Yesterday I shared about my decorating dilemma and mentioned that I’m working on some decorating ideas. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has trouble deciding on the colors to use. I know I’m going to have to live with these for quite awhile so I want to love them.

I already own the gray sofa below and not much else.  I explored the possibility of adding purple to the mix (read about it here – Refresh Your Space With Color). But part of me wants to go with neutrals so I’m exploring them today.

This first set is based around the automan. You’ll need to enlarge it to see the fabulous pattern. It’s charcoal gray, near-black, sand, and beige and simply gorgeous. I love a mix of patterns so I added charcoal and black striped chairs and then picked up those same colors in the round art piece. The white table is to tie in our dining room table and the chairs would work beautifully with our dining room chairs.

Decorating Ideas – Traditional Tan and Charcoal

Tan and Charcoal

Decorating Ideas – Natural Tan and Charcoal

This second set is so us. First I LOVE the fabric on this chair. I actually picked it out a few months ago on a different upholstered chair, but that chair’s scale didn’t fit our room.  This one does (of course none of the items below are to scale – it’s actually taller than the couch which I like – and it would be across the room from it and not text to it). I love the wildlife pattern – it’s a nod to my husband’s love of the outdoors. The whole scheme is more woodsy and natural.

The tall bookcase is very similar to the one we own which is underneath our TV. I use it there because I hate the look of  a mounted TV but the hubby insists TV’s must be mounted for safety, so the bookcase is the compromise so I’ll likely keep it. I’d probably paint it the same color as the table next to the chair. Speaking of the table – isn’t the shape perfect?!

tan and gray

This chair is a top contender and I could use pale teal as the accent which is a color I love. Of course I can’t BUY all of these items, but I’m hoping to splurge on one, maybe two things, and then work on making our existing pieces look more like these (or Craiglist finds – we’ll see).
What do you think about choices #2 & #3?