it IS 50% off today. Ultimately, I left the store without it. Hours later, when I couldn't stop thinking about that dang chair, I went back on the off chance that it might still be there...and it was! I immediately paid for it and waited for someone to help me haul it to my car. Just as we were getting ready to load it, a monsoon (seriously, a MONSOON) came and I had to wait an hour before it was safe to take it home. I sat in it the whole time and five people tried to buy it out from under me! The Hub was already home when I got there, and he was like "Oh Lord, what are you dragging in this house now?!" Once he saw it in all it's glory, he was actually pretty proud of me for buying it! Yes, finally some bold color in the LR and now I can't imagine what took me so long. So without further adieu...here she is...

I'm making some throw pillows that will tie in the big dark blue pillow, the blue in the rug, and the orange from the chair. By the way, the big blue pillow is a Pottery Barn pillow I got at Goodwill for $3, no kidding. I shopped around and found lots of throw pillows that I liked with all the colors I wanted, but they were anywhere from $30-60 each. No way, Jose! I bought a shower curtain at Home Goods for $16.99 and I can make all the pillows I want for next to nothing. I'm almost done with the LR makeover and I'll post a room reveal when I get it perfect!

Thanks for joining me today. What pops of color have you added to your home? Tell me about it in the comments.

Toodles,
Marie