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    Why You Might Want to Put a Shirt on Your Pillows…

    August 26, 2011 |

    Yes, you read that title correctly. Let me explain (before you think I’m nuts)! 😉

    IMG_2479

    I love our couch in our living room, it’s comfy, it’s good looking, and I like the color. But olive can be a tough neutral to work with. I tried going with shades of green, similar to my front room but it ends up making the couch look kinda brown.

    IMG_2471

    I need some color in this room. These pillows just aren’t doing it for me, it all blends together and says

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    I received this in the mail and was instantly drawn in.

    Color! Sweet, glorious color!

     IMG_2473

    Isn’t that blue gorgeous?

    I was surprised to to see that olive was featured in their color palettes? And not just once?

    IMG_2474

    side note: I love olive with baby pink on ME, but

    1.) I am not painting my ceiling or trim pink or hunter green – I will admit that I am a wimp on this one.
    2.) I think it’d be too Victorian, fancy, stuffy, etc in the room.

    IMG_2475

    I thought I’d like to try the combo like on the front cover, royal blue, bright blue, olive, yellowish, you get the picture. But I am NOT buying new pillows and fabric only to find out that

    ”CRAP. I hate it.”

    So while folding the laundry explosion on my couch, I realized that between the four of us, we had shirts of many of the colors I liked!

    IMG_2476

    I dressed my pillows in their shirts and…

    IMG_2481

    The same bright blue shirt (my fave at the moment) and a dull turq throw?

    IMG_2482

    Meh. I don’t know. Maybe?

    IMG_2484

    Blues and white? Getting there, but no.

    IMG_2487

    A couple of different blue shirts?

    IMG_2488

    I tried brining in some accents I thought about adding to the room…

    IMG_2493

    I remembered this scarf I saw at Old Navy earlier in the week…

    image

    and tried this – love the idea of nickel/pewter/whatever accents!

    IMG_2496

    even took the shirt off my back (sorry, no pics! haha) to try this

    IMG_2498

    added Lily’s jeggings to the mix

    IMG_2502

    “Ohhhhh, CRAP. I love it.”

    IMG_2500

    and you know what I realized? Here are my kitchen rugs, and there is no olive in that room

    maybe this color combo was subconsciously in the back of my head?

    IMG_2503

    What do you think?
    Can you think of another color combo you’d like me to try?

    Am I just biased towards turquoise, is it too trendy?
    What is it with me and blues and greens??!?

     

    linking up with:
    -Jen at tatertots & jello
    -Amanda at Serenity Now, and
    -Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick 🙂

    thanks for reading our feed, please stop by the house for a visit sometime soon. 🙂

    More Living Room

    • Mom Cave Makeover Reveal
    • We Painted Our Trim White
    • What Happened Here?
    • Front Room Mood Board by kiwi chic

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Megan

      September 08, 2011 at 2:04 pm

      The turquoise popped nicely! Love the shirts/laundry! The length us DIY'ers go to 🙂

    2. The Corson Cottage

      September 06, 2011 at 10:49 pm

      I am partial to the retro fan aqua. But I totally agree with [email protected] Harpersville Home, you may want to choose something that will lend itself to the fall season and then you can pop the aqua come spring. Definitely like the rug it added much needed texture!

    3. [email protected] Harpersville Home

      August 28, 2011 at 4:04 pm

      I agree that olive is more of a warm color. But I'm the kinda gal who likes to change things up seasonally - cool colors come out in the summer and fallish colors come out for the cold months. I can't look at the same thing all year. 🙂 I love the clothing slipcovers! Good idea. All I can say is I really think you should go with patterned fabric. I think that may be why the colors look so odd to you, because it's just stark YELLOW or BLUE. It throws me off. In your last picture though, the rug made all the difference - because it was a pattern. Love the pinterest pic above! Love the mix of the yellow and turquoise.

    4. Amy @ Kiwi Chic

      August 28, 2011 at 6:03 am

      Hi Ann Marie - thank you so so much for your comment on my post! I am following your blog now - about this room: olive is a tricky colour because it's a warm colour. So it's quite hard to pair it with cool colours (blues and greens). Are you closed to the idea of warm tones like this room with a similar coloured couch: http://pinterest.com/pin/132290730/ ?P.S if you would LIKE, then I would love to make a mood-board using this room as a scenario to work from! Obviously, just for fun, and only as an idea of course! And taking into account your preferences. I could do a blog post on it. Let me know 🙂

    5. missrschultz

      August 27, 2011 at 8:44 pm

      I just read those pages in Real Simple and I thought the same things about the pink. I'm not that daring!

    6. Laura

      August 27, 2011 at 4:59 am

      I'm super impressed by how resourceful you are! I love blues and greens too.

    7. Leigh

      August 26, 2011 at 10:22 pm

      I LOVE blue! I think it looks really good. I think you should bring an orangey color in. Not too bright, kind of rusty. That is actually what I am hoping to do in my family room. Great idea with the shirts! I am going to remember that.

    8. beforethedawn

      August 26, 2011 at 10:59 pm

      That was a great idea to use the clothes and things! I like the last picture. That looks good on the eyes. :)Did you ever get my address for your giveaway last month? You emailed me, I replied with my info, but I never heard back from you.Blessings, Jessica

    9. Jennifer

      August 26, 2011 at 10:46 pm

      The turquoise and the yellow, definitely. Love the shirt idea!

    10. [email protected]

      August 26, 2011 at 9:07 pm

      Nope! I think you hit the nail on the head with that color combo! Gorgeous & BRILLIANT with the shirts!

    11. marty (A Stroll Thru Life)

      August 26, 2011 at 8:50 pm

      I love the blue and turquoise, it looks wonderful. Yes, olive is a really touch color. The only other colors I can think of are rust, deep barn red and then there is also purple. These all need to be really bright colors. So, if you don't like any of those, then I think you have found a great choice. Hugs, Marty

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    Hi, I'm Ann Marie. I want to help you find peace in your home through simplifying your life, taking on small projects, and learning to find your style. Learn more about this site and why I started it...

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    Hi, I'm Ann Marie. I want to help you find peace in your home through simplifying your life, taking on small projects, and learning to find your style. Learn more about this site and why I started it...

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