A Tale of Two Coffee Tables {Part 3--The Big Reveal!}

The wait is over, my friends.  Are y'all ready to see my new coffee table*?  I love it so much, and I hope you do too!

It's always nice to remember where we started, no? (Part I and Part II for reference :)

And here she is after I brought her back to her life!

It's rather nice to have a shot of my table with neat and organized piles on top of it.  One forgets what that kind of order looks like without the pictures to serve as a reminder :)

I am so happy I stayed the course and committed to my original plan to strip and stain vs. paint.

As you can see, I have plenty of painted pieces.  I think the new coffee table is just what the room needed.

I just love that yummy walnut stain!

You can also see that I went with one long bench cushion on my new sofa (I posted about that dilemma HERE), and I am pleased to report that we have been so happy with it.  In the absence of a guest room, it comes in handy as the bench cushion almost feels like a bed.  I have also been impressed with the Sunbrella indoor/outdoor fabric I chose for the sofa.  It cleans up really nicely with soap and water as I had hoped.

One last before and after photo of the table that consumed my life for many weeks:

Many thanks to those of you who cheered me on when I felt like giving up!  Once I finally removed all the old paint, I really enjoyed the process of staining the table, so I plan to tackle some similar projects in the future.  Next on my list though is painting both of my bookshelves white….

*disclaimer:  my living room is never this clean and/or organized.  These pretty pictures are courtesy of a kind friend who came by and picked up my older kids while MG napped (Hi Michelle!), which allowed me to tidy up.  

Our Illinois Living Room

I've meant to share some pictures of our living room here at Scott Air Force Base (if I haven't explained before, we live in base housing that's not technically on the base) for a while now, but you know, with all the living happening in there, I just couldn't get myself motivated to take the time to straighten it up and photograph it!  I was finally motivated to do so yesterday, as I've got a potential buyer coming to see my sofa, so I knew I needed to document the space (for my own memory's sake!) before a major piece is eliminated.  Fingers crossed they like the sofa!

Two quick things I want to mention:

1.  As referenced above, of course I cleaned up this room before I took the pictures!  I share that lest anyone come away reading this wondering how I manage to keep my house so clean with two kids running around.  I have two kind ladies come clean my house every two weeks and it still looks messy most of the time.  Just ask my husband :)

2.  Yes, one of my curtain rods is totally wonky and hanging half way out of the wall causing my drapes to hang crooked.  Haven't you heard that's the latest trend in window treatments?  Not really--truth is, my kids like to play hide-n-seek in the drapes (I've since forbidden it) and pulled on that one a little too hard.  Seeing as how we've moving so very soon, the rod has remained in this chic placement for a good month or so.

Here are two pictures of how the room looked when we first got the keys. Also, my children have grown so much in a year, especially Holland!




And here's what it looks like now:

With the exception of the coffee table, all of the furniture is from before we actually moved to this house.  Most of what you see is the result of buying things I loved, so long as they met my budget constraints.  While the house itself lacks a plethora of character, I have to say I have loved the spaciousness of this room and the fact that it is bathed in natural light. It has been a good room to live in, and it's really hard for me to believe it'll all be packed up in a few week's time!

Incorporating a Bit of {Faux} Fur

A couple people have asked about what's on the back of my dining room bench.  It's simply a faux fur throw rug that I picked up at Target on clearance for 20 bucks.  I grabbed it knowing I liked it, but not sure of where it would go.  Once I got home, something about the lines of the table and the bench, combined with the wood made me think this little friend might be right at home there.  I really like how it softens and warms up the space and brings in another texture.

I don't see mine on Target's website (it was a while ago that I saw it in the store), but good old Ikea sells a similar product.

Ikea's Faux Sheepskin

I guess I've jumped on this faux fur bandwagon because I've also thrown some into the mix on my sofa.

I posted a pic of some pillows on Instagram (I'm @abworthington) and some folks asked about them, so I thought I'd share my sources here as well.  The cream pillows with the jute trim are from Ross, as is the blue geometric pillow (a David Hicks La Fiorentina knock off :)  and the ikat pillow (yes, I moved it from the dining room and decided I like it better here :) I made from fabric purchased several years ago.  You can buy it by the yard here.  

I actually found the throw at Target too (this is funny to me because I don't generally tend to buy a lot from Target's home section).  It's part of their Threshold line, which has really impressed me. (unfortunately I can't find it on their website either, I think it was part of their "holiday line" :(  I personally think the trick to incorporating inexpensive pieces from mass chain stores is to use them in small doses together with unique and/or vintage pieces that you can't find in five stores in one city :)

Faux fur throws are everywhere, but I've yet to see another one that I like for even close to 30 bucks.  I would tell you if I thought this one was cheap and underwhelming, but I do not.  I love it and it is SO WARM and get this--it's machine washable!

They say fashion and design mimic each other right?  Well, look what I found (for $20!) at TJ Maxx last week!

Let's just say I was giddy.

Anyone else into the fur trend?