Autumn Musings

Texas is hot. Texas tends to stay hot 10 months out of the year. We get a glimpse in to the other seasons. And it seems that autumn has decided to rear its head! So, today I am sitting on the couch, blinds open, walking Lola in the cool weather outside, wearing a sweater, and sipping on some hot cocoa. I am inspired to share more of the autumn decor we have put up around the apartment.

I have showed you guys the wreaths we have put up. And I still love it.

 

 

Yesterday, I showed you our living room with the sweet pumpkins incorporated in to our decor. Remember these sweeties?

 

 

They are just so precious! Plus, they fit so well with our style of decor that we keep year round. It's pretty awesome.

Now, how about I show you our dining room table?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The charger with the leaf embellishments is from World Market, as are the birch candles. I originally fell in love with the birch pillar candles when I saw them at Pottery Barn, but the cheaper price (and coupons I get for being a member at World Market) helped save money on these. The baby pumpkins were cheap at our local grocery store and I think they just add a little something sweet.

 

There is still work to be done, decor wise, in the dining room. Namely, that photo. It's very special to me as it is a shot we grabbed in Colorado on our honeymoon. But, the cheap poster frame takes away from its beauty, to me. Alas, this is a topic for another day.

 

I always feel weird putting my fall decor up before it feels like fall around here and Texas allowed me to put them up on time and not feel so odd this year (which I am grateful for- thanks Texas!). Anyone else have the internal battle with how it feels and how to decorate for the season? Are you guys digging sweet little pumpkins this year? 

Ready for Unveiling!

 

Previously, we talked about when we were looking for a couch and deciding how we were designing our living room, and then we shared the pieces of furniture we purchased. Now, I believe it is a good time to reveal the room to you, as it is now. It is cozy to us and we spend a lot of time in it.  Ready to see it?? I'm so ready to show you.

 

Here it is, folks! The lamps were off... so I decided to snap the rest with the lamps on. 

 

This is Lola's spot she hangs out between our feet when we watch shows or movies.

How about some close ups of the details hanging out around the room??

 

The two above photos are the accessories on the console table. I opted to keep the photos in the room black and white so that the emotion can shine through. And that cool jar of old stamps? That was a gift from my dad when I was a girl. I love it.

 

 

This is the top of the bookshelf that is to the left of the sofa. For fall festivities, I purchased the cute pumpkins from World Market and put one on the bookshelf and one on the console table.

 

Here is the photo album and catalog holder that sits by the Mister's recliner. It is an old wooden box that The Mister found in my dads garage. Isn't it cool?

 

 

The purple pillows are from Bed Bath and Beyond. All of the other ones are from West Elm.

 

Here is our media center from Target (with the free TV that the Mister told you about fixing). The brass hardware is what got me. 

The red wax warmer is from Walmart. I made the book pillars. The candles are ones I got a while ago (and I don't remember from where). The red metal box atop the books is a small old socket set box that was rescued from my dads garage. The glass pieces are from Ikea (the purple one), Good Will (the teal one) and one I got a while back and can't remember from where (the red one). 

 

Wondering where we got the big pieces?? Allow the below picture to fill you in!

 

 

Isn't' it cozy and comfy and wonderful? We adore the room. What do you think?

Fall Wreaths

The calender officially says that it is autumn. Even if this Texas weather doesn't want to cooperate, I have obeyed my calender and started decorating. I've been busy making wreaths. I made one for our door and one for some friends (and I hope they love it!).

Here is the one I made for friends- and please pardon if the color is off. Honestly, I think my computer screen resolution is off and it has been making photo editing interesting.

 

 

I love it! Personally, it seems to be missing a squirrel. Wouldn't a squirrel fit right in? For the wreath mold, I just used paper that was in my recycling bin and shaped it (with the held of tape) in to a wreath. Proved a little bit temperamental, but totally worth it in that it shaped well, was free, and my favorite part.... was free.

 

Here is the one hanging on our door now:

The yellow flowers were made from a brighter yellow felt. I stuck with just the two flower colors (mainly due to the fact that I was out of the cream felt... haha). And, I included the M from cardboard and a sweet paisley designed felt.

