Update: New Sofa!

Alright, i know i'm bad at this, but what's a girl to do right?? So funny story, Chris a couple weeks ago says to me, "the next time we get a new couch, it's going to be big, leather, and have arms!" Well, he should know better than to bring up buying things up because since he never does, i jump right on it. Especially since i bring up buying things ALL the time. Anyway, so i had been seeing different posts on sofas and even though it wasn't leather, told him i wanted to go look at the EKTORP white slipcover sofa at ikea.

I just thought it had great lines and every girl loves a white sofa right?? I mean, compared to the white sofa we were looking to replace, this one looked more comfortable and it had arms, so why not go check it out right?? Wrong! Chris hated it! The one thing he always says he hates about ikea is that since he's 6'2" he feels like he's free falling for 10 seconds before he hits the couch. And, it wasn't leather! Which i wasn't too stoked about looking for in the first place. I know i had seen pretty leather couches, but WAY over my desired price range. So after about 15 minutes of being in ikea (shortest time i've ever been in there) we headed to the car, my full intention to head home. Chris on the other hand saw the furniture row across the way and suggested we go into SofaMart. Well two hours, one ivory barcelona chair, and one 8' brown leather sofa later, we headed home! That's right, we made an unexpected purchase that i don't think Chris has ever been more excited about! Him being the sweet husband he is bought me this sofa before we got married and i really have loved it, i did pick it out after all. But i have to say, since this is probably the only say i'll ever let him have in our home decor, that i'm very excited and think it's great! So in about 13 months we went from this beauty....

to this gorgeous piece of furniture....

okay so no i didn't get this one from restoration hardware exactly, but it was the closest pic i could find. These are actual pics from my instagram...

So we're on our way home totally happy with our purchase, and so anxious for 2 weeks to just fly by, when chris says he wants to now change our coffee table. So not only are we selling a couch and an ottoman to make room, we're doing a new coffee table. We decided to make a custom wood top table with hairpin legs. The legs haven't come yet, but Chris finished the table top and it looks amazing!

Also added to the family....

Love Candy Print Mint & Gold by jenniferramos at MadeByGirl $35.00

West Elm Pinstripe Pillow Cover , $14.99 on sale!

And then the nice table top chris made that we propped on 2 chairs to see how it would look....

ignore our rental rug and the lighting coming in from the window. Chris took this pic since he just couldn't wait. Hoping to replace that rug with one of these.

Well, until next time....

Guest Post: Designs Shuffle's Kristen Crosby

I am so happy to finally feature our first guest blogger. Kristen Crosby from Design Shuffle has had her writer Mari put together a great piece that i know you'll love. Enjoy!

"Big & Beautiful: Large Scale Furniture & Accessories"

Hi, everyone! It's Mari, a writer from Design Shuffle, a fabulous site that brings together designers and design lovers to showcase projects and share inspiration from the world of interior design. I'm so happy to be visiting Allie & Chris at Lucy Schwartz Design as a guest blogger. Today's post is about big and beautiful furniture and decorative accessories. Large scale pieces can become style statements in most any space from the living room to the dining room. We hope these eight big and beautiful choices will inspire lots of "strong" decorating ideas!

This lovely purple living space is filled with oversize furnishings. Where shall we start? The massive mirror above the fireplace is gorgeous. As are the large tufted ottoman turned coffee table and the long purple velvet sofa with its clean lines and thin legs.

Large scale wall art becomes a beautiful focal point in this contemporary living space. The comfortable sectional sofa feeling oversized but does not overwhelm the room.

Right now, we're loving these oversize shaded pendant light. They look stylish over a dining table, but would work equally well above a kitchen island beautiful.

What catches your eye first in this lovely dining space? The massive mirror is almost covers the entire wall and beautifully reflects a gorgeous contemporary chandelier. But, the large chunky dining table simply can't be overlooked.

A tall upholstered and deeply tufted headboard adds big beauty to this eclectic bedroom design. Pale tones are soothing while large scale pattern brings the bedding to life.

Restoration Hardware does big and beautiful so well. Wall map, golden column and linen sofa are all big and beautiful. But, at 33" wide and 86" tall, the surveyor's tripod floor lamp steals this show.

Living room designs are the best place to use your favorite color palettes. Against a pale wall, big and beautiful white glass table lamps are stunning atop this slim acrylic table.

A floor to ceiling ornate gold picture frame is an unexpected truly large scale piece behind this writing table with simple purple slip-covered chair. Doesn't this space evoke lovely interior design ideas?

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Ready to introduce larger furniture in your home? Check out Design Shuffle for more great ideas from the top Boston interior designers, San Francisco interior designers and many others!

Thank you Kristen and Mari! Come back again soon!