Texas Challenge

Today's post is looooooong.

Decorating my living room in my Texas home has been a big challenge.  My preferred color palette includes grays, whites, blacks, pops of bright color here & there and touches of polished nickel (for some sparkle!).  Unfortunately that color palette would not work on the first floor of my Texas home because (other than the bedrooms) it is an open floor plan and the floors are terracotta.  It's a Spanish/Mediterranean house, so the terracotta floors go perfectly with the style of the house, but not with my ideal color palette.

Here are two pictures of the living room as decorated by the prior owners:

You can see how well shades of chocolate brown and gold go with the floors and the walls.  They added a lot of dark woods, wrought iron and leather.  It is lovely and the decor goes very well with the house - it's just not me.

The house is also flooded with a lot of natural light, which I love.  This causes the wall color to change as the day progresses from a pale yellow, to beige, to camel.  

 






It has been a slow process finding things I like, that coordinate with the room and that coordinate with each other.  It would be very easy to buy dark furniture and decorate with golds and burgundies (typical Tuscan decor for example), but that just would not be reflection of me. 

This is what I have so far:

A large seagrass rug to anchor the living room.  I wanted to add some natural texture to the room and seagrass & terracotta are a match made in heaven.  I want the room to feel relaxed and breezy so I opted for this instead of a traditional rug.  Also, seagrass rugs are much more affordable than traditional wool rugs.

















Next, I added an English roll arm linen sofa in espresso.  I love the look and feel of linen.  The sofa has very elegant lines and yet is super comfy.  You can lounge comfortably in it.  I like that it can easily and comfortably seat 3 people.  Linen and seagrass = love.  Breezy and relaxed.

 

Then I bought two slipper chairs (on clearance!) in a beautiful, bright chinoiserie print.  The chairs were on sale, so I saved some money.

They add some much needed color and pattern to the room.  The best part though is that they are slipcovered. If the fabric gets dirty, I can throw the covers in the washing machine.  If after a few years I decide to change, I can buy two new slipcovers for a fraction of the price of replacing the entire chair. The slipcovers are cotton with the look of linen.

I am not a fan of decorating around a television and even contemplated not adding one in the living room. But to be realistic - my family loves television.  I have been known to love it from time to time too ...  so I bought this simple stand from Pottery Barn.

I like that it has glass doors on the sides.  I can add  ceramics or bowls to add color and interest.  Eventually, I intend to replace the stand with a full cabinet - the kind that completely hides the television until you are ready to watch it.  The walls are very high and there is space for that - unfortunately, there is no room in my budget for that right now.


  

I want to avoid having my home look too traditional and the above items are very traditional.  I want the house to have a blend of traditional and modern elements.  I bought these nickel, mirrored top nesting side table (on clearance!) to place on either side of the sofa.  This adds a touch of sparkle.  I haven't seen these tables set in the living room yet, so the verdict is still out on whether they will work.  My fingers are crossed!











Here is what I have in mind for my next purchases that will hopefully complete the room. Because the living room opens up to the dining room, see below, I want to add furniture that connects the two rooms.

I think I would like to add a bench between the two rooms, where that lone chair sits in the picture. Something like this:

I like that it has a traditional tufted cushion, but with modern lines.  I would want it to be covered in some type of heavy duty velvet.  The sofa and slipper chairs are linen.  The large rug is seagrass, I think adding some velvet would add a nice contrast of texture.  I like that people could face either the dining room or the living room.   Or curl up on it for a nap.

I also want to add a small flat woven rug on top of the seagrass rug right under the coffee table to add some interest and to further anchor the area in front of the sofa.

And then I want to place an accent chair against the wall next to the patio doors. I want to play off the colors in the slipper chairs.  Maybe something like this: 

Window treatments - I think I am leaning toward a grommet top in a white linen.  The grommet top adds some contemporary touches (versus a pleated drapery panel).  

Some potential accessories: 

Next time I am in Texas I will take current pictures and make some decisions.  Actually - the biggest challenge of all has been decorating long distance.  Oy vei - what a headache that's been.  But I know in the end it will be well worth it.