Little by Little

I'm making a few little updates to the living room. The long awaited new sofas are making some of the older stuff look a little scruffy. I am on a tight budget, so big changes are not an option, but tiny things are making a world of difference to me right now.

I started with one of the side tables beside our sofa. It belonged to my grandmother, and I've had it for a decade. It has been a shabby chic off white in a past life, and spent many years a distressed dark olivey-brown- the handles had a faux finish black with rusty brown splotches. The handles were chipped, and the color clashed with brown of the sofas. I could barely handle the clash...

I repainted it with a caramel-champagne spray paint I found at walmart. I rarely use spray paint, but it's mid winter here and the thought of taking a paint brush to it in some corner of the house just didn't appeal to me. Instead, I threw up a tarp, opened the front door for ventilation, sprayed it, and done in a few hours. I also sprayed the handles a hammered bronze. Easy as can be. I like how it turned out... still vintage lines, rustic colors, and a little shimmer never hurt.

I also couldn't bring myself to slap the same old pillows on my new sofa. I kept a few favorites, including my striped olive, caramel and brown favorites, and the upcycled sweater pillow I made last winter, but I added some new ones with fabrics I've been collecting over the years. I found this indulgent soft pink velvety fabric on the clearane shelf at Joanns- and I nabbed it, and hoarded it for a long time. I always wanted it to be a pillow. A big one. Enter the huge pillow form I found for $6 at IKEA this January, and we were set. I had to hand sew it, but I love the pop of shimmer and femininity it adds to our living room.

My other new pillow is made from less than a yard of a luxurious Ralph Lauren rose print fabric. I could not afford a ton of this fabric- but if I could I'd wallpaper my dern house with it. I love it. I would make curtains... oh the things I would do! But, I make do. I used a half-off coupon, and bought enough to make a pillow. Ta Da!

Here we have it, my cozy new sofa.

I have 3 more pillow forms to use, and a lot of more fabric hunting to do. I keep a tiny swatch of the Ralph Lauren fabric in my purse all the time, just in case I find something anywhere. Bring on the deals.