Vision isn't Always Reality

I love dark and white woods, mixing light with dark, blues, creams, whites, greys, black, and pops of color (like red, yellow, and sometimes pink).  My vision of what our living room should be is something that's timeless/classic, yet comfy...I want it to look great, but I want you to still be able to feel at home. 

Maybe something like these photos:

1. Source: bargainhoot.com

   2.  Source:bhg.com 

Source: homegoods.com 

Source: madebygirl.blogspot.com

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com

What my husband's vision, well, I'm not entirely sure, because he doesn't really plan these things out. He's more of a see it and like it type of guy. He is very picky though. Ugh. He did know that he wanted all dark furniture, including the couch. He tends to be drawn towards earth tones, neutral color, and red. He loves red.

So, with all of this in mind, here is what our living room is turning out to look like:

bookshelf with printer. (The bookshelf itself is a mess! Need to work on that...)

Couch and Coffee table!

Couch again! Can you believe it's from Big Lots?!

Recliner from Tyler's grandparents.

TV, TV stand (which we got for free!), and a side table. That's not the tables permanent home, but that wall was empty.

What do you think? I think the couch needs more color haha.  We also need to finish deciding where to put things like pictures. The walls are looking bare! Ah well. It's slowly but surely coming together! 

Trying to Find my Style

When decorating, most people have a certain style or direction. Me? Well, I'm trying to find my style. For some people, this is an easy task, for me, well, it's been interesting and somewhat difficult. Why you may ask? Well, for one thing, I have an opinionated husband. I guess I should be thankful he has an opinion, because some people would kill for their spouse to have such a big opinion about decorating and helping organize the house. Granted, I do enjoy that he helps me out, but sometimes I just want to do things my way.

Another reason that this has been such an interesting and difficult task is the fact that I can be indecisive. So, I've been trying to be proactive and read articles, take quizzes, and find inspiration for our new place in order to find my style.

My style according to some quizzes online is: French eclectic, French country, vintage, and classic. Seems about right if ya ask me. I like to entertain, in fact, we both like to entertain and have people over. I want our apartment to have a homey, yet sophisticated and classy feel to it. I feel with the results of these style quizzes that that feel could work out nicely.

I recently have found inspiration in some of the things that I love/are meaningful to me: 

damask patterns, french stuff (European things in general), things from the places I've traveled, floral, pillows, colorful things, dark wood, white wood,...Sigh, I like a lot of things, haha.  

I have also found inspiration in our apartment and some of the furniture we already own. Our apartment is very beige, tan, and white, and most of our furniture is dark...I'm talking black/brown and cherry woods. 

Master bedroom with our wardrobe. (Our German Apartment didn't have closets)

I really like the dark and light combination with pops of colors. 

 

I may have too much to choose from. I want new stuff, but I still have cool old(er) stuff. Tyler and I already have four huge trash bags for goodwill, throw away, given away, and recycled many things. It will all come together soon, I hope. 

How do you guys find inspiration for decorating?

How did you/do you find your style?