Family room. Living room. Call it what you will. It’s nearly there, save for a missing coffee table. Plus, I was browsing different rug types and I’d really prefer a new area rug with navy and cream stripes to brighten it up. But who knows if it will work in a new space, so we’d better hold off, no?

The question is, what type of coffee table works here? I’m thinking something airy, not too chunky or visually heavy, no brown wood unless it’s thin and raised, so there’s plenty of air between the tabletop and the floor.

The chairs now are positioned “talking style,” but perhaps they’re better off being parallel, both facing the sofa, cleanly.

Also, I KNOW the class jar thinger is tilted crooked. I’ve fixed it.

This might sound odd, but we might not be here to water plants (or orchids), so is a faux orchid a big no on a coffee table? I feel like they’re okay when used minimally, and out of reach, up high somewhere where no one is tempted to touch it. And in bathrooms. Thoughts?

Do I need to add a yellow throw pillow or two to tie into the yellow and white theme on the shelves?

Go on, be honest. I’m removed from this emotionally… well, trying to be.

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Update. Okay, this “coffee table” stand-in is from outside, and again, I think it’s too chunky/heavy, but I like the square shape and height. That is my real, live, orchid, though we’d need to replace it with an alternative to live. You do the math.

De- to the clutter. Are the shelves in the living room really too busy?

Stand-In Coffee Table

I’ve removed furniture. And I can pull the chairs out further so they’re not so close in. Does this work better. Now, what to do with that loveseat…

Have Cookbooks, Will Carry

Is it totally wrong to stage a kitchen with a “coffee lounge” (aka, the loveseat)? I ask because behind this living/family room is a dining area with a glass table and chairs. There’s also enough room, though, for an eat in kitchen. Though, I think it’s weird to set up the kitchen—with an eat-in breakfast nook (on it’s own area rug to help define the space)—when there’s already a dining area so close by. Ideally, I’d have two club chairs and a low round table in the kitchen, a coffee spot to read the paper, or a place for guests to drink wine, and still be close to you in the kitchen. BUT, Phil refuses to spend money buying two club chairs for the space. So, what would you do? And, yes, I’ll slim down the cookbook library.

Also, here’s how the previous owner staged it… with a children’s picnic table.

Previous Owners

Previous Owners’ Dining Space

There’s more where that came from… On my Flickr I show how the previous owners staged the home, and you can also see how we’ve lived in it.

Also, for the record… know the movie Brewster’s Millions?

Loved to love that film. Richard Pryor has to spend an obscene amount of money, and one of things he does to spend it is hire a decorator to design a “room I could die in.” I have many of these dream rooms. So, for the record, these are my dream rooms (aka my inspiration and mini-loves):

Lover Living. I want to make out with this room, despite the fact that people might scream “too busy.” This is my ideal. I’m not a minimalist girl.

Skippity do wop do