the casual side of formal

Our 1910 charmer has 2 rooms that are being used as entertaining areas - one we call the den and the other, more formal room, we call the library or parlah (parlor said in a super Southern accent). The den tends to be more girly and relaxed while the parlah is more formal and manly. Not that we're confining ourselves to those rooms respectfully, but we do tend to split up when certain shows must be watched (The Roosevelts vs. Vampire Diaries).

  vs. 

I digress. After The Fox sold his bungalow, the remainder of his Billy Reid-esque decor met my eclectic, fem-chic head on. The parlah (Southern accent) was where we planned to park his pieces, but my impatience got the best of me and my girly style started to creep into the room bit by bit. After unloading what he brought over, I started to see the styles begin to collide. I decided to think on it for a while (to be honest, we were exhausted and needed a break), but after a couple of weeks, I got antsy and needed to do something.

My parents decided to visit this weekend and since my mom is who I steal a lot of my ideas from, I asked her to help me jazz up the space. Of course, where does one look for jazzy accessories??

IKEA!!!

You may have seen this rug in a few of my past posts...

Gah! I love this thing! And for the price, you just can't pass it up! I purchased it back in June when we first moved in and immediately put it down in the parlah. Once The Fox's furniture arrived, it married perfectly with his leather sofa and coffee table/chest. But even with the fun rug, the room felt like a drab hole. 

We loaded into the deal mobile and journeyed the 1 hour and 45 minute trek to the home decor motherland. And, like expected, this trip didn't disappoint. The (horribly annoying) buggy (anyone who has pushed around one of those things knows what I'm talking about) was loaded with...

Of course, I found many other goodies, but these were the top pieces.

Although not all goodies found were used in the parlah, we did get the best bang for our buck with what we bought.

Between our two styles, we had a lot of great things already, but the parlah was just lacking that pop of color. With the things we found at IKEA, we were able to add that extra dimension for less than $100. Check out the end result!

I'm so happy it's finally together! One more room off the list! Hooray! 

Next on the list is either the office or the dining room, so stay tuned! 

Oh, and happy Fall, y'all!!