There have been many happenings around The Mister and Missus household and I'm excited to share them with you... but I have a pumpkin roll cooling on my kitchen counter top beckoning for some filling. Feel free to pop on to our Facebook fan page to see the finished product (a link is at the top of this page for your navigation convenience).

Favorite Details: Tea Pot and Mills

I want to share with you some of my favorite little details throughout our home. So I am going to start out with some pretty things that sit atop our kitchen counter top.

Before we had cable, we watched Netflix. Because this was all we had, I usually picked a show and just watched all of the episodes of that show. Anyone remember Ally McBeal?? Well, she believed a house wasn't a home until there was a coat rack. I had the same kind of feeling, but about a teapot. I was shopping around for the best teapot that matched our personalities and out home.

THEN- a dear, dear friend returned from London with a beautiful stone tea pot in navy blue. I LOVE it! And, there was a large box of Christmas tea bags - seriously, it sells just like Christmas. I'm excited to brew those buddies.

Isn't it cute? You see the tea pots neighbors in the above picture - our salt and pepper grinders. I had wanted wooden grinders in a bright color, but I saw these and realized that seeing the peppercorns and the large chunks of salt is pretty and more organic in and of itself.



Do not be fooled - these mills are not acrylic. They are glass and steel. We purchased them from Target for $14.95 a piece. I love them. And they look so nice with our tea pot from across the pond. Don't you agree?



Furniture Finds

I told you guys a while back that we were looking for a patio set. Here is a reminder of the two designs we were stuck on.

Then, we found this bistro set at Ikea. And it was cheap. Guess what? Its even cheaper now than when we bought - $49.99.

We loved this because of the very low price tag, natural wood slates, and metal frame. The dark colors also go really well with the design of the apartment complex. I will share pictures of it in its element when I can actually keep plants alive out there, sweep off the leaves that have seemed to accumulate since the freak hail storm, and add a couple colorful throw pillows.

Now, for the next (very exciting) furniture reveal. Remember all of the different directions we were going for a couch? Well, we decided against leather. That nixed a lot of our more expensive options. We also looked at the dimensions of the room one more time and nixed a couple of the longer couches because now we know we want to get a chair.

Look at what we found:

It was listed at $899. Chris refused to purchase a couch without sitting in it first. So we discovered that our local Macy's had a floor sample. We went in, saw the price was marked down to $699, fell in love a little more, sat on the sofa, and almost did not get up. We had found our couch! Then, the salesman informed us that the couch would further go on sale that weekend to $599 - the lowest it would ever go. For real. You bet we jumped all over that and put it on hold to purchase that weekend.

It is gorgeous, soft, deep, and so comfortable. I'm so glad we kept searching. And remember that one picture I was kind of obsessed from Better Homes and Garden with in our dreaming of a sofa post? Here it is again-

I adored having multiple small things to replace a large coffee table for a room that gets moved around a lot. So, we hunted around for ottomans (because The Mister puts his feet up every time he sits on the sofa). And fell in love with a round, tufted, chocolate brown, velvet ottoman from Avenue Six for $99.

Then, the beauty showed up at Joss & Main for $52 a piece. Two of them were quickly put in our shopping cart.  See the great deal?

The living room is coming together nicely. We have purchased lamps (which may or may not have shown up in an Instagram picture we shared on our FB Fan Page when we were shopping around) and art for the wall behind the couch. Chris is working on a console table (which was also shared on our FB Fan Page in a picture). And we have our eye on a particular rug at West Elm.

Hope everyone is enjoying their week!!

Dreaming of a Sofa

Now that we have moved, our hopes and dreams for our rooms are coming together. We just want them to be all that they can be! I already showed you guys what we were thinking about for our patio, and there will be an update on that (most likely next week). But today, we shall discuss the living room.

