Slowly But Surely!

 (First of all, all of these pictures are terrible quality.  Our good camera is currently out of order so I've had to make do with my phone.  Sorry!)  

Slowly but surely, I am giving my living room a makeover!  Clearly, when you are doing things on a budget, it just takes time.  However, I can already see a dramatic improvement in the living room and while it is not complete, I wanted to give you an update on where we are!  

Here are the BEFORE pics.  My father-in-law generously gave us this leather sectional.  While I wasn't sure about the color I was thrilled to have it.  It is a very masculine piece so I attempted to soften it up by adding these pillows but it was still looking pretty dark.  

Dark mantle, dark accessories, just dark.

And, here are the AFTER pics!  (For now, anyways!)  I added some new colorful pillows that I am in love with.  The floral ones are Homegood finds and I found the lumbar pillows on Etsy.  And seriously, how cute is that coffee table?  A Craigslist find for $15!  (Unfortunately, the accessories on the coffee table are for photo ops only, they wouldn't last 2.3 seconds with my little ones.  In fact, we brought the coffee table in the other night after the kids had gone to bed.  I swear to you, the very next morning it was like they knew it was there.  They all went running straight towards it all screaming, "Yay!  A new drum!!!" and proceeded to bang on it repeatedly.  Another reason why I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this makeover!!!)

And here is the mantle!  Isn't is so much lighter and brighter than before???  I'm in lurve with that mirror (another Homegoods find, on clearance no less!).  The hammered vases are from Old Time Pottery ($9 and $12 each) and the teal vase is from West Elm.  I'm not sure about the twiggy thingies that I put in there?  Suggestions???  

Okay, so here is my next plan of action.  I got the deal of the century over the weekend at West Elm.  Remember my curtain dilemma?  I have since been searching for replacements.  I have looked at all of the usual suspects (Target, JC Penny's, World Market, etc) but the only place that I could find the color that I wanted was at West Elm and were $64.99 a panel.  Not good for my budget.  But, good things come to those who wait!!!  The hubs and I stopped in at our local West Elm over the weekend and not only did they only have 2 panels left in the length and color that I needed, they were on sale for $25 each!  SCORE!!!  So, I need to hang those suckers up, but I want to make sure that they match my new Santa chair (yup, Santa got it for me) that is currently in route to me that will be replacing the black chair next to the mantle.  Y'all.  This chair is the bomb.  Can't wait to show it to you!!!  She is gonna really complete the room!

You may not have noticed but I also did a lamp switcharoo.  This lamp (and it's taller matching partner behind the couch) where also in the rec room.  I just felt like the wood tone of the shades really worked with the color of the leather in the couch (which has since really grown on me).  I am also planning on replacing this sofa table with the yet-to-be-painted buffet that my mom is giving me.  I was leaning towards a funky green for the buffet,  but I've heard a lot of great things about a Martha Stewart color called Plumage.  It's a deep teal that I think would look fab.  Hmmmm....decisions, decisions!    

                               

Okay, so what do y'all think?!?!?!  I'm completely open to suggestions!!  And a huge thank you to Shelli at A' la mode who could see the beauty in the space and shared her vision with me!