Raise the Curtain

I made a little change to our living room just before Christmas. I got rid of the too-dark navy curtains and replaced them with some lighter, texture-filled ones. (Excuse the wrinkles, they haven't been steamed yet.)

The navy ones were just too much for the room. Even though the detail in them matched the paint colour (BM Ranchwood), they just weren't right. At the time I thought I wanted dramatic curtains, but they weighed down the room - made it seem dark and dreary. Too bad it took me nearly a year to figure it out!

These new ones are from Ikea, but I can't find them on line so they must be discontinued. They are a heathered taupe colour, and I'm in love with the large weave. They look and feel like cozy blankets you'd want to wrap yourself up in. And it doesn't hurt that they were less than half the price of the navy ones.

Now that we have more neutral curtains, I'm able to bring in the navy I want with little touches here and there. While at Ikea I bought these navy, tan, and white pillows. Combine them with the tan couch and the navy pillows I already had and you'd think I knew what I was doing. I love that they are removable (button closure) for washing because the dogs like them as much as I do. I always find Chloe with her paws wrapped around one, hugging it like a stuffed animal.

Other touches are the sea glass and starfish bowl, and the funky glass vase that I filled with a fake plant (or should I say faux greenery?) I think it looks like a little garden.

The room is by no means completed, in fact it looks quite sparse with all of the Christmas decorations put away. But I've been told that I need to focus on the kitchen cabinets before starting any other major project (I'm thinking a sideboard of some kind to go under the frames of the gallery wall).

Have you ever made a big purchase (it was big to me) and then regretted it later? Did you just live with it or did you keep looking until you found something you liked more? I guess I'll have to chalk this one up to experience.