Think PINK! Pics of the Refresh in the Living Room

Hola and Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody!

To get right to it, here are the pics, my usual not so good quality.  I'm all heart and no skill when it comes to taking pics.

There are the new throw pillows (the 2 smaller ones) and three new throw pillow covers (the 3 larger pillows) on the sofa. The sofa has been put back into its regular place when I'm not displaying the Christmas tree in the front window.  The ottoman holds the pink and white throw my second sister gave me for Christmas, but I opted to use the all cream colored side instead of the pink side with white hearts - see next pic and maybe you'll understand my decision.

Um - no to the white hearts on the pink.

Now my beautiful Mexican made pink and cream alabaster 

chess set can clearly be seen with the furniture rearranged.

This is by the entry "hall" at the front door.  The table is convenient for

catching gloves and keys, and I use it to hold my laptop when I'm

working in the living room because it can slide underneath the sofa or a chair.

The art above was printed from the internet and framed in some of my

existing stash of frames.  The gray and pink elephant is from my collection.

The spring/summer look for the mantel.  One one side is my black elephant and a black/gray crystal behind it; the other side is a parade of some of my pink elephants and a large chunk of quartz dug out of the ground on the shore of a lake up in the Gore Mountains outside of Denver in 1973. It has delicate veins of pale coral and a pinkish color running through its white color and although you can't tell in this photo, it has sparkles in it too.  One of the many souvenirs I've collected over the years.

They just make me smile, can't help myself :)  The little one on the far right end is from Banff.

The sofa is a wonderful place for my afternoon naps.  Here you can see the interplay between the two patterns on the complementary colored area rugs.

The two shades of pink in the new area rug (from the Jonathan Adler New Home Collection at Amazon) are so pretty!  I'm usually in stockinged feet inside and walking on two area rugs on top of carpet makes me feel utterly decadent - so soft and cushy!

Taken from the dining room threshold.

Sitting on the sofa, I can see all the way into the back yard through the patio door in the dining room.  That's the wall I had opened up a few years ago so there's great flow in the house now and it feels way bigger than it used to.  I still have to repaint the walls where the drywall was repaired after the to the floor wide opening was created.  Well, I still have a lot of painting to do - motivation is sometimes hard to come by. I admit, I've really gotten lay since I retired in January 2015.  

I call this the meditation wall because of my Buddha on display near the built-in bookshelves.

At night with the elephant lamp on (you can see it in the photo below), this is the view I see down the hallway that houses the entries to the bathroom and bedrooms.  These are two old wood "gold" frames I painted (they aren't antiques, I bought them at Target many moons ago) with some black acrylic craft paint watered down so some of the gold would peek through.  The art was printed from the internet.  The mats are the back side of very old dark forest green mats from my stash to fit inside these 11" x 14" frames. 

Taken from the front "hall" area.

Because my living room is now fully open to the dining room, I added a few touches of pink into my grey/cream/goldish-yellow dining room, which now has its spring curtains up, the spring/summer art on the walls and the formal tablecloth is banished for the season.

These silk flowers were purchased back in the early 1990s when Marshall Fields still had its downtown Milwaukee location open.  Sadly, it closed many years ago, long before Marshall Fields became part of Macys.  I dug them out of my stash, they're perfect for the table.

It's the same old frame that's been hanging in the dining room area for a few years now, I just swap out the art from season to season.  The Christmas/winter cardinals collage is tucked away until December 2019.  This is another print from the internet, similar (but not identical) to one in the living room.  This hangs on the right side of the patio door; the kitchen starts to the right of the picture.

Looking from the patio door in the dining room area toward the living room. The enlarged entry into the living room is about centered with the large picture window there, but the dining area itself is skewed because on the other side of the wall on the right is the stairway to the basement and the side entry hallway off the driveway.  The table is more or less centered in the actual space underneath a ceiling fan with light (another thing on my endless "to do" list - to replace that fixture with a gorgeous but budget-wise chandelier), and it's pretty much centered on the patio door, where I'm standing to take this photo.  

