recent living room additions

Slowly but surely, we've been putting our living room back together following the renovations. Or perhaps I should say a living room, as it's changed quite a bit in the transition. Whenever it finally gets to the point where it's looking close to done (hmmm, is any room ever really "done"?), I'll tell the whole story, complete with before-and-after pictures. But meanwhile, here's a quick update on a few of the recent additions to the room.

New Sofa: Previously we had a futon as our primary living room seating; that has now been moved into our guest room. (We have a guest room now!) So it was time to buy a genuine, grown up sofa. This one from Precedent was purchased at a discount from Greenfront Furniture. I'm delighted by the fabric, which is a nubby blue/gold combo that ties in with the color scheme that's emerging in the room and also works with the old rug (from Capel) which we plan to live with a while longer. The cats have already decided that the sofa was purchased solely for their own entertainment and comfort. We've been employing various strategies to keep them from turning it into a scratching post, but there's no keeping them from sleeping all over it. As a result, it's already looking quite a bit slouchier than it did when it first arrived at the beginning of March.

New Chairs: We've spent hours looking for the perfect chair and have not yet found it. (Except for one we spotted at Perlora in Pittsburgh for just under $2000. Needless to say, we decided to keep looking.) This pair of chairs from World Market is our temporary solution. Bought on sale at $130 a piece, they provide us with seating that we won't feel too bad about passing on to someone else if that perfect chair does in fact turn up in just a few months. The pillows (also showing evidence of feline squishing) came cheap from HomeGoods.

Wall Art: Purchased from the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, those fun clay objects on the wall next to the CD towers were made by Florida artist Meagan Chaney and are abstract interpretations of flowers and sea urchins. I'd love to add more of them eventually, but for now the budget dictated that we stop at five. (Although they were considerably cheaper at the store in Pittsburgh than they are if you buy them online. Shouldn't it work the other way around?)

Coffee Table: Not here yet, but should be arriving soon. I've been in love with this West Elm coffee table for some time, but we couldn't bring ourselves to buy it until it went on sale. It will replace our old, worn mission-style coffee table we've had almost 20 years. I have a glass table from CB2 serving as my desk in my new office, and I love how big it makes the room feel. I'm hoping this coffee table will have the same effect in our living room.