back in january, when the couches arrived, the great room finally had places to sit.
less empty than empty, but too stark even for my minimalist leanings.
then, last weekend, as you may have noticed, we brought home two chairs that we'd left at the old house, and plopped them in the great room for the time being.
as they sat there, i realized they were helping to fill in the room a bit. not chairs that i'd had in mind for the space, but hey - they were chairs, and they didn't cost us a penny.
however, the cushions weren't working for me.
so i went shopping. i stopped at pier 1 to see if they had any of the same seat cushions so i could replace the stained, flattened, off-white ones. they did - if i wanted bright yellow, bright green, turquoise, or off-white again. so, turquoise came home with me.
not sold on that and thinking i may be able to gently wash the existing cushions in a diluted bleach bath, i then ran to crate & barrel ... and pottery barn ... and west elm ... and target ... looking for pillows for the back of the chair. i looked at different colors, solid colors, patterns, napkins that could be sewn into pillow covers. i contemplated the white tuxedo pleat curtains we took from the old house and wondered how they would look sewn into pillow covers. i questioned why every store only sells off-white. there is no White. why is that?! some people don't WANT off-white. but i digress.
i wasted an entire day on this project.
not totally satisfied that what i'd purchased to mix and match would result in a winner, i came home to play. for sure, i knew, the yellow covers would have to go. too mustardy, too warm, but i didn't have a back-up plan so i left them. i tried the various combos i'd brought home, and in the end, surprisingly, i went with the turquoise seat cushions (which i feared were too bright and turquoise-y) and left the yellow back pillow. why? because of these gray lovelies that i picked up at west elm.
the subtle gray works with the color of the couches, and the diamond pattern mimics the tufting, and the pattern tones down the "solidness" of the turquoise and mustard. and once it was all together, i realized that the colors actually work perfectly with what is on the mantle.
so, sold. they're staying. for now.
and the room feels much warmer and closer to "together."
still on the hunt for a rug - contemplating flor tiles ... anyone have experience with those? - and need to get some tables and lamps and figure out the window covering situation. one thing at a time, though. because through this little pillow exercise, i've learned how much of an impact adding one little thing at a time really makes.