It's Great To Be Home

Hey guys, welcome to the party! It’s Inspiration Tuesday on IGTBH!!

As you know from yesterday’s post, this blog party is all about inspiration – and today I’m inspired by gorgeous pops of yellow in home design.

It’s funny, I first came up with the idea for this post when I was admiring the bridesmaid dresses that two of my friends are wearing in an upcoming wedding – they are a trendy shade of chartreuse, which is also a big color in home decor. Those dresses got me thinking – yellow is such a fun and sunny color, so how could it be incorporated in the home?

For all you bold people out there that like to really commit, you could go whole hog with furniture in shades of lemon, acid yellow, or even buttercup:

Me, however, I’m more of a commitment-phobe – so maybe something cheap and easily changeable would be the way to go, like painting the walls:

Or you could work with what you already have and arrange your bookcases in color blocks – talk about some serious impact for zero dollars!

And yellow in accessories is lovely, too. Don’t you think feel like it instantly energizes these spaces?

And, of course, bright shocks of yellow on the wall can really make a statement – big or small. (And I think the yellow and periwinkle combo is to die for!)

So what are you inspired by today? We’d all love to swing by your blog for some inspiration – if you’d like to join in on the fun, just add your link below. Here are a few pointers:

Make sure that you add the permalink to your specific blog post (like www.itsgreattobehome.net/inspiration-tuesday), instead of your general blog address.
Give everybody an idea of what you’re inspired by in parentheses after your blog name – like Liz @ It’s Great To Be Home (yellow in home decor).
Make sure that your link works – otherwise it might get deleted (no fun!).
Try to include a link to this party somewhere in your post so that your readers can get in on the party!
Click on the other participants’ links and let them know if they’ve inspired you!

Let’s get this party started!!

Images courtesy of Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge, desiretoinspire, Canadian House and Home, Elle Decor, My Home Ideas, GoliadAve.com, and Colour Me Happy.

Turns Out You Can Have Too Much Green

I’m ashamed to admit it, but the floor in our den is naked. We used to have a beautiful oriental rug in there (on gracious loan from my parents), but it recently found a new home in our dining room. After a few weeks of cold tootsies, I went out on the prowl for a new 8 x 10 rug to cozy up our den.

After searching for awhile, last week I read about how the nifty homeowners over at Young House Love got an awesome deal (i.e., $34) on a snazzy, striped jute rug for their kitchen from The Company Store. This information got me all atwitter so I decided to check out The Company Store to see if it has any cheapo (yet awesome) 8 x 10 rugs – turns out they do!! I immediately fell in love with these babies:

These “Mirage“ rugs are an absolute steal at $143 for an 8 x 10 (plus $25 shipping), and the cotton rag material is casual yet chic and perfectly soft underfoot - I knew one of these gems was going to be mine. But which one??

I have a slight obsession with the color green, so I was instantly drawn to the chartreuse rug – but the rust rug is an awesome shade of orange and the red rug would coordinate perfectly with the throw pillows from Pottery Barn that we already have in the den. See?

Such a serious decision!!!

After much debating and convos with the hubby, I decided on the chartreuse. I know, the red rug would have matched the pillows, but I’d been wanting some new pillows so the chartreuse rug presented the perfect opportunity for a little updating. Now I just had to wait a week for this spunky guy to be delivered!!

This fun package was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday:

After I snipped it open, the kitties couldn’t wait to get their little paws on it – here’s Lexie waiting to pounce on her big fat brother:

Of course, I soon realized that what looked like a springy, cheerful green on the website photo was semi-blinding in person. No worries, I’m sure it will calm down once it’s in place under the tan couches, right?

No such luck. Too much green is too much green.

This sucker is going back, and I’m sad – such a great deal!!! I haven’t lost hope for The Company Store, though – now I have my eye on some of these fun (and ridiculously cheap) goodies from their Clearance section – all under 50 bucks!!

: Wire Stools

: Adirondack Cushions

: All-Weather Wicker Ottoman

: Contemporary Lanterns

: Contempo Table

: Mercury Glass Candleholders

: Metro Storage Bench

: Retro Ogee Rug

: Tribeca Storage Ottoman

: Urbino Ottoman

: Cancun Table

(Ok, so that last one’s not under $50, but it’s pretty darn close – only $58, and how cute for a patio!!)

Had any similar “whoopsies” where the item that arrived didn’t quite match the picture you had in your mind? Hopefully I’m not the only one to make that mistake . . . What do you guys think – am I making the right decision by sending the rug back? Got any ideas for a rug that would look great in our den? Can’t wait to hear what you think!

Images courtesy of The Company Store.