10.24.2011

Mice, Cookies, Couches, and...Me?

If you've read, "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", then you might know where I'm going with this. Back in the late summer, I started thinking about trading out our plaid couch for something a bit more neutral. The desire to simplify our decor led to me asking Peter if we could take a day trip to Ikea to exchange this...

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...for this lovely, neutral Ektorp couch from Ikea...

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But once I had the new couch, I decided that the rug had to go (as you can see in the picture), and that my walls were too cluttered, which led to a simplification of the artwork throughout the house...

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However, once the artwork was swapped out, I decided that I was tired of the Waverly red on the bottom of the walls and the front door, so I started contemplating a new color. Thinking turned into looking at paint chips with Peter, which is how we found ourselves coming home with a gallon of "Barista Brown" semi-gloss...

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Although we liked the brown on the bottom and the door, the creamy top no longer looked good. That's how we wound up with paintbrushes in hand and a gallon of "Skinny Latte"...

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So somehow, we went from this...

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...to this...

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...to this...

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...to this...

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...all because of a couch. Go figure.

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But on the upside, those infamous rose pictures are now banished and my brother's photograph that had been languishing, unappreciated, in our bedroom, is now the highlight of the living room!

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Moral of the story? If your wife asks you to go "look" at Ikea, plan on it turning into a much larger project than simply exchanging one piece of furniture for another, because if you give your wife a new couch, she's probably going to want a new paint color to go with it...

For the record, we both love how it turned out.

12 comments:

  1. Hey there! I LOVE how your living room turned out! And all because of a couch... :-) Thanks for sharing the before-and-afters!

    Oh, and I can get on blogger again! Woot!

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  2. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!! It is so warm and cozy and homey and perfect for snuggling up and reading a good book! I love it!

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  3. It looks great, Carrie! And all because of a couch. :)

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  4. I'm just going to go out on a limb here and say that I think you need some more color in your accent pillows and chair cushions, now. ;) And that Peter is a very patient guy! :)

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  5. I also Love the new look! Kudos to you both!

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  6. I'm new to your blog. I love how your makeover turned out! It looks comfortably inviting while still being refined. Great job!

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  7. I love how it turned out! I love how dramatic before and after are! You guys did a great job :)

    I love how a simple trip to Ikea caused such a decorating uproar :)

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  8. Thanks everyone! We're really pleased with it as well and it finally feels like US. I never would have thought about chocolate/coffee colors in the past, but now it fits with the style that we've found.

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  9. Very nice! Autumn-y, warm, inviting.

    There's a very cute book called The Big Sneeze by Ruth Brown that's along the lines of the Give a Mouse a Cookie. :)

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  10. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your new decor!!!

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  11. Love it.... much less cluttered looking and more relaxed. Nice job!

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  12. This made a huge, crisp, change! FUN!

    Where did you find that huge basket? I love it! I envision it holding plush blankets or tiny toys!

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