Decorating My Living Room: A Challenge

As I sat in my living room, surrounded by all the usual decorations and table settings, I felt overwhelmed. The trees, garland, teddy bears, and countless ornaments seemed to be overwhelming me. I had always taken for granted that decorating was something I could do instinctively, but today, I decided to take a step back and seek advice from my audience.

The tablescape was where the challenge began. I decided to keep it simple, but simple seemed to elude me. The coffee table, which I had never had before, felt foreign under my hands. Normally, I used an ottoman as a surface for decoration, but this new piece of furniture required something different. I opted for a few smaller pillows and placed them on the tabletop, but even that didn't feel quite right.

The issue with the pillows was that they were too small, which threw off the balance of the room. I moved some larger Navy pillows to create a more harmonious look, but it still felt like something was missing. The Plaid pillow, which I pulled from its usual spot in the corner, seemed like an okay solution, but I wasn't sure if it would work.

The Christmas tree was another area where I felt uncertain. Every year, I changed up my decorations, trying to find a new look that suited me. This year, I wanted something more minimalistic, but something still festive and fun. I worried about the mismatched ornaments, each with its own story and memory. There was Micah's freshman-year ornament, her little octopus, which she had thrifted in Florida, and the "what's his face" ornament from a previous year.

To make matters more complicated, I realized that my red pillows were throwing off the entire room. They seemed too bold and out of place amidst all the other decorations. Removing them might be a bit drastic, but it was an option to consider. The fur pillows, which I loved for their texture and warmth, had a square and boxy shape that clashed with the rest of the furniture.

The tree skirt, however, was where the fur pillows truly made a difference. I needed something soft and cozy underfoot as I walked around the room. Without it, the space felt bare and lacking in personality. Perhaps I could keep the fur pillows but try out some new ideas for placement or style?

As I stood back to assess my living room once again, I realized that sometimes, taking a step back was exactly what I needed. It allowed me to see things from a different perspective, to identify areas where change was possible without completely ripping everything apart.

The journey ahead would be one of small adjustments and incremental changes. Maybe it wouldn't be the most dramatic transformation, but with each passing day, the space would slowly reveal itself to be more cohesive, more inviting. The table might get a few tweaks here and there; the tree ornaments might be rearranged or replaced entirely. But at its core, the living room was still home – a sanctuary where I could rest, relax, and recharge.

And as for you, dear viewers, what do you think? Should I add more pillows to balance out the space? Perhaps swap out some of those mismatched ornaments for new ones that better fit the theme. Or would it be best to leave things as they are, embracing the imperfections and quirks that make this place my own?

