Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Given the title, I'd say it is pretty obvious that this post is about my living room. So let's get started...

The living room is the first room of the house I had envisioned, but the last room to complete.

Something Old: 

This is my favorite aspect of our living room: the coffee table. This coffee table was my great-grandparents', and we had it refurbished. I still remember it from my parents' house when I was little. I even christened it with some crayon drawings on its underside that I made sure still remained after the restoration. Patrick and I had this coffee table in our first house, but we didn't refinish it until recently. I couldn't believe the transformation. It ended up being the last peice of the puzzle of the living room, and it fit perfectly! It was almost as if I had planned every aspect and detail and shade on the color spectrum it!

This is what the coffee table looked life before. This photo also shows you what the living room looked like in its middle stages.

Something New:

The Something New is pretty much everything in the living room except for the coffee table. The couch and awesome leaner mirror are from Restoration Hardware...the Outlet...obviously (who do you think we are, the Rockefellars?). The upholstered chairs are from Ethan Allen. As a bargain shopper by nature, I wasn't excited about springing for these, but Ethan Allen had EXACTLY the style chair I wanted in the EXACT right "not too blue and not too green and not too busy but not solid" fabric I wanted. We pretty much had to get them.

These Philippe Starck ghost chairs are the bomb. They are the perfect mix of traditional (in shape) and contemporary (in material). I originally bought them for the dining room, but they were so amazing in person that I wanted them to be more visible. I just purchased 2 more black ones for the dining room. Stay tuned. One more thing regarding the chairs... (HomeGoods and TJ Maxx, cover your ears...) I have seen knock-offs of these chairs at Homegoods and other places, but they really don't compare to the original. It is tempting to resist, but I think you really do need to spring for the original. It is worth it.  

The mirrored console is from One Kings Lane, and the perfectly matching, couldn't-have-planned-it-better-if-I-tried mirror is from Homegoods. The lamp on the console is Ralph Lauren and also from Homegoods (SCORE. If you put your mind to it, anything can happen).

The side table is from Ethan Allen (floor sample...again...SCORE).

Something Borrowed:

The Something Borrowed is also basically everything in the living room because I "borrowed" the design from Kyle Richards' living room on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I'm not going to pretend to know more than the world-class designers that these women hire, so I just copy their ideas that I love in my own house. Here is a photo of Kyle Richards' living room next to mine:

THE "INSPIRATION":

THE END RESULT:

Something Blue:

I loved the serene aqua blue color of the "inspiration room," and it was pretty tricky for me to match. More tricky, however, was to match the color of the drapes/pillows, which I had completely duplicated from Kyle Richards'. Custom drapery is no joke, so I probably wouldn't have ventured into it unless I absolutely loved this room and wanted to duplicate it, but I must admit that it really made a huge difference in the room. 

I found this painting at a downtown sushi restaurant, where the artist Paul LaFlam displayed his work. I reached out to him, and he gave us a great deal on it, from one local artist to another. Our style is a little more contemporary than Kyle's (you know... my BFF Kyle Richards), and I think this painting captures that contemporary-ness whilst keeping the serene vibe.

There you have it. That is our living room. I think Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue came together in perfect harmony. They should really tap into that combination and apply it to other experiences in life, as well...