Sneak peek -- our den

We're making progress!  Last week I shared some inspiration photos for our new den, so I thought I'd give a little update on how it's coming along.

As you can see, the couch came in last week.  Here's a little peek at it.  So far it's been great.  Josh stretched out last night to watch the Kansas basketball game, and I believe he found it sufficiently cozy.  I think it will be a good napping couch because it's so long and deep.  The rust-colored silk pillow may or may not stay in this room, but, local readers, I found it at Repeat Boutique on Ingersoll.  Contrary to the store name, all their pillows are brand new and well priced!  They do have some consignment furniture and other decor items that are used.

Over the weekend we made a really quick trip up to the Twin Cities and sped through IKEA (twice) to get the components to build an entertainment console (more pictures coming once we finish the room).  Yesterday Josh spent the whole day putting it together and mounting the TV on the wall to make it a little safer place to play for the two youngest members of our family.  The ivory ginger jar lamp just needs a finial and it will be complete--anybody know of a good local resource (I would need two matching ones, and I am looking for a carved and/or stone design).

Also new to the space is this oil painting I bought just before the end of the year.  I'd been looking at it for months in a local consignment shop and finally decided to buy it when I had a 20% off coupon (and a really big editing job that I had just finished!).  :)  It's hard to tell from the picture, but it's actually a pretty large piece, so it fills the space over our sideboard well.  I'm not crazy about the frame, but that can be changed sometime later.  The silver tea and coffee service will probably go into storage for a while, and I'll put more den-ish items on top of the sideboard (what are den-ish items?  leather bound books? accessories that smell of rich mahogany?).

And here are a couple fabrics I've purchased lately for the room.  I think the one on the left (that cross between a flame stitch and ikat) will make a pillow or two, and I'm not sure yet about the damask on the right.  It has a more beige background, so I might do a long lumbar pillow for the couch or cover an ottoman.

I'm planning on ordering these thermal curtains as well to help with room darkening (since the TV faces three windows) and hopefully to warm up the room a bit in the winter (again, three windows!).

We still have a lot of work to do, but at least it's a usable room now, and it feels like we're actually moving along--always a good thing!

What projects are you trying to get finished this month?