Smitten...by Abigail: Mish Mash Part 1... Formal Living Room Reveal

If you know me well, you'd think that my formal living room - the first room you lay your eyes on would pop out crying, "Look at me! Look at me!" Well... you thought wrong. This room was one of the biggest challenges I've faced in my home to date. Creative block after creative block, as I attempted to fill this room, it accumulated random decor and cast-off furnishings from the family room. I avoided this area as much as I could. You'll see why below...

Eww

I've sold off the entire sofa set on KSL Classifieds. I kept insisting to the hubby, "Just get it out of here!"

My very first overpriced wall decor purchased from Tai Pan Trading.
This will stay in storage until I can figure out what to do with it.

With the eviction of the bulky everybody-has-one-just-like-it-sofa set, I became more aware that there was so much more potential with the room. The space is 12' x 16' and holds a 16' high ceiling, recruiting Mr. Smitten for some help with brainstorming was a definite must. We both agreed we didn't want our home to look like the everybody else's. We craved for some personal touches that were unique to our taste: Extremely eclectic since we love all types of decor. A major factor in this renovation was as always, budget. We had some pretty hefty changes to make aside from the decor, that we had to make sure that we didn't break the bank.

So without any further delay, here is our Formal Living Room...

Have I caught your attention yet?

The only "brand new" purchases from this room are the paint, trim, flooring and faux plant (that came free with the flooring). Everything else was either previously displayed in another room of the house, second hand from the classifieds, swap meet or thrift store. I just added my own little oomph touches to make them look like they always belonged together.

Our Conversation-Starter/Wow Factor piece of art

I needed to "man down" all of the fuchsia coloring and searched for the perfect tufted masculine leather sofa. Found it! And I only had to shell out $100.

The records were purchased from a Swap Meet in the next town over in Riverdale for $1 each. A 4'x8'x 3/8" piece of particle board, an old plastic gas price number ($0.75) and some leftover paint was all it took to make this art project a blast for the hubby and I. This piece represents our love of music.

Finally, window treatments!

Nothing's better than a FREE monstrous sized piece of furniture that I can paint and get creative with!

My love for vintage knick knacks will never fade.

I love how Mr. Smitten will bring home great finds because he knows I'll fall in love with them. The top left frame is now a home to a 1930s postal railroad route map he found while on a job at the very old Los Gables Apartments in Salt Lake City.