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou C you live next to me don't you just okay up know the living room is is complete so I'm going to go ahead and take you guys on a tour starting with this back wall I actually had no plans to do another Garland just because I've done a Garland above the fireplace however I had it extra and I actually really like it I just think it adds to all the decor and I wasn't able to add lights to there I think I need to order some that are like battery operated because I don't really have a wire I mean I could feed a wire from here to there but then you'd see it run right here and I'm not I'm not going to like that so I do just need to order some battery operated little fairy lights and then I'll get those installed so when you guys see the Full House Tour that hopefully will be an update that will be included but this was really easy to add the wiring just because I have an outlet back in there so I did my standard typical gar Garland this is the same style garland that I did in my entryway so it really just flows or this style really flows throughout most of the house um so the Garland is from Walmart the lights are from Hobby Lobby and then the bulbs are a mix um well all the bulbs are from Hobby Lobby however they don't make these anymore or they don't sell these particular sets one of these might be Walmart I think this one with a little confetti dots but like the Navy I did not find it in Hobby Lobby this year so cuz I really need to get another box but and I actually really like the pop of white I think it just kind of like brings more white up here to this part um or to this like section here I think it it's a nice balance to the TV stand but otherwise this was it you know there's not really much to add the one advice I would give and I completely forgot got to do this myself is raise your TV because your sensors are going to be on the bottom and you can't really Point your remote and it's a pain and it's funny cuz Micah was sitting here the other night she's like oh it's that time of the year again where I have to get up and aim the remote down so you can just like get some books get like a stack or something um if your TV sits on something like mine if it's mounted on a wall like you're not going to have that problem and I know that's more um common these days that the TVs are mounted but if you're like me and it still sits just prop them up on some books but make sure that the books are wide enough as wide as the legs so that's an update I need to do myself I will do that a little bit later and now let's check out this fireplace mantle it has changed so much and also I just want to say how freaking excited I am that I have a fireplace mantle this year I did not have one in the Florida house and I I had one outside and I had considered closing in the patio just so that I could have an indor fireplace mantle but obviously that that didn't pan out cuz by that point I was like no I'm going home neither here nor there so I'm very excited that I got to decorate this and you obviously see the same exact Garland the same exact bulbs it definitely needs twinkle lights so I'm going to get on Amazon and order some and then yes I changed out my photo um this is a print it's a digital print from Etsy it's the same concept that I described in my bedroom makeover so if you go to that video I describe in as much verbal detail as I could on how I do this process but basically it's a digital download from Etsy I then take the download I take it to FedEx and I print it in this poster size the wooden frame is from Hobby Lobby and I really just think it I think that winter SC just gives it something extra I was really going for Ralph Lauren um I've always actually wanted to do a more Ralph Lauren Vibe if you've been following me then you know plaid has been my thing I do a series called plaid week which is coming up in December and when I saw these stockings on Pottery Barn I just knew I was sold and they're really kind of the focal piece of my whole Decor the fact that it has plaid and my favorite plaid my favorite plaid is the one with the more white cream background um and then I actually got them embroidered through Pottery Barn so you can add that as an extra like $15 or something um and of course had to get Loki Loki's got one Micah's got one I have one and these little teddy bears are so freaking cute and to die for and this is our very first like monogrammed or embroidered stockings I had them growing up my stocking as a child had my name on it that my grandmother like she sewed our names into it I wish I had that stocking but I do not um so this is actually M and I it's our first me and Micah Micah and I yeah so that is the fireplace mantle other than just needing some twinkle lights I also need to change the battery on those candles so that I can just turn them on they are battery operated LED candles that I've gotten from um Amazon the candlesticks I really don't know where I got those they're probably Hobby Lobby if I had to guess and the topiary trees are from Amazon as well just in case you're wondering I just need to put them in some planters some nice ceramic planters um which hopefully by the time I do the house tour that will be updated as well and the pillows the pillows if you don't know they always get me I always get stumped but I actually really like what I came up with I always knew that I wanted to incorporate Navy pillows um so I got these this pillow and this pillow covers from Amazon um the pillow insert is just like from what I've had for years this pillow covers from Pottery Barn so it actually is the same plaid and it matches the teddy bear stockings and then some pillow inserts from from Amazon and then these pillows are a mix so like these fur pillows I believe I got from Hobby Lobby actually and I got them because of my tree skirt my tree skirt is also from Hobby Lobby I knew I wanted to mix different textures and patterns something that I personally struggle with so I really like how all this has come together I'm not a professional decorator by any stretch of the means I'm truly not and each year I feel like I learn something and I always have to start off with some type of like inspirational photo so Ralph Lauren was very much key in this and I like the fur element it just kind of makes it seem more wintry especially in a place like Texas where we do get very cold temperatures but we don't get like mountains of