Monday, March 25, 2013

Furnishing the first floor.

The problem with needing to furnish an entire house from scratch is that we need everything. And when you don't even have some basic pieces to start from, the entire process can be pretty overwhelming. So, in an attempt to focus and actually get something done other than wandering aimlessly through stores, pointing and exclaiming, "I love that!" and spending hours on the internet making random Pinterest boards, we decided to work from the ground up, one room at a time.

First up: LIVING / DINING ROOM FURNITURE.

The living / dining room is almost totally empty and needs the most work. Right now it echos and it seems super cold, and putting a camp chair in the middle of the room did not help matters much. Plus it makes us look like squatters. So we basically just avoid that room for now. But not for long! Luckily we placed our custom furniture order weeks ago, and our sofa, love seat, chair and ottoman will be delivered this Friday! We took a peek at them at the warehouse this week and they turned out absolutely gorgeous... we couldn't be more excited. In the meantime we've been searching for accent pieces for that room, and we did end up making a few decisions and purchases:

These three pieces are all going in the living room, and we'll probably end up buying a second end table.
We love the distressed wood and that the lighter color is different from all the dark brown that's already downstairs.

We also bought this dining room table, which we love because of the distressed wood finish.
But we didn't buy the matching chairs or any of the other tacky items surrounding it.
I would like to get some modern leather dining chairs like these to go with the table, but so far I haven't been
able to find them in a lighter, more tan color, which is what I want. So the chairs are still pending. 

Up next: LIVING / DINING ROOM ACCENTS.

I've decided that I want blue to be the main living room accent color... lots of different shades! We'd like to get a big, blue, comfy, shag area rug and we have our eyes on a whole bunch of different accent pieces... here are some of our favorites:

I absolutely LOVE this blue trunk. I love it so much I would have bought it immediately,
except I can't figure out exactly where I want it, so until the furniture is arranged I'm holding off... for now.

We both think this clock is awesome, but need to find the perfect place for it first.

I really like the industrial quality of this side table, and the different colored wood.
I thought it could potentially go next to the fireplace to hold the Comcast box and stuff
like that until we get built in bookcases, which is what I really want.

Stew and I both loved this clock piece, which could sit on top of sofa table we already purchased.
Can you tell we're really into clocks?

We are absolutely obsessed with having a bar cabinet downstairs, and this one would be just perfect...
If only it didn't cost way, way too much. Still trying to see if we can budget this one in...

And down the road: THE DEN.

We really, really want to get this room done so we can stop using one of the guest bedrooms as a temporary office. But first, I absolutely have to have built-in, floor-to-ceiling, custom bookcases. I've been dreaming about these my whole life. Ideally, they will have a ladder just like in Beauty and the Beast. However, I'm currently in the process of researching options and costs, and it turns out we'll probably have to give up our first born child in order to make this happen. So I'm weighing our options.

But in the meantime we did find this amazing old framed map that we absolutely love.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions on where/how to buy furniture, or the best way to quickly acquire 30 years of carpentry skills, please let us know!
 
 
Fabulous Friday Link Party

13 comments :

  1. Are these pics from Cost Plus? Love that store! We need to do some serious redecorating around my house...

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    1. Some of them are from Sansaco and Crate & Barrel, but yes, most are from Cost Plus World Market... we love that store so much!

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  2. If only I had any carpentry skills to share with you! I love the pieces you are considering...were you at World Market? I could spend hours in that store. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, most of the pics are from Cost Plus World Market... I could literally buy everything in there!

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  3. Darn it I typed a comment on my phone and it didn't show up (iPhone newbie).

    I love what you've been picking - especially that whitewashed/distressed sofa table for the living room. If it were me (and I'm living vicariously through you and the idea of furnishing a brand new house from top to bottom), I'd mix and match chairs (maybe white acrylic modern?) and a long wood or upholstered bench on one side of that awesome dining room table.

    And a ladder on shelves like from Beauty and the Beast? Definitely yes.

    My go-to places for home shopping/browsing, at least for accessories, are TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Ross. And my favorite: Ikea! Also, the next time you venture up here, there's a great furniture store in Bellingham called The Greenhouse.

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  4. I was going to ask if that was Sansaco then I saw your comment above from Michelle (my friend in real life - such a small blogger world!)! Our couch and love seat are from there! Such a random space but they have so many great finds! And we'll be in the exact same place as you guys when we eventually buy a house - we will have to pretty much start from scratch too!

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  5. love this post! I love the old-looking clocks! We have TWO, one in the kitchen and one in the livingroom!! I love that blue trunk, you should buy it!! And I'm really excited about the den w/ bookshelves and ladder, I LOVE Beauty and the Beast and I've always wanted an awesome library, maybe with a hidden room behind one of the bookshelves!?;)

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  6. Love what you guys picked out, can't wait to see the room put together with the furniture. I commend you on your patience to not want to snatch that blue chest up, especially when it said SALE on it! I guess waiting 2 more days won't kill you...although it might kill me, haha. I hear ya on the furniture thing. We tripled our living space and needed a LOT of furniture. We went to a couple of furniture auctions, got 2 $10,000 couches for $2000 each. Keep your eye out for furniture businesses going out of business. A lot of them will have an auction just before they really close the doors to get rid of everything. We bought our dining table, and china hutch the same way. Good luck and have fun!

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  7. Oh gosh, I'm living vicariously through you since our place still looks like no one even lives here. That or it's a bachelor pad, ha
    xo TJ

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  8. We have had great luck finding amazing quality pieces on craigslist...it just takes some patience to find the right things but SO worth it in the end! I love the bar cabinet!

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    1. Oh my gosh, it's so random that you say that, because we ended up finding the exact bar cabinet we were looking for on Craigslist! It was in perfect condition and we got it for less than half of what the store was selling it for. I think it's probably my favorite piece of furniture in the whole house! :-)

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  9. Thanks for joining my Links Party, I am thrilled! Love all the furniture pieces on your blog that you chose for your home! Thanks for the LOVE! Maria

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  10. Hi lady!! I am looking though some of your old posts and came across this gem! I wanted to get your opinion on your dining table from World Market....Paul and I are looking at the exact same table! Do you love it? How's the quality? I appreciate any and all feedback and suggestions :) BTW I love your blog! Miss you guys and hope we can see each other and maybe even the lil guy soon!!

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