My Living Room Tour and Styling Tips!


Hi everyone!  It has been a LONG time since I have done a blog post about my home but ever since the stay-at-home order started I have been so inspired to decorate and I wanted to share it with you!
I was actually going to wait to post this because I am in dyer need of a new coffee table and I have my eyes set on a gorgeous Parisian inspired one from Wayfair but ummm how can I say it...it ain't cheap!  I have done almost a years worth of research and haven't found anything that I love as much as this one so I'm not settling for anything else and because of that I will have to do a few months of saving first!  All that to say, I didn't want to wait that long to do a post so for now you will have to feast your eyes on my beat up old coffee table that has about eight years worth of chipping paint layers on it (and not in the cute shabby chic way). 

You all know the drill by now, we are a military family so we move a lot and this most recent move we actually moved on to an Air Force base and are absolutely loving it.  It's so quiet (well, aside from the sound of jets, and helicopters, and ranges, etc. but I personally love that), it feels really safe and secure and our neighborhood is packed with kids, which is always a plus! 

Now, as far as the house goes it has zero curb appeal and the kitchen looks like your typical "military barracks kitchen" but if I had a life mantra it would be this, "you can make anywhere feel like home, all you need is a vision."  So that's what I do. I make every place we live our home.  We feel so blessed to live here and I personally feel especially blessed that they let us paint the inside because it was an awful yellow when we moved in.  It's amazing what a little fresh white paint can do! 

The whole inspiration behind this portion of my home is definitely Paris!  There's lots of creams and whites with gold accents.  To add a little color I went with my current favorite, which is green.  I think there is something so chic about green!  Now, who is going to help me convince my husband to let me get a green velvet couch?  Thats a tall order.  I may have to settle for an accent chair!

Let's start with my (lovely) coffee table.  Besides the fact that the table itself isn't quite up to my standards I love styling it!  If you don't know where to start get yourself some books and then some more books.  You can never go wrong.  I love mixing old with new.  So I have plenty of vintage books but then I also go for more modern coffee table books as well.  Not only do they look beautiful but now you have plenty of inspiration to flip through right at your finger tips.  Books are also a really great tool to change up the look to suit each season.  I also love having some kind of tray.  I got this beautiful marble one from Target several years ago and it has sat in the same place faithfully ever since.  Trays are just a great way of breaking things up to add visual interest.   

My last essential is of course, flowers.  Sometimes I put faux flowers out but I prefer them fresh.  My secret is Trader Joes.  They have such a wide selection and they are always really affordable.  My rule for buying is to first pick out flowers and then either greenery or a second flower as filler.  Always add filler, that way you can form an arrangement that will look pretty darn professional when you're finished!  My favorite is always some form of eucalyptus.  It's really budget friendly and easy to work with. 

Once you've got your three essentials, books, tray, flowers, you can start adding in the extra touches with other accessories.  I find candles to be the easiest.  I found these beautiful gold candlesticks at a vintage store and then how can you go wrong with the Anthropologie classic? 

The key to styling just about anything is balance.  So once you have all your elements just play around with them until your eye feels satisfied.  If something makes your eye feel uncomfortable then move it.  Pay close attention to things like height, fullness, and color.  

1.  An easy way to achieve a balance with height is to put your tallest accessories on either side of your table and then fill the space in-between.  

2.  You want to fill the whole space but make sure it looks intentional.  You don't want things to feel crowded.  You can achieve this looking by grouping things together side by side.  

3.  Try and spread your color palette as evenly as possible across your chosen space.  This will help the eye to take in the entire surface or space with ease.  

I am definitely not a professional and of course there will always be exceptions and additions to these rules but this is a good place to start.  Just remember: balance darling! 

This corner has quickly become one of my favorite areas of my home.  When we moved in I originally had children's books here on the ledge but I wanted something a little more sophisticated. Then I discovered a company called Museum Quality Art and instantly fell in love with their selection of prints.  They are all prints of real paintings found in Museums.  It was definitely hard to choose but I but I ordered three different prints (I took screenshots on my phone to ensure they all coordinated) and then put them in modern frames for contrast.  I think they filled the space perfectly and I find myself looking at them all the time throughout the day, which is testimony of a good purchase! 

Genuine marble is definitely a luxury so if you want to incorporate it without breaking the bank, try a side table!  I found this one at Target for under $100.  I kept it pretty simple on top with just three key elements (try grouping things in odd numbers).  I touched on eucalyptus earlier but I really do love it and one of the reasons is because it dries out beautifully.  In this vase in particular I didn't even put in any water.  It creates hight and really pretty organic shapes with hardly any effort.  

This little glass box is one of my favorite touches.  Growing up (and still to this day) my grandparent's house was chock full of little trinkets that they brought back from their extensive travels.  I knew that when I grew up that's how I wanted my house to be:  one big story of the places that we've been.  This box is just a little peak.  Its full of euros, and shekels, and train tickets, and museum admission stubs.  It's a special little box and just another thing that makes our home ours.  I hope to fill many more to the brim over the years to come! 

I had a lot of fun with the books in this corner.  I came up with a color scheme and then flipped around all the books that didn't fit the scheme.  I love how it turned out even though it's not quite convenient for finding certain titles.  In the picture above the bookcase is my daughter, Ezrah.  I will admit that it took me about two years to finally get this printed but I'm so glad I finally did!  

And here we come to my beloved curtains.  It took me forever to find curtains that I really loved and these honestly couldn't be more me with those oober feminine ruffled hems (sorry Bryan) and the white on white is just so dreamy.  One thing that I have learned is that curtains are a MUST!  Not only do they fill your space but there is absolutely nothing better than opening your windows and letting the cool crisp breeze sweep them around.  It's honestly one of my favorite things ever.  It brings a certain peace and calming that is unparalleled.  Are they a pain to install?  Absolutely but the bliss to follow is well worth the effort! 

This black tiered table is my pride and joy because I got it at a garage sale for $15.  I went back and fourth about it for a while and then I saw someone else stop to look at it so I quickly snagged it up and I'm so glad I did!  It does have a small mark that I may try and fix in the future but for now it doesn't bother me much.  I think the reason I love it so much is because I can stack it full of books!

It also houses my grecian bust, which I am obsessed with.  She doesn't have a name although maybe I should consider her to be Psyche since she is a main character in my favorite book, Till We Have Faces.  Anyway, although she is a little over the top but she is beautiful and I absolutely love her!

I just want to touch on one more thing.  Part of making your home yours is simply finding unique ways to make it yours.  When you are out and about look for quirky objects that speak to you.  They can be over the top or a little more understated but they certainly don't have to be expensive.  For example, that little gold camel that you see in the above picture I found in a little shop in Bethlehem.  Everything in the shop was really expensive, the equivalent to hundreds and even thousands of US dollars but in a little basket in the corner was this one little camel.  I paid about five US dollars for him and he happens to be my favorite thing that I brought back from Israel.  Be on the look out and you are sure to find things that uniquely fit you and your home!

I really hope you enjoyed this post.  We are in weird times but I have learned that being creative has been the perfect outlet so I hope I was able to share a little of that with you today!

Hang in there and keep creating!











side table (similar)//throw pillows//glass box//art print one//art print two//art print three//tray (similar)//candle//globe (similar)//curtains//floor lamp//table lamp//mirror//grecian bust//rug


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