snow you know we get ice sometimes we get snow um and very very minimal so um adding this little fur faux fur touch just kind of makes it feel more winry so these bigger pillows are from Hobby Lobby my red pillows I think are inserts from Amazon I've had them for very long time and I use them for different holidays like Valentine's Day and Christmas and 4th of July um so I reuse these pillow covers then as you guys I saw as I was styling it that I was kind of struggling I had the extra pillow from Pottery Barn which I decided to actually put under here I really didn't know what to do with it but so I might play with this a little bit more um but I definitely felt like Navy was missing I thought that the red and the bear the red pillows and no Navy wasn't it just I needed something to break up all the red so I had these smaller pillow covers um and realize that they would actually work perfectly in this space and then of course this teddy bear is the exact same teddy bear as those so it is a pillow cover from Pottery Barn um so super cute I absolutely love how gorgeous he is and then the blanket is also Pottery Barn so it is the same exact pattern plaid as the pillows and the Plaid that's in the the stockings so even though I still feel like something's a little off on this I would say maybe it's the red in the pillows I don't know if it's just wrong um it's the only red thing that's solid in here so I'm kind of wondering if I should either have white fur pillows or like the ones on my bed or I don't know maybe pla bigger plaid pillows these are too small um but I I feel like a pattern is missing it's all too solid so I don't know let me know your thoughts I mean I do have this one right but it's a lumbar pillow and I want this to be my focal point so it's it's I don't know what to do here I just think that maybe the red pillows need to go and I need to bring bring in plaid here so let me know if you guys agree um I think Navy definitely works and fits and navy needs to be in here I just think maybe these are the problem so yeah just comment let me know in terms of the tabletop Decor I actually didn't do anything I usually always do something but I felt like because I had all of this going on I have teddy bears I have all this Garland I thought I would keep it simple but I I would like your help here comment and let me know what you guys think so if you remember I have brown trees that match those and I actually had some right here but it just felt I don't know it just didn't feel right it felt cluttered but let me know your thoughts I really don't know what to do I should at least do something maybe in the the coffee table but if you you guys know me you know that I've never had a coffee table ever um in my living rooms so I'm not used to having a hard surface like this to work on I I've always had an ottoman and I've usually never really put anything on it other than like a blanket so I don't know need your help there so let me know your thoughts couch table or sofa table or whatever I kept it again very simple I kept my little uh little swirly tow berries or whatever those are called I mean I have them over here in the living room it's not a wintry green so I don't know if I need to put it up um I could I don't know let me know your thoughts on that as well I could also put up those for the season and maybe do like many Christmas trees um yeah I don't know is it fine to keep this or what do you guys think and then of course here's the white of these wood trees here and then I have my traditional countdown I've had this thing for a very long time I want to say like seven years maybe even more um and I just had to pull it back out it's my favorite little countdown so it's just one of those little pieces where aesthetically it's not a perfect direct match but it's just something that has been with us for so long oh and the Christmas tree let me tell you every year I do the tree somewhat different and every year I never know how to do it I feel like I like a more minimal tree for sure I can't imagine myself stuffing stuff in every little nook and cranny even though I love seeing those trees I just like a more simple tree but I also feel like something's still not quite right I do have all of Micah's ornaments on here so like there's random ones that just don't go with the tree but they have sentimental value because each year Micah gets a new ornament I believe this was her ornament from last year because you know she was just reading a lot and I have ordered her new ornament and you'll have to wait for the house tour to see what that is and like the toaster was her freshman year in college and then her little octopus there and we did what's his face one year this one I actually thrifted in Florida so it's like random it does not one of her ornaments but super cute and that is it for the living room decorate with me I hope you guys enjoyed I do love where this is headed and where it's going I think maybe some updates to the pillow it's definitely the red pillows now that the more I see it I'm like the red pillows are for sure throwing this off um and I could just remove them I don't need to have that many pillows the problem with this is that these are too small but you know what let me let me work out something real quick and I'll be back okay here's an option so I moved the bigger Navy pillows to this couch um just because of how big the fur ones are and the fur ones I know are aren't working as well either they're just kind of very square and boxy and that you can't like karate chop them but I just feel like I really need the fur pillows cuz I like the pull from the tree skirt I do think this is better but again comment let me know your thoughts I pulled the Plaid pillow from here so I just kind of put it in there and then I put the smaller um Navy pillows over here and stacked them more to the side like this actually is this yeah I think I had it wrong so I did that and then the same thing on the other side that is going to be it for today still let me know your thoughts on the pillow situation and what you think I could do on the tabletop um and you know give me some tips on the tree as well cuz I think I think I need it but um overall I do feel like I'm definitely headed in the right direction with the Plaid maybe a few little different touches but I hope you guys enjoyed today's video I will link everything that I po possibly can down below um and I'll see you guys next time\n"