Sitting Pretty

Phew we had quite the day here in Maryland!  Tornadoes, flooding, and high winds...it was crazy and a little frightening to boot!  Our son wasn't able to make it back home from running with our local rescue squad overnight until this afternoon because some of the roads had been flooded and they needed every available person to help out so he stayed on past his shift.

I kept myself busy finishing up a story for Romantic Country Magazine, and hoped that no big tree limbs would come down or that the water would get too high.  Luckily we only had a few limbs fall and the water didn't get precariously high.  Thankfully, I think most people made it through the storm fairly well.

After I finished my story I decided it was time to take a few pictures of my latest project.  A little change up in the living room!

I've been wanting to update our living room for a while now.  Most of the upholstered pieces in this room are almost 15 years old...sheesh I can hardly believe that little factoid!  And although it's in wonderful shape because it hardly saw any use in our last house and rarely gets used in this house, it was time for a change.

The deep jewel tone green of the sectional sofa (now divided into a couch and loveseat) was fine in our last home which was a colonial and had a much more formal feel and not nearly as much natural light as the new house.  I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet, and waver back and forth between slipcovering it in a nice neutral linen, to getting rid of it completely and starting from scratch.

Instead of jumping in with both feet when I really wasn't sure what look I wanted for this room, I decided to start with baby steps.

I knew I wanted something completely different, but because that crazy thing called money always seems to rear its ugly head every time you want to completely change out a room, I decided to try recovering the dark wing chair in the corner that I still liked, except for its dark fabric.

So off I went to see my friend Sheryl of Slipcover Cottage, and seamstress extraordinaire!  She gave me swatches of fabrics to take home and mull over in all sorts of different lighting.

I'm a pretty decisive person, and normally have an image of exactly what I want even before I start looking for fabric, but this time I really hemmed and hawed over what look I was trying to achieve.  I knew I needed something that would still go with my green sofa, but I wanted something a little funky and unexpected.

In the end I chose a fabric in a color way that I would normally walk right past.  Orange mixed with magenta is not something I usually gravitate toward, so I shocked even myself when I picked the fabric above to use for my new slipcover!

And because this chair is has an unusual shape for a wing chair, there is no separate seat cushion and the arms have a strange build to them as well, I wondered just how easy it would be for Sheryl to create something that would stay put and look good!

But I should have known better, her work is always fabulous and once again she came through with flying colors!!!

And speaking of colors, I am loving this new bold print and the bright color combo, it completely changed the whole look of the room!  I love it when a small change has a huge impact!

So instead of boring, tired, and drab...

I am enjoying a little cool, funky, and fab!!  Hmm now all I need is a new seagrass rug, and some Ikea Ektorp sofas...now where are my car keys and GPS....Mr. Tide?!

I don't get compensated for telling you how great Sheryl's work is, but if you're in the market for new slipcovers I can't recommend her highly enough!

To see more transformations head over to Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch!

and

Be sure to stop by Show and Tell Friday over at My Romantic Home