Living Room Switch-a-roo

Although I have been working like crazy this week I did manage to get the living room spiffed up and re-arranged.

I am still hunting for a new couch which has been a more in depth process than I would have thought. I have been looking at West Elm, Rowe, and PB and scouring blogs to find a cost effective, quality couch, but I still haven't been able to find the perfect one. I am wanting something slightly more casual contemporary, but Chris likes the more rounded country look. As I look over at my living room I want something more out of it, for starters it needs a nice color on the wall rather than the beige that surrounds the rest of my house (it is better than builders white). I am working on talking my dad into building me some white built-ins similar to these found at Jones Design Company , her living room is almost identical to ours and we are loving the antique pew, well really I love the entire room. But for now this is what I have:

I re-angled the furniture something I do about once a month to switch it up

I centered all the wooden boxes to make it slightly more modern

Added a wooden white tray to the coffee table, we can't put anything too high on the table because of Foster's monstrous tail

I removed Foster's crate and put it in the office and moved an antique trunk, that was positioned near the door, to create a cute little nook, this is probably my favorite part of the living room and I found a gallon sized mason jar at Target to add to my collection, as if I don't have enough, look above my cabinets in the kitchen

Also, at Target we purchased a rug to go under the island, this is probably one of my favorite patterns, we already owned this rug in a smaller size, but the 5X7 was finally on sale, so here it is. It adds a nice pop of color.

Have you found any great deals on couches lately? Any brands you would avoid? We could use all the help we can get.

Now on to cleaning the rest of the house and packing for a long awaited trip to the beach.

A relaxed state

What a cool summer day it is in Lynchburg, I am sitting outside my local Starbucks enjoying the breeze blowing through. I got back last night from a week spent vacationing with my family on Kiawah Island, SC. It is always hard coming back from a relaxing vacation and starting work the next day, but sometimes with my job I have the flexibility to be on call, which was my preference today. I am hoping for some productivity and a refreshed outlook today.

This was my first time on Kiawah which is located about 25 miles from Charleston. To me Kiawah seems to be an island filled with different neighborhoods and bike trails. We went on daily bike rides around the island and toggled back and forth from the beach to the pool. Each night we shared yummy family meals and fun stories. There isn't a ton to do on the island unless you love to golf, which none of us do, but I really enjoyed spending quality time with the fam and working on my suntan. I definitely recommend this vacation spot, but would suggest to venture to Charleston if you are going to eat out.

Braden and I relaxing by the pool

It is nice to be back in Lynchburg, especially since I hadn't seen my hubs nor Foster in week. Now we are counting down the days until we leave for vacation with the Wilson Clan.