Restless Again.

TJ Maxx is having a giant clearance sale!!  Gues who just scored this solid glass hurricane for 2 bucks?  This girl!

I was out there was to find some stuff to give the front room a facelift-- the fabric covering the ottoman is getting old... actually, it hasn't seemed right, ever.

Here's the photo I posted a week ago. There's just something in here that works. West Elm makes adding character to rooms seem effortless.

While a dark blue accent wall would probably not fit in with the rest of the house, I do believe the same color effect could be accomplished with wall art. Eventually, I'll work up the courage to a) paint walls and b) do it in a dark color. By the way, the blue used by West Elm is Benjamin Moore Philipsburg Blue, and Pottery Barn uses a similar BM Hale Navy.

An intense search turned up a few more rooms that use the same dark-blue-wall idea. I'm looking for a room that's more polished and classic, maybe not so "trendy," like these... as fun as they are:

Photo: House Beautiful

In other words, we're not going to commit to the orange sofa just yet.

Here are a few of the inspiration rooms that seem to hit the nail on the head:

From the blog, moderninmn.blogspot.com. This is so inspirational because it's a REAL LIFE example of blue done well, not just a catalog shot. She even has the little transom windows like ours!  Great idea to turn a basket upside-down and use it as a side table.

This is from House Beautiful; it's obviously not a living room, but note the brown/wood accent, clean lines, and natural, organic feel of the room.

Basically, the brown sofa is the biggest constraint in our house. So here are a few rooms that seem make the brown sofa work:

From HGTV's Rate My Space. It's a very warm and inviting room! Great accent pillows, and nice way to add light to the room with the ZGallerie mirrored coffee table.

In reality, this sofa may actually be grey. But, again, we have this beautiful geometric design on this grey rug... drool. I love the clean lines and classic look of this room. But does it lack personality?