Meet Bubba

There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort.--Jane Austen

My living room is supremely comforting to me. I love it and make no apologies for its style. I managed to decorate it all for about $2500. After moving three years ago my decorating budget fell short, way short. I ended up with something that satisfied a creative itch and is far from a boxed up look from a catalog. Patience and luck coupled with a bit of elbow grease made it all happen.

There is one thing that in the room that is a tiny problem. It is Bubba.

Bubba is my decorating nemesis. I have a love /hate relationship with Bubba. Bubba saved us last winter when, on a four degree day, our furnace died. Bubba carried us through the next three chilly weeks until our furnace was replaced. Alas, Bubba is still with us.

Despite Bubba's appearance he has been of great use to us and I find it helpful to avoid direct eye contact with Bubba.

Here are some of the ways I managed to decorate this room.

I scored the silk taffeta on sale for $10 a yard. I got the wholesale rate from the drapery workshop and worked there part time so we just took out the cost in trade.

All of the fox hunt prints are antique originals that I purchased on ebay. Two of them I had framed and the other was framed satisfactorily.

 

 

This round table I found while driving down the street on trash day. One leg was broken off. It was an easy fix with a drill, dowels, and wood glue. I then refinished it myself. The cost in materials was about $10.

The two settees were the biggest score and one that may be hard to duplicate. This one was only $350. I'm not crazy about the fabric but I will get to recovering it when there are fewer little gooey fingers and wagging tails around. I saw the price and expected to find gouges, rips or stains in the fabric or worse...smells. It had none and it is rock solid.

The coffee table and end tables were purchased as a set for $250. I bought through ebay but did a search within a radius of my zipcode and picked them up. No shipping to pay for was a huge savings.

The end tables were perfect but the leather top on the coffee table had some damage so I used antique family snapshots under the glass to add interest and hide the damage.

I think I like the wall color best, Ralph Lauren Riding Coat Red. I like its velvety texture.

Even though Bubba is ugly, he is about saving money to spend on things I really want. We save about $1000 a year in heating costs. Removing Bubba is not part of my plan for this house.

 

 

In the next house I hope his cousin is somewhere instead of the living room.