Slight living room redo

Are you there readers?  It's me...Steph.  I am probably the worst blogger ever, seeing that my last post would be 3 months ago tomorrow.  Yeah, pretty bad.  I would like to place all the blame on the new job, but it honestly has just been laziness.  Thank you sososososo much to all of you that have not forgotten about me and have been demanding more updates...this post is dedicated to all of you. :)

Ok, back to business.  There hasn't been a whole lot of changes going on around Casa de Kendall, but there are a few.  First up, another living room redo.  On a day off recently I suddenly went nuts and spent about 5 hours (yes 5) rearranging and switching up the living room.  After 5 hours and about 4 different configurations, I ended up with a slight change from what you all have last seen.  This is what I started with:

And here is what 5 hours of moving/lifting/dragging/vacuuming/dodging puppies gave us:

WOW!  Quite the major change, huh? :)  Yeah, not really, but I'm actually loving the little changes I made. (New throw pillows are on their way as you read too!)  First off, obviously the basic layout remained the same, but I switched out the two awkward pictures over the couch for that long mirror.  The mirror was an awesome find at Walmart (of all places) for only $44!  I have had my eye on a similar one from IKEA for about a year now (which is larger, with a wider frame) but was around $100.  So, I figured this 1/2 the cost version will do a-ok for now.  Hanging the mirror took me almost an hour (sad, I know) because it had to hooks on either side of the frame to be hung with, but since I of course needed it hung that second (and knowing it would take Matt's help with the two hooks) I used picture hanging wire to have the mirror hang off of one screw in the wall, instead of two...Cross your fingers it doesn't come crashing down some day.  I pulled the coffee table into the middle of the couch/seating area instead of having it smooshed in like I usually do.

 I moved the dark brown bench (that had been our coffee table) over to the wall on the left to act as extra seating.

The pillows dress it up a bit and also match the colors in the Breakfast at Tiffany's art too. 2 points to Steph.

The coffee table we're now using was the one we bought when we first moved to Madison, back in 2006.  It had been acting as our TV stand until I moved Grandma Dottie's desk to act as the new TV stand:



Sorry for the bad picture.  I brought the lamp down from Matt's bedside table, since it has been unplugged and unused for about a year.  The white pineapple thing came from the entry way table, and the rocker was Matt's grandma's too.  I folded up a table cloth we already had to cover/protect the top of the desk and to add a little lightness to the TV corner.

The circle end table that used to be in the corner of the room, moved to the other side of the nice couch, and I brought an unused end table (that had been collecting dust in the office) in for the corner of the room.  I set the lamps on top of some hardcover books to give them some height.  And for you super creepy observant people....check out the new table accessory I found at Marshall's for $12:

Haha!  Isn't he a hoot?!  (Too much?  Too dorky?)  I think he's supposed to be a vase since he's hallow, but I like him as a casual observer form the corner of the room.  I have a thing for owls lately...I'll show you some more owl decor another time.

So, to give youan  easier before and after view, we first started with this (waaaay back):

Then went to this:

Then this:

And fiiinally this...I think I'll let it stick for a while:

Thoughts?  Are you liking the new living room set up?  Are you happy I'm back, or maybe wishing I would have stayed away?  Well too bad Sally.  I'm here to stay. :)

If you have any requests for blog posts, please don't be shy!  I'm always happy to hear your ideas!  Also, stay tuned for a garden update, and also some dining room updates as well!

~S~