We like for our rooms to look collected over time, and this HURTS because a lot of times that means time actually has to pass in order for us to get the look that we want. Discovering treasures, mixing patterns and textures, and not over drafting our bank account all cause us to have to slowly shape a room. But this can also be fun because we get to see it evolve. As we dream up our living room, we have realized it all will have to surround what couch we get. Oh, and in our house, we switch back and forth between calling it a sofa and calling it a couch. Anyone else do that? Is there a technical difference between a sofa and a couch?

Why do we believe the room will have to be designed around what couch we get? Well, I am so glad you asked. Below is the floor plan to our apartment, but flip it in your mind, because that is how ours is set up.

See our living room?? Our media center with the TV is on the angled wall. And take note of the kitchen island. This is one reason why our couch is important. Its size will determine just how much room we have for other furniture, and how big our rug should be. Ideally, we would love to have a 3 seater couch and 2 individual chairs. But that may be a bit crowded. We also want a couch that is good for cuddling, so the depth of the couch will determine how big of a coffee table we will get.

Here are a few rooms that serve as our inspirations -

Better Homes and Garden

I like the chaise at the end of the couch, the cloth, white couch that looks deep enough for cozy movie watching, as well as the 3 individual tables to serve as a coffee table. The round rug is also pretty awesome.

Houzz

I like how this one has the coffee table with 2 ottomans right against it. This keeps them semi out of the way but available for foot stools or seating. The couches look worn, but comfortable.

Houzz

This chesterfield sofa is beautiful. I also like the matching chairs in front of the window. The large rug helps anchor the room and brings together all of the colors.

Speaking of colors, we are staying closer to red, purple, and greenish-blues. We also are mixing in vintage, shabby chic accents, like my custom made book pillars (which I plan on showing you guys in a later post), and black frames with black an white photos.

The Mister and I love the look of Restoration Hardware (who doesn't?) and libraries, with a Columbus the Explorer twist. Sounds weird? Well, we got the Camden  Furniture Collection media console and book case at Target.



Media Console - see those sliding doors? The handles are brass. You can't really tell in this.

To pull in more of that explorer vibe, we like surveyor lamps. I found this one on Amazon.com.

Maps, too. We actually bought this guy and he is just waiting for us to pick the right couch so he gets put in the right frame.

So, you see... all of this seems a bit all over the place. The right sofa can anchor it all. Leather ones -



 

Leather Possibilities Sofa at JC Penney



Portfolio Rio Convert-A-Couch at Overstock.com



But I am not a huge fan of leather. I stick to it. And it has its leather smell. And if Lola scratches it, its done. Plus, they cost more. Chris is still pulling for leather, so I am still hoping he will change his mind.

At this point, I really love this one.

Martha Stewart Living Room Collection at Macy's in Saybridge

It looks soft, comfortable, and good for cuddling. The color will go with all of the things we will throw in the room, and the chesterfield design brings in the other elements we like, too.

So what say ye, my blog reading friends?

Dreaming About a Patio

Living in an apartment makes certain activities that The Mister and I love to do more difficult. When we picked our first apartment together after our wedding, we were thinking more price and interior comfort. Now, we just want more square footage! And that day is coming, folks. D-day is April 21. Expect blog posts about purging and packing.

But today is about something we have talked more about recently: our patio at our next place. It is modest, but we are looking so forward to it.  I dream of an herb garden, flowers, and a dwarf lemon tree. The Mister dreams of a little patio set with a big checkers game mat. We are looking around for the perfect patio set - more bistro style.

At Home Goods, we came across this cute one.

Pros: Price is $129.99. The table is big enough for the hubbys cloth checkerboard set up. The chairs fit snugly under the table.
Cons: It is white - exposure to the elements would show discoloration on the legs. The chairs are small-ish.

I also found this one on Overstock.com.

Source: Overstock.com

Pros: Price is $126.99. Bigger chairs for comfy seating (even have a slight lean, which is nice). Teak wood.
Cons: Smaller table and chairs don't fit as nicely under the table. This one would take up a bit more patio room.


So, we still have a little less than a month before we move to think about it and look for good deals. But whatever we get, we will be super excited about it.