I’ve been a bad blogger. A bad, bad DIY blogger.

We bought our home almost a year and a half ago (how time flies!) and I have left one space in our house, completely untouched & u-gly. Don’t judge me…

YIKES! I’m embarrassed to even let you see this awful space. Randomness everywhere, and when there’s not randomness taking up space… nothing is. Not a good look! You’d think a DIY blogger would be better than this, but nope. The truth of the matter is that I have a catch-all room that is completely ugly, empty, and full of embarrassment inside of my house… almost 18 months later. If you too have a catch-all space you’re not super proud of…. it’s okay, I give you permission to stop beating up on yourself and come to peace with this ugliness. Life is not perfect, the home is always “in progress” and if takes you 15+ months to even think twice about what to do with your secretly unkempt space…. THAT’S OKAY!! Life happens and no one is judging.

After 15 months of nothingness, I am finally steering this space in a new direction and finally giving it the attention it deserves. This empty space that has been known to house an air mattress or two has a swanky little number that is way outside of my comfort zone & I couldn’t be more excited!

Isn’t she adorable?! This West Elm love seat is VELVET and just what the doctor prescribed for the neglected room.

Here’s a little background – When I started to brainstorm the look of our office, I decided I wanted to step slightly outside of my comfort zone, and I think the velvet blue allowed me to do just that. To be completely honest, the final decision was pretty easy because it was fairly challenging trying to find a “couch” that fit under the window without being too large & bulky. When the dimensions of this darling love-seat fit the ticket, I was SOLD!

I love, love, love the color & am totally diggin’ the texture it brings to the room so far. The price-tag was slightly out of my league, but I received a super generous gift card to West Elm as a wedding gift, so I didn’t feel as guilty splurging (thanks Colleen!).

So far, I have found a few other staples to accent the West Elm love-seat. I scored this adorable wood side table from Goodwill for $10! I think the table is originally from Target though. The black and white rug is from World Market for around $100 on sale.

The space of course isn’t complete without my favorite part – some fabulous accessories! I think I’m running with the black and white contrast, only because it is so different from the rest of the house. The pillows are from IKEA (amazing!), the crate was a $2 Goodwill find, the jug was my dad’s old change holder, and the throw is from HomeGoods.

I love that I was able to sneak in a few hints of nautical into the room so far. I know that’s nothing new, but I thought these items will help this nontraditional look flow with the rest of the house and not completely stick out like a sore thumb.

The other side table has some nautical touches as well. The coral was an old piece I found at Kohl’s awhile back, the gold lantern is from a local thrift shop, the white marble container is a HomeGoods treasure ($2!) and the book was from a garage sale.

All together, I’m really loving the feel of this new space. I haven’t really decorated with too much gold, so I’m excited for the opportunity to add a few hints of gold into the room. I’m also SO excited to bring a more mid-century, West Elm-ish feel into the space…both elements very new to me! I find myself gravitating to this look more often these days, which makes me excited (but also a little nervous that I’ll want to change everything else in the house!).

For now, I’m not going to look that far into it and I’m going to focus on moving forward with this new space! So far, so good… but I definitely have a lot more work a head of me! I plan on adding a large desk and lots of new storage. I want the office to be comfortable yet functional for all of the blog work. I figure the couch is a nice way to add a little coziness and the chance to sit and blog on the couch instead of the desk all the time.

I’ve been on the look-out for a perfect coffee table to put in front of the couch. Again, I want something outside of my comfort zone, something airy to show off the couch, and something with an industrial feel to bring a little more masculinity in here for Matt.

For now, I’m in LOVE with this space’s progress and can’t wait to keep you updated with the new coffee table and desk plans!! Stay tuned….

Oh wait, I almost forgot. For those of you who may now be beating yourself up about that neglected space you have. Don’t fret…. when I sit on these stylish cushions, this is the disaster I look at…

So as much as I’m loving half of the new space, the other half is still a disaster zone and THAT’S OKAY! And yes, that is my wedding dress rolled up in the corner… 3 months after the wedding. #dontjudgeme