Our Transitional Living Room

You guys tell me what are the chances of finding a soul mate for the lonely lamp we had in our living room 4 yrs after we bought it? Keep in mind it is an unusually shaped one. Till last week I would have said “close to zero” but as you can see we have a pair now! Yay!

The power of Craigslist! Seriously this room wouldn’t look the same without all those Craigslist, yard sale, and thrift store finds. And of course the DIY’d ones.

So the story goes like this. I’ve been on the look out for a similar looking lamp (by the way the one on the right is the one we already had) as I was so sure that I’d not be able to find an exact match. The plan was to find something with similar lines for the base, I’d spray paint both to match, and buy a brown shade. Over the years no luck with the search and I happened to acquire a beautiful Chinoiserie Ginger jar lamp thanks to a friend who didn’t have the need for it anymore. Plan B was to find a pair for this lamp and switch the current one out. Unfortunately that search too turned up nothing and I had forgotten about it. But ever since I refinished my other Craigslist find, the vintage sewing machine table, the lonely lamp problem started bothering me again.

Two weeks ago there I was casually looking through the Household section on Craigslist and a pair of these lamps were staring back at me. I clicked, saved the pic, send it to B at work saying, “Can you believe it the same lamp we have……..on Craigslist” followed with a million exclamation marks in the email subject line. I was afraid the seller would sell them only as a pair and wouldn’t like splitting them (remember I wanted only one). So I sent her an email telling her how badly I’ve been looking for a mate for my lonely lamp (with a pic of it in my living room) and told her how much I had paid for it at Home Goods and asked her if she would sell me one at the same price. And what do ya know? She said yes!

The cowbell is from The Old Lucketts Store, my daughter made the black and white heart, the yellow jewelry box is from my friend’s antique store, Its Bazaar on 21st St in Purcellville, and the vase the roses are in was a neighborhood yard sale Facebook group find.

By the way, don’t my pintuck curtains (from Overstock) look pretty against the wall color?

The cork ball was a Christmas ornament DIY that is so versalite that I can use it around the house all year round. The small Gold tray is from Goodwill. The faux antlers were on after Christmas clearance at Michaels ($2!!!!) in Jan.

The Moroccan Trellis pillows were stenciled by yours truly as well as the Namaste pillow. Adding to the charm is the colorful figurine of the Hindu god Ganesha, the remover of all obstacles.

On the side table is the ceramic bust planter/vase from IMM Living, a red pear that used to live on the floating shelves in the family room, and a crystal ship a gift from a friend.

Here’s the view from the other side with the accent chair (another find from Overstock) in full view.

Even with all the new additions my favorite thing in the room is still the Red Chinese horse I found at Ross for $10.

And of course the coral roses, a gift from B on my birthday last week.

That pretty much sums up our transitional living room. We’ve come a long way from this in 2010, don’t you think?

How do you like to add color to your space?