18 snippets.

I realize I am horrible at the before and after posts of our house.  I just never feel like a room is finished enough to photograph.  I am definitely one of those people who collects things over time, and I don't like buying furniture and such just because we need it if I'm not in love with it.  But our house is slowly coming together, so I've decided I'll post snippets of things anyway, even if a room isn't finished.  Here are a few snippets of the living room.

We have a big U shaped sectional in here, since this is the living room in the back of the house which we use as more of a den.  It looks into the formal living room, with a view of the TV in the corner and the fireplace.  I bought the coffee table and floor lamp from cb2.  I love them both!

These were the first shelves we hung in the whole house.  They were on clearance at Target and they match our walnut trim perfectly.  I need to add a little more color but this is how they look at the moment.  I'm on the hunt for a console table or buffet to put underneath them since it's sort of an awkward space near the doorway to the kitchen.

All of the milkglass, the book and little owl tray were thrifted.  The photo of the door was taken by my cousin in Italy.  The print is from Oneword Designs on Etsy.

You can kind of see one of two chrome bookshelves we hung in the back of this picture.  I need to restyle them before I photograph the shelves in more detail.  I'm not loving the layout at the moment.

The mantle is definitely a work in progress.  I found this awesome ship picture at our local Habitat for Humanity Restore for $35.  It was a total steal for such a large painting and ties in the color we're using in the formal living room with the curtain color in here.  It's a little big for this space though.  I'd like to hang a mirror up here but haven't found one I like yet.  I'm also dying to paint the fireplace (and brick...and mantle) or somehow make it more modern.  That cheap brass look is killing me.  Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

I made the white wreath using this tutorial a year or so ago (and yes, it did take forever).  The ottoman was from HomeGoods and the awesome aluminum birch vases are Michael Aram and some of my most prized possessions.

I just picked up these two books on Amazon, and they inspired this entire photoshoot.  That coral cover of the Design*Sponge at Home book is the perfect pop of color I've been searching for.  Which is pretty awesome considering the fact that I bought them more for content than for looks.  Yay for functional items that just happen to be pretty.

The floral vase is from HomeGoods and the honeycomb vase and hammered metal bowl are from West Elm Modern Furniture.

So there are a few little sneak peeks at the views from our living room.  What do you think?