The Great Living Room Fiasco

      When I first moved into my apartment, I knew that furnishing it and decorating it the way I wanted would be a slow process. But I never thought the reason for it would be that I didn't KNOW what I wanted in the space. Yes, I have an idea of what I want it to look like, but like I said in my previous post about my apartment, New Apartment: Clean Slate or Anxiety Attack, I really have no idea what I want the space to look like. Here's what I have in my living room now:

      Yes, that's a metal shelf normally used in an office that I'm using as my make-shift TV stand (my mom got it for $7! How can you go wrong with that?!) I do have 2 throw pillows that are white with a black design on them. And you're seeing correctly, no lamps. And no, there is not a built in light in there. At night I turn on the kitchen and hall light so I can see where I'm going. But honestly, I need lamps. But do I want one table lamp for the end table and one floor lamp for the other side of the sectional? Or do I want another end table and have 2 table lamps on either side.

Then there's the option of getting the ottoman that matches the sectional:

      Or do I just want a coffee table? Or both? It's so confusing! And then there's the TV stand. Do I want a traditional TV stand or do I want a small dresser, that way I have drawers to house all of my DVDs? Or do I want another bookcase that isn't metal?

      Next is the desk. Do I want to use it as an actual desk in my living room? Or do I want to get an old writing desk and turn my beauty room into an office/beauty room (What's a beauty room? We'll get to that at another date.) and use the desk as a console table in the living room. At the moment I'm using it as both.

     And then there's the built in bookcase that runs perpendicular to the door. I wish that I could just remove it. Not only does it make it so that I have to open my door almost all the way just to get in, but it also causes a problem when trying to decorate because it's just sitting there, mocking me. I am using it for actual books. I know, shocker! I should be happy right? A piece of furniture that I didn't have to purchase. But it's a shorter bookshelf and the top is not flat. What do I mean by that? It has a planter box in it. What the heck am I supposed to do with that?

     Don't even get me started on a color scheme! Because I am so lost when it comes to that. Do I want to have all of my furniture white? Do I want mirrored furniture? What color accents do I want? What type of curtain rod do I want? What color, texture and fabric do I want the curtains? What about an area rug? Throw pillows for the sectional? Decor accents?

      For most people it's a fun experience decorating their first place all on their own because they get to pick everything out for themselves. For me, it's stressful and causes anxiety because, what if I get it all decorated with all the furniture and décor and everything, and then I hate it? Or what if it doesn't look right? It's not like I'll be able to easily start over again.

     Do any of you feel this way about decorating and furniture purchases? Or am I just a crazy and it's just me that feels this way?

XOXO,
Meg