{ Living Room }

Welcome to our home!

Like the dining room, the walls are Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.

I love vintage glass bottles. This Karo syrup jar was 25 cents at a yard sale.

Please accept my apologies for the Mothership {aka the blinding torchiere}. What little natural light we get is pitifully inadequate for photography.

More antique glass...I found the half-gallon jug and the pale green jar in an old outbuilding at my parents' farm.

I also convinced my parents to let me have this enormous crock. They were happy to see it go; it has a huge crack all the way up the back that renders it useless for storage or as a planter. And don't you love that quilt?! It was a gift when I graduated from college. I chose the pattern and color scheme, my mom paid for the fabric, and my aunt, grandma, and some other ladies in the community made it. One of my favorite possessions. It is gorgeous.

~ jars of dried roses from the many bouquets Mike has given me ~

~ this African violet reminds me of my Grandma Violet ~

Oh, this mirror makes me so happy! I looked for a big mirror for over a year. At this size, they cost several hundred dollars, even at "cheap" places like Lowe's or Home Depot. I wasn't willing to pay that--let alone the fact that finding one with a frame I liked was nearly impossible. {There seems to be a conspiracy wherein if the mirror is big enough for the space and the frame isn't ugly, the price is automatically $500 or above.} I found this mirror at Value Village for $19.99. At first I thought I might have to paint the frame, but I so far I like it as it is. What do you think?

My new obsession: pillow covers from Etsy. Such an easy way to transform the look of a room using pillows you already own. For the lumbar pillows {which I didn't have}, I found 100% down pillow inserts for under $8 at Tuesday Morning.

My favorite comment regarding our newly-painted rooms came from Mike, just a day or two after I'd gotten everything put back in its place: "It looks so much nicer in here now, babe. It's relaxing to come home now, instead of, like, 'AHHHHHHH, green!'" Even if I'd loved the previous color, that alone makes all the time, sore muscles, and expense worthwhile.