Am I decorating a living room or the White House?

So It’s only been a few short days since our offer was accepted on the Harbor City place (let’s officially call it the Bam House!) and 1) escrow is a bitch and 2) my head is going to explode from all of the ideas I am having for our new space. Right now I am trying to tell myselff to focus on one room at a time. After all, we are going to OWN (that still seems unreal to me) this place so we have time to really decide how we want to design it.

Let me share some of my ideas and let you into my thought process.

Moonshine // Gray Owl // Stonington Gray // Collingwood // Balboa Mist

Thinking about paint, I want something light that will give the room some character, but won’t darken it. If Daniel had his way he would have it like a cave, but I love sunlight! So sunlight we shall have. I found these online and loved how they looked on the walls in the pictures, but I notice that all of them look like they are colors. Did you know “greige” was a thing? A gray/beige? I think that’s what I would qualify the last two to be. Personally I am leaning toward the middle one, Stonington Gray. I know it’s the darker of all 5, but I think about it against white trim (crown moulding and baseboard) and I swoon.

I have always grown up with carpet. Every house and apartment I have ever lived in has had carpet so I am getting excited about the possibility of having a different surface. Oddly enough I am really loving the porcelain/ceramic floors for the entire living and kitchen area. Daniel, Jack, and I schlepped ourselves all the way down to Irvine this past weekend to visit Floor & Decor so I could see these babies in person. I asked one of the employees about hardwood in the kitchen to which he directed me toward their aqua lock technology laminate or the porcelain/ceramic flooring. I am afraid that it might be too cold, but the living room is on the second floor above the garage so at least it’s not on the concrete… right? I just really love the colors of this stuff and am trying to justify it. In the end I don’t know if it’s too dangerous for Jack if he falls and Daniel has a tendency to lay on the living room floor (with or without Jack) so I do want it to be as comfortable as possible. Who knows we may end up with carpet in the end!

Gorgeous red rug // Moroccan Shag Rug

Speaking of cold floors, IF we end up with hardwood or something colder, I think I may have to bite the bullet and invest in a great rug. Daniel HATES area rugs. He thinks they are dumb and dangerous, but he has another thing coming if he thinks that’s going to stop me from getting one. muuuahahaha. I loooovveee these Moroccan shag rugs, but I’m not sure if having one with a seven month old boy is a good idea. I would love to find a beautiful vintage rug with a nice shade of red, but I am not sure if I am bold enough. Plus, the $$$$. Who decided that rugs were going to be insanely expensive? I wasn’t in that meeting because that would have been a big VETO from me. Beautiful aren’t they?

Max Wanger Print // Chief // Thom Filicia

I am really really REALLY feeling Max Wanger right now. His photographs are exactly my taste and the colors that he highlights create such an airy, beachy vibe. I definitely need to get my hands on one of these babies. Our art right now feels so dark and very masculine. While I don’t want to get rid of anything, now we have the room to switch it up a bit and replace some of the old prints with new, more sophisticated art. As you can see from my examples, I am really into the beach thing right now, maybe because I live in Southern California, but can’t afford the view.

Couch // Coffee Table // Lockers

This is the furniture we already have for the living room and will not be getting rid of. Our couch is a little different in that it has a chaise instead of the weird corner piece, but you get the feel of the color and the size. We bought that a little over a year ago in anticipation of having a little one (hence the dark fabric) so that won’t be going anywhere for awhile. I tried to keep the other pieces of furniture light to contrast the dark grey of the couch. I really would like to get rid of our coffee table since it barely fits in the “U” shape that our couch makes, but that’s more money that we may not have after closing costs (fun!). The white lockers are just so much fun and give our space a modern touch that says, hey! young people live here!

Next up is the kitchen. I’m telling you guys, give me a blank slate and my mind will go go go. Does anyone else have that problem? TOO MUCH TO COMPUTE (said in robot voice). I can’t wait for some of these ideas to come off of paper and into our living room!