My Living Room

It is the most lived-in room of the house. It's the brightest, it houses the TV with cable on it, the furniture is plop-down-make-yourself-comfortable kinda furniture, and I've always made it a point for it to be dog- and kid-friendly (which means that it's in a constant state of, well, untidyness). When we moved into the house, I was on such a fixed budget. I knew what I wanted and I knew that I'd have to wait for much of it. But some things just fell into place without costing a penny.

Like our coffee table. I had a kitchen table that was really too large for our kitchen (I had bought it in our last apartment and it was perfect for the dining room). It hadn't cost me that much and rather than sell it at a yard sale, I looked at it in a different light. I had no coffee table for our living room, this table was the perfect surface size, and the white fit in nicely with what I had. So I asked my dad to cut the legs down. It has proven to be the perfect coffee table. Great for entertaining, dinner in the living room, playing games, and putting your feet up on, and I can fit an ottoman underneath to pull out for more seating.
At the time that I moved into our home, the design firm where I work was housed in an old renovated warehouse space. The owner at the time had lots of salvaged architectural items around. When we were ready to move into a new space and the owner was selling out to his partner, many of these items were up for grabs. I couldn't resist this window, to which I added the curtain and the starfish. It hangs in my living room now and feels beachy.
Trips to thrift stores and yard sales can result in the simplest of pieces adding a ton to your room's color palette. With my pink and blue/green theme going, these books (with the exception of the vintage embroidery book, a gift from Courtney) and shell planter (all purchased for next to nothing) are highlights of my mantle.