Decorating Is Fun...As Long as I Have Help

Okay, so I'm cheap. And neurotic.

I'm just not willing to spend a buck on pretty much anything, much less "Chotsky" (as Shannon christened little decorative ornaments to adorn your shelves, table, etc). But between the efforts of both my sis-in-law Jessica and Shannon, my house is looking much cuter by far. Here are some before and after pics. (PS, I just wanted to state for the record, that the pictures make the rooms look WAY smaller than they are...I just have a darn crappy camera. But hey, whaddya want? It survived a fire).

BEFORE: (No chotsky)
AFTER: (chotskified) All courtesy of Walmart. Amazing how much a rug and a few throw pillows can warm up a room. Thanks again, Jess, for helping me break down and make a decision.

BEFORE:
AFTER:
Sooooo much better, right? Thank goodness Shannon was there to hold my hand through it all. I never could have picked this stuff to go together otherwise. (Just LOOK at that adorable little red lamp. It's so cute I want to pinch it's non-existent cheeks)! And it was SUCH a good deal and I can even machine wash it!!!! Oh, and that mirror, I'm going to hang it up...just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Shannon also put together this little adroable space with some "chotsky" that she found at both TJ Max and Walmart:
Isn't it cute? And can you believe we found a sign with that oh-so-LDS saying on it?

I have ONE more space that I need help with, if there are any advice-givers out there. It's the space behind our couch by the fireplace. I obviously don't have any books to put on the bookshelves, but...well, here's a few pictures:
See? The couch isn't just pushed up against the fireplace...there's a whole extra space there.
But it's the sofa table specifically that I need help with. What does one put on a sofa table that doesn't look kitchy but DOES look put-together enough so that my husband won't pile things on the surface?:

Gettin' There

I hate shopping. I get tired too easily and I'm super-stingy with money. Even when I have money, (which is seldom) I'm eternally budgeting it. You'd think I'd be richer.

Shannon, however, (who was visiting this weekend with her kiddos) is a fabulous shopper. She's tireless and a bargain-hunter to boot. She found me some great bedding at Ross (a place that usually overwhelms me the second I step in the store) and helped me put my bedroom together. It looks so dang nice, even though I'm still trying to get used to 1) how lavish and romantic it looks and 2) even HAVING a somewhat put-together bedroom (which is an entirely new and foreign concept to me).

I'll post pictures when our mattress gets here on Monday. I want to record the final effect.

Extremely Long Post About Furniture----Come Back Later If You're in a Rush

Okay, as suggested by MANDIE, I decided to put pictures of our new stuff on the blog and open the forum for suggestions. I've got some weird spaces I'm not quite sure what to do with, and plus I'm seriously challenged when it comes to making spaces look nice.

So we begin...

This is our living room. As you can see there's enough wood in here for a small cabin in the woods.
The couch/loveseat are a dark chocolate brown leather with tan stitching. We decided on leather because it seemed a bit more spill-friendly, which is important at present. I know the coffee table and end table are little old westish, but what can I say? They were sturdy and I liked them!
The coolest thing about this set is that they recline. Here's Steven luxioriously demonstrating:
Before, we were reduced to recliners because that's what we ended up inheriting in our years of used furniture. But in the process we got addicted to the whole "reclining" idea, so there you are.

Now you might be a bit confused on this choice, and not without reason.
So lemme 'xplain. Not only does the loveseat recline, they also rock (glide, whatever). But they would only rock if you got the console (which I think is a bit odd-looking, but Steven loves and that's that. We Grundbergs have always been Function over Form people, and ya gotta love that rocking feature.) Someday, when we move into a big fancy house with two living areas, we'll put this in the media room. (Won't it be cool to have a media room?)
Now this is the opposite wall. We're planning on splurging a bit and getting a big LCD TV for the wall. We also have a matching sofa table that we thought about putting underneath, but I'm not sure. It seems like a whole lotta wall to cover.

There's also this weird space behind the couch by that dratted fireplace and idiot built-in shelves that I don't know what to do with. We're considering putting a (small)computer armoire there.
This is our dining room table and chairs that I absolutely LOVE! I figure it's sort of in the middle between breakfast and dining table, which is good because we only have one dining space. The only problem is the chairs have fabric seats. Does anyone know about any kind of protectors I can put over them?

And now, master bedroom. This room is extra funky because it's 17x11 feet long. So it's super skinny one way and extra long the other way. Makes it hard to know where to put a king-sized bed (that's right, Steven and I decided long ago that while we love romance, when it's time to sleep we need our space[especially since I'm a flailer).

If you're wondering about the gorgeous quilt on the bed, that was given to me by the amazingly talented WANONIE. I was so dismayed when I realized it was queen-sized I almost cried, but it's so gorgeous I don't care, I'm using it anyway for now. (Notice the cute sconces on either side of the headboard).
Here is a view of the 8-drawer chest that we bought (and that I assembled, people. I'm so freakin' hoss). I obviously need something on the wall, right? We also bought a 6-drawer chest, but the room is so stinkin' skinny I can't get a good picture to show you.

And now, just for kicks, I thought I'd show the gorgeous bunk-bed/room set we were given by Anna Clemens. Her family just GAVE it to us. We couldn't believe our amazing luck and were so grateful. (There's also a chest that's NOT in the picture)
And here's the boy's bathroom. I got the shower curtain at IKEA and the cute little owl soap dispenser from Target.
Okay, so what do I do now?

Dreaming

Now I know our insurance money (when we DO actually get it) is going to have to stretch, but if I look really hard on craigslist, maybe I can find something that looks remotely like this:

(These couches recline! Isn't that awesome? Though I'm not fond of the blue paint in this room.)
Or a bedroom set that even somewhat resembles this:


And maybe something homey and country-looking (but maybe a bit lighter) for the breakfast or dining room like this:
That would make me pretty happy. But then again, there will be a lot of little things that will eat up that money quicker than I think. Like towels and sheets and plates and silverware. A washer and dryer. A vacuum cleaner. Shoes. Etc.

But I can dream a little before it all starts to happen and decisions actually have to be made, can't I?