So, that's it!  I got such a wonderful complement the other day when one of my neighbors dropped by to borrow some baking supplies - not kidding, it happens in real life around here :)  I invited her into the kitchen while I rummaged around for what she needed and she said "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  It's so pretty," and she was pointing toward my living room.  And then she said it a couple more times as she stared at it.  HOORAY!  Success.  The pink worked its magic.  I love it too, but then - I'm partial.  

Think PINK! Plans for My Living Room for Spring/Summer

February 23, 2019:

Hola!

I confess - challenging myself to do the look for less of the HGTV "Copy Our Cover" from their March 2019 gave me lots of ideas.  I've always been partial to pink.  My bedrooms in my first two homes were both painted various shades of pink and white.

And through the years, I've collected  pink accessories here and there (currently hidden away in my stored "stash"),  a collection of about 40 pink glass, metal  and ceramic elephants centered around a small pink elephant with a sweet little red smile and gold-painted highlights (her eyes, on her nose, in her ears, her toenails) that I inherited from my paternal grandma (displayed behind closed glass doors in the china hutch/storage cabinet in the living room),

This is an old photo taken from Maison Newton House #2 in 2013, before I moved to my current home and
before my pink elephant collection was moved to the roomier china hutch for display.  Grandma's elephant is about front and center, very pale pink with little red painted lips.  Taking a look at some of these old photos reminds me of just how many pinkish accessories and knick-knacks, et. I have stashed away, although I did give many to the Purple Heart.

and one of my favorite chessboards on display in a curio cabinet in a corner of my current living room is cream and pale pink alabaster with hand-carved chess pieces from Mexico, seen on the third shelf:

...all of which got me thinking about doing some changing out the decor in my living room for this spring and summer.  THINK PINK (anyone other than me remember that from "Funny Face?"), rather than the grays and golds with shades of white and black I've been using since 2015 or so.

I want to add a few pink hued throw pillows and switch out some pillow covers for existing pillows, and dig out some pink accessories for display.

As I've been musing on pink during the course of my online "shopping" around for my HGTV "copy our cover" posts, I also remembered that my third sister's 2018 Christmas gift to me was a gorgeous pale dusty rose bedspread with a set of pillow shams that I will probably be using in my bedroom during spring and summer for a change of pace from my Ikea gray floral duvet cover.  While revisiting my sister's gifts in the closet a few days ago, I also discovered that I'd forgotten my sis had included a pink fluffy fuzzy uber-soft throw that is gorgeous - except for the cream colored fuzy fluffy hearts on it, LOL.  But it's soft and cuddly, perfect for covering myself when I take my summer naps on the sofa.  The really fuzzy fluffy side is solid cream colored, but strikes me as "wintry" rather than spring/summer because of its texture.  But maybe I'll use it anyway.

Updated February 24, 2019:

Well, I charged right ahead and started shopping online for throw pillow covers and/or throw pillows if the price was right. I had so much fun!  There was a LOT to choose from.  I don't keep up generally with such things, but evidently pink is a real trend this year, so it's everywhere.

I AM proud of myself, though.  I reined myself in and rather than purchasing everything pink that caught my eye (I could have redone the entire house),  I "only" purchased two new throw pillows from Society6 and three throw pillow covers from H&M Home.  The pillows at Society6 were on sale yesterday, as were a couple of the throw pillow covers from H&M Home, so I lucked out!

I decided against buying a pink throw, since (1) I already have the throw my sister bought me for Christmas although I may not use the pink side with the white hearts (what was she thinking???) and (2) I have a summer-weight black and white houndstooth checked throw that I really like and use during the spring through fall months that will coordinate with the primary decor in the living room.

Pillow selections from Society6:  Note - I selected the 18" x 18" size for both pillows.  There was a total of 30% discount from my bill, but there is no free shipping, that was $9 and I live in a sales tax state, that was an additional $2.44.  Not covers only, both have pillow inserts.  But a girl can never have too many throw pillows, I've discovered that since moving to this, my retirement Maison Newton!

Pictured above, not the best image because I enlarged a mini, is Rose gold faux glitter pink ombre color block by Girly Trend.  

