I’ve been really slacking on my catalog and magazine reading the last two months, but yesterday I started sorting through them (primarily so that I could toss most of them in the recycling bin and declutter the living room), and the latest Serena & Lily caught my eye. And with only a few flips of the pages I had re-designed my entire living room, or at least my dream living room where children and dogs don’t actually live. To start, these silk shantung drapes in malachite are simply stunning. I would actually have to go with the saffron or navy ones because I have no intention of changing my wall color, but I really love the green.

Next, the Scalloped Capiz Shell Chandelier caught my eye. And then I had to do a double take when I saw that it is only $195. I’ve been looking at chandeliers for a while now, and I’ve found many that I like, but not a whole lot in my budget. I love that this would pick up on the shell curtain rods that I already have in the living room and the gold accents on my lamps. It’s actually a little bigger than the one I already have (20″ vs. 18″) which I also like, but because my living room is so long, I think I need to go even bigger.

Luckily, they have a very similar Capiz Globe Chandelier that is 28″ that I think will be perfect. I do prefer the scalloping of the first one, but you can’t have everything! Of course this one is also twice the price, but it’s still under $400, and I’m going to watch those Serena & Lily sale emails like a hawk to try and get it for less because despite the fact that my husband thinks this is expensive, it’s still one-third of the other ones that I want.

When I first designed my living room, I wanted it to be really clean in terms of color and pattern so I worked with lots of solids in various textures. But solids don’t hold up that well to living with children unless they are slipcovers you can watch. My newest updates are definitely going to involve pattern and darker color for the high traffic areas like the couch and rug so that I don’t feel the need to replace everything every five years….going on eight now. A small stain is much less annoying if it blends into a pattern. As always, I’m drawn to navy as a good grounding, and I love this Mirabelle Rug which reminds of the blue Nankeen fabrics that are so beautiful.

However, if dirt wasn’t an issue and I was simply only going to look at the room from afar and never let anyone step into it, I would totally love this amazing Scalloped Hide Ride.

There of course many more things that I love, but these are the ones that actually could fill the void of things I’m trying to replace at the moment. Hopefully, I’ll at least be able to show you a new chandelier in the near future!