Our New Great Room ...

Greetings, friends!

Here we are ... in an empty great room ... just as it looked right before we moved in:

And, here we are AFTER! Welcome to our new great room ... all ready for Fall! One of the first things we did was to have the hardwood continued in here. It's all throughout the rest of the first floor, so, we decided to bite the bullet and had it done right after we moved in (by the same company who installed the hardwood on the rest of the entire first floor) ... this way, we knew we were getting the same "dye lot" as the rest of the rooms.

Do you ever let your rooms "speak to you" to let you know how they want to be decorated? Well, I do ... annnnnd, apparently, this space told me that it wanted for me to trade out our wheat colored sofa for a white EKTORP sofa from IKEA ... to add white/beige buffalo check curtains (also from IKEA), along with bamboo roman shades ... and to throw in black accents!

Colorful "Fall" pillows from Kirkland's (mixed with white/burlap trim pillows and a single burlap pillow from Pottery Barn) warm up the sofa. An inexpensive throw (from IKEA) adds just a little bit of texture (and warmth on our now chilly mornings).

Simple Fall stems in a glass demijohn stand loud and proud on the sofa table. And, I couldn't help but flank it with two chunky matching wooden corbels from Home Goods.

I traded out our gold and glass coffee table for our wooden one (from Pottery Barn) to help with the warm and cozy feeling I was going for in here. (Again, the room "told" me to do this)!

And, here's our "revamped" Fall mantel (yes, I changed it again)!

I love how crisp the black and white are together, paired with the beautiful colors of Fall. And, because of this new color palette, I have a feeling I'll simply have to try my hand at a Halloween mantel this year, too!

Moving on around the room, you'll spy our TV ... the builder added an outlet and cable box above the fireplace, BUT, I'm just not a fan of having the TV over the fireplace if I can help it ... you guys know that I "need" that space above the mantel to be able to decorate!

I covered our torn up ottoman top with burlap and threw another comfy throw from IKEA on there ... it's all about the layers during the upcoming months, isn't it?

After looking and looking and LOOKING for nice black and white photos to frame, I turned to one of our "coffee table" books, which had pictures that I love! Yes, I removed certain pages I wanted to frame (shame), BUT, I look at it as though now I'm showcasing the beautiful pictures instead of hiding them.

I carried the buffalo check pattern to the other side of the room by folding extra fabric over the back of one of the wing chairs ... of course, I had to add an orange faux pumpkin and black book to balance the colors around the room!