The Loft

When Zack and I first looked at this house there were two other houses on the same street that were also in the final stages of building that our realtor thought we should see. First, we saw the one across the street, it had a 4th bedroom just off the garage, [which I thought was nice separation for guests] but otherwise had a weird layout and seemed closed off and small. Then we saw another one, it was almost the same layout as the one before but didn't have the 4th bedroom, so it was even smaller. Then, we saw our house. I thought it was nice but wasn't sold. Then, we walked upstairs and we saw the loft and the two master bedroom walk in closets. I felt like it was perfect. I could turn one closet into my office and we could use the loft as another living space. We also realized it had great potential to make us money in the long run because we could turn it into a legal 4th bedroom quite easily before we sold it down the line.

Now, almost three months later, we haven't done jack diddly squat with it. Literally, I hung some curtains set up our old console table and TV and some random deocr and didn't touch it again...until now. 

A few weeks ago I was searching around for rugs [I'm not 100% in love with the living room rug] and came across this one on Overstock.com. It was love at first site. 

First, its plaid. Second, its an outdoor rug, and if you vacuum as much as I do you can understand why I love that fact. I didn't pull the trigger right away because I wasn't sure what kind of sofa and accessories I was gonna use and I didn't want to buy a rug that I couldn't decorate around, so I needed to first create a plan. Here's what I came up with.

As soon as it came together I was like "YES, let's order it!" and I went back to Overstock and what do you know? It was on SALE! I legit paid $110 for this amazing 9x6 rug. Love when that happens. Shipping was fast and the day it arrived I couldn't wait to get it upstairs. 

Now I had to get the sofa. It was dramatic. I tried, and failed a couple times with people on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace but everyone flaked. I decided maybe I should just get new but I really wanted something with natural wear to give it that rustic character. Alas, I got bored the other night and started searching FB MP and up popped this beaut. 

Ahhh just what I was looking for and bang on budget at $150. The guy was super sketchy but he delivered it for free and I didn't get kidnapped, so that's a plus. I cleaned it up with a wet rag then wiped on some Weimans leather cleaner to soften it up a bit. So pretty.

Zack helped me get it upstairs and I got to work decorating. I wasn't really happy with the junk Id thrown in there previously so I took it down and added other items from my stash like those grey studded pillow covers from Hobby Lobby and a DIYed faux cowhide lumbar pillow. I ordered a throw blanket and an ottoman from Target, this print from Etsy [printed in a 24x36 at Walgreens with print40 coupon] that I threw into this [can't find the exact one online but its th 24x36 WITH glass in the wall frame section] awesome barn wood frame from Hobby Lobby [50% off] and added some finishing touches. 

We are in love with the space now. It's nice that Zack came come up here and play his video games and watch his shows and I can be down stairs watching what I want to or vice versa, so its's been really great to have it finished. Any spaces that took you a while to figure out that you now love? 

---Jackie