The Lettered Cottage

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Living Room Decorating

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I haven’t spent too much time decorating our living room yet because we hope to be doing some construction projects in there later this year. That said, the house was extra quiet this morning (Kevin had a date with his Dad), and I was in the mood to do a little jooshing. Or zhushing. Or however you spell that wacky word. 😉

Here’s what I came up with…and excuse the blurry/bright pics. Our tripod was in the car that Kevin took to his parent’s house- ha!

The Lettered Cottage Living Room Ikea Entertainment Unit

Some of this stuff was already in the entertainment unit, and some of it I pulled from other spots around the house…

The Lettered Cottage Living Room Decor

My friend, Mary, sent me this vintage toy trailer last month and I am quite smitten with it:

The Lettered Cottage Vintage Toy Trailer

She also sent me home with this “2” plaque when we visited her in May:

The Lettered Cottage Living Room Accessories

I just used shipping tape to (temporarily) stick it to that photo box. I’m sure it’ll move somewhere else eventually, but I like it there for now! 🙂

The bird quote is fairly new, too. The art was created by my friend, Courtnie, and I absolutely love it! (The frame came from Ikea.)

Maya Angelou Art The Lettered Cottage

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”

*sigh*

Happy jooshing/zhushing, birdy-girls!

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Comments

  2. Sheila E.

    Not familiar with the term. I am assuming it means fixin’ something up to look purty?

  3. Gretchen

    Wow, even your “before” pictures look amazing! I love the warmth of those chairs against the cool of the wall. I hope you share some before pictures when you start your projects!

  4. Krystle @ Color Transformed Family

    I like the repetition of color. I saw the other week where someone had taken an old globe and painted it white and then painted their child’s name and birthday on it. Ever since then I have been wanting to get my childhood globe from my parents and do this for our little girl and soon to be adopted little girl. P.S. We matched last month with a little girl from Hong Kong.

    • Janice

      Congrats on that match with a little girl and bless you for adopting. I’m the Gaga of three adopted sweet ones and nothing pleases me more than to see couples making the wonderful decision to bring babies/children into their lives to be a forever family. God bless.

    • Layla

      Yaaaaay! I’m so happy to hear you were matched, Krystle! That is SUCH EXCITING NEWS! Please keep me posted on everything, and hopefully I’ll have a matching update for you next year, too! 🙂

  5. Amy @ Elephant Eats

    Hi Layla! I love your blog and have been following for a long time but never commented. I have a question though. Where is that entertainment unit from? I love it 🙂

    • Layla

      Hi Amy! It’s from Ikea. We got it about 10 years ago, so I’m not sure they’ll still sell the same unit anymore. ? They do have some different really great (solid wood) options there though!

  6. Ginger

    Love the #2. I made the 3.5 hour trek to Urban Farmgirl and searched high and low for #2 to no avail. It was my son’s youth football # for 6 years,
    so it has a very special meaning. He’s now in high school and his number has changed. But, he’ll always be player #2 to me.

    • Layla

      Thank you, Ginger. 🙂 2 has always been my lucky number for some reason, too. I’ll tell Mary to be on the lookout for another one for you!

  7. Sally

    Wow – guess I’m a little out of it. I had to google “jooshing!” Never-ever heard that before. The entertainment center looks great… all “jooshed” up? haha – just looked up the word AND used it in a sentence. Do I get an A+ for today?

  8. Jaime Costiglio

    Layla it’s magazine worthy for certain and hopefully pretty soon you can change that 2 to a 3!!! You can come style my shelving anytime. Thanks for sharing.

    • Layla

      Thank you, Jaime! We’ve got a three in the room next door, so I thought I’d mix things up with a “2”- LOL! 😀

  9. Donna Doble-Brown

    Boy I thought I was pretty good at zhushing (I love re-arranging!) but you put me to shame! I absolutely LOVE everything and it’s placement in the entertainment center . . . . looks Fabulous . . . . .
    I’m getting the itch to paint of dated brick fireplace with a brass fire screen . . . . any suggestions? I wish you made house calls to RI! Hope you all are well . . . . 🙂

    • Layla

      Thank you, Donna! The only advice I can think of without seeing it is to use a really good masonry primer on your brick. That way your paint will be sure to stick to it! 🙂

  10. Ashley Olsen

    Hi Layla! Beautiful decorating! Looks great. Where are your wicker chairs from in your living room on either side of your entertainment center? I have been looking for some wicker chairs to use at my dining table! 🙂 let me know please? and thank you for another great post.

    • Layla

      Hi Ashley! They’re from Ikea. We purchased the entertainment unit 10 years ago, and the chairs a couple of years ago. I don’t think either is available there anymore, but they have new ones that are just as fun! 🙂

  12. Angela Williams

    Haha! I use that word too (often referring to what my daughter needs to do to her curly hair), but I NEVER thought about how to actually spell it!?!? Now I’m on a mission! LOL

  13. Dawn

    Layla,

    You have the perfect touch when it comes to zushing it up. I love the touches of green and the texture of the baskets.

  15. Teresa

    I just love that little vintage toy trailer. Too cute!! I am going to keep a look out for one when I go to Round Top, TX this Sept.

  17. Nancy

    Always love your blog and thanks for sharing your amazing living room vignette! I’ve been purging my own living room for weeks now and needed some inspiration! 🙂

  20. Mindy

    Okay, so it’s kinda crazy that you posted this. I have a similar entertainment unit in our living room. Two large bookcases with the TV console in the middle. Shelf over the top. Same dark wood color. I see white ones all the time with the back panel painted fun colors or with wallpaper on them. With the dark wood, unless you have a ton of white/light stuff on the shelves, everything kind of gets lost in the dark. I literally just did a Pinterest search yesterday to see if anyone was doing anything to the backs of the dark wood ones. Nothin’, nada, zilch. I have baskets, books, some white ceramic things, plants, and other large knickknack stuff, and they just don’t pop like they would against a lighter color. I’ve been thinking about getting a roll of that beadboard wallpaper and sticking it up in the back to see how it looks. Have you seen anything around that other people have done?