Little grand living room tour.

Our new living room functions as more of a big catch all of rooms. From the moment you walk in the front door you can see the kitchen and the entire living space and even into the second bedroom if the door is ajar. I love grand rooms. Ours is not the grandest of grand, but it has that fluid feel to it, especially with the kitchen peering into the living room like it does. Mmmmm, grand rooms. Open and bright and functioning as place to relax and lounge on a cozy couch, play a riveting game of Settlers or Rook, BBQ and have a night of baseball watching, sort mail and write letters as if an office, dine on fine china with pinkies up, enjoy a gallery of art and finds from travels, and spend time with the people that matter most. 

Just like our kitchen, this space is very mix and match. I love that about it. I get a lot of my design ideas from subconsciously taking note when I look at other blogs and design images, but honestly, I just "set up house" in a way I think looks good and what makes me happy. If I look at something and have one inkling of doubt after I style it that way, I most likely rearrange it ten more times until I'm happy (something you don't get to see in these photos). Maybe its from my childhood days of dressing sets and setting out props when I'd go with my dad to work. I used to put a lot of thought into "will others like the way this looks?" Now, I've realized, that is silly because I am the one who lives here. Life is short, so make your home unique to you, reflecting your experiences, personality, and style. And for me, well, you've probably picked up some clues as what makes me me from this blog AND you can see for yourself in our home tour continued. (But, really, I do hope yo like our little grand living room!)

Hang your coat here.

Cozy up.

Framed flower photo captured from our camping trip to the Rincon, CA (celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary).

Wine hutch turned everything hutch. 

These vintage prints are more fitting in our Colorado home.

Love this jute rug from Ikea.

Three is the magic number. 

Fernandolito has been with me since college

He is from a little artsy shop in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Table lamp: Ikea, Books: Goodwill

 

This is our functioning office. It hides a wealth of mess inside. You would never know! 

All that is left for our home tour is the second bedroom and garage. It may be a bit for those, so hang tight, the garage needs to be finished first and then the cave can be turned into a lovely room.

What is your favorite living room detail? What is something that makes your home uniquely you?

Cork Board Tetris.

My best friend Miranda requested the kitchen be up next for our photo house tour. That meant I needed to get to work putting up the kitchen wall decor I had been avoiding as it sat dormant in the second bedroom (more like cave, less like bedroom) .

When waiting to make a return at Ikea one day, back in the land of Burbank, I was sitting thumbing through the catalogue, when BAM!, cork boards in the kitchen. I loved how the 6 Ikea boards all put together created a solution to massive wall space. And, very very affordable with the potential for the boards to be painted. At our home in Denver, the wall we share with our neighbors spans from front door to back door (we live in a duplex). The wall is pretty large. Breaking it up was a thoughtful process, and again, because I didn't want to purchase anything new, or more than $10, I made due with what I already had...the cork! 

At our last place, the boards served as a place for papers to be pinned. It was a makeshift gallery, with the potential for anything to be switched around. 

I kept the gallery going in the kitchen, but will be keeping my thinker open for new things to pin. (Hey, its like a real live Pinterest, although I don't see myself pinning delicious foods and outfits in my kitchen...but maybe.) Pinned are tiny postcards of art from our travels, a page from an old book of Degas' ballerinas, polaroids, playing rules to Monopoly circa 1930s found at my grandparents, and a small quilt my grandmother made. I like that the neutral tones combined with the red and green from the quilt and the sky blue in the polaroids tie into my kitchen colors. The papers that are pinned also have a worn in feel, which I think balances the bland new cork boards that canvas them. What are your large wall solutions? What would you pin on a cork board?