Pictured above, again not the best image because enlarging it made it blurry, is the Gloop pillow (an awful name) by Dan Hobday.

Total cost: $60.42.

Pillow Cover Selections from H&M Home:

Pictured above, 20" x 20" embroidered design on a heavy cream canvas zippered cushion cover, light beige-pink/black, $24.99.

Pictured above, 20" x 20" patterned satin cushion cover, powder pink/black/white, $12.99.

Pictured above, 20" x 20" crinkled cushion cover, light pink, $9.99. This resembles a shatung silk texture.  

Total cost, including $2.66 sales tax (free shipping):  $50.66.

In addition to some very old framed prints and such that I've accumulated over the years in my basement storage stash in various shades of pink, along with old frames that can be used as is or painted, I am a great advocate for using greeting cards suitably framed as art, framed calendar art, and best of all, photos and art I find on the internet.  One of the sources I use for free downloadable/printable art is the Graphics Fairy. 

Last night I found and printed three antique botanicals that I will frame up and hang in place of my usual trio of Han Dynasty horse prints (also free, two were clipped from magazines and one was printed from a history magazine on the internet).  I may or may not add additional wall art.  Because of how the room is configured, there is not a lot of "free" wall space to hang art or add wall arrangement/shelves, etc. 

Not sure if I will use one or more of them - I will keep scouting around.  I really liked a lot of the art I found at Great Big Posters online and Society6 so - we'll see.  

For now - with no end in sight to winter, the room is staying cozied up with red and extra layers of area rugs and throws!

March 8, 2018:  While shopping for rugs online for my HGTV March 2019 "Copy Our Cover" challenge I'd set myself, I came across a rug I really fell for - hard!

I had briefly thought "what if I bought an area rug to switch out for the summer months with my very loved black and cream flamestitch shag area rug?  But then I thought - NAH.  I don't need one, don't waste my money, the room will look great with the accessories switched out, etc.

Sooooo, so much for my will power.  Geez.  I purchased a rug for myself - it arrived yesterday, hooray, a full day earlier than expected.

The rug (pictured below) is from the Now House by Jonathan Adler Martine Collection 5' x 7' area rug in blush, 100% wool, hand-made in India. When I priced it, it was $157 and some change, plus shipping and sales taxes, for a total of $184.06.  Today the same rug is priced at $180.29 (but sales tax not added yet) with free shipping.  The free shipping option wasn't available on the rug when I  found it - but at that time Amazon was pushing membership in Amazon Prime and was offering free 2 day shipping if I tried Prime for a week. I said no thanks.  Now the free shipping is available again (on orders over $25 for this item) but the price has also increased.

When I unpacked it the packing slip indicated that the price for the item was $115.  WHAT?  So I said to myself, "Self, contact Amazon and find out why the price discrepancy."  I went online and entered into a "chat" with Customer Service.  After haggling back and forth with Amazon for over an hour with three different customer service reps, I got the price reduced to $115.  So - lesson reinforced - always check the price on your packing slip, and if the price is different than what you paid, don't accept paying the higher price without a fight!  I received a refund of $42.23 on this rug (in the form of a credit back on the credit card used to pay for the purchase) for my trouble and time spent on the lengthy chat.  Persistence and patience pays.

I love the subtle colors and think this rug will not wear out its welcome either color or pattern, as it's still quite neutral and fits a range of decorating styles, from traditional to modern. It also doesn't hurt that I think it will look beautiful on top of my existing black and cream flamestitch area rug.

March 15, 2019:

The room is now finished, including art printed from the internet and framed in frames I already had (two of which I painted a sort of "antiqued" black look over bright gold).  The largest I can print on my printer is legal size 11" x 14," but I stuck with "full size" 8 1/2" x 11" standard letter size paper that prints out with about a 1/4" wide white border.

I haven't taken photos yet - it's been busy times here lately and today it's dark and gloomy out, I'll have to see how photos turn out.  Stay tuned.  I'm excited to reveal the new look for spring/summer!

Updated March 17, 2019:  There are pics.