After a long and exhaustive search that included the criteria of fabulous, affordable and well-made, we have finally found a couch for the living room.
The furniture store was having a special sale where all fabrics, no matter what grade you chose, were priced at the lowest grade fabric price! You can imagine how exciting it was to look at fabrics with no regard for cost. This freedom led us to a beautiful neutral velvet called 'Tarragon' and it's very luxurious.
We also found a beautiful chair, which was on sale and included the same special savings on the fabric. So we ordered two of these chairs to flank either side of the fireplace. For these, we chose a linen-esque fabric that is several shades lighter than the velvet.
Due to these purchases, we've started to spruce up the living room before the new furniture arrives (which will be six to eight weeks). The biggest change is that we've decided to relocate the old Karastan rug to the guest house. The following picture shows the room with the Karastan just before we rolled it up.
Below is the room after we rolled it up. It was absolutely amazing to see how much brighter the room became. This room already gets a lot of light due to all the windows but the room truly glows without the heaviness of the dark rug.
The room is pretty empty right now because we stole the couch that was in here for the den (photos soon to follow!). Then after I rolled up the Karastan this past weekend, I thought we'd start with a clean slate and continued to remove all tables, artwork and lamps.
The new couch will face the fireplace. The two new chairs will flank each side of the fireplace. We'll add a new natural fiber rug for floor. The antique mirror (a Great-Great Grandparents piece), will remain but I would like to think of something new and fresh for the mantle.
I'm going to go through some of my magazines to look for some ideas! Any suggestions?