Organize Me!

Please...do me a favor and hold your judgments on me until after reading this post.

I've tried to be Susie Homemaker. I've tried to make our home a Haven. I've tried to bring in good smelling candles and soaps, cook once a week or so, do the laundry when we've run out of towels, do my job, multi-task every free moment I get, yet somehow parts of our house still manage to look like this...



Santa??

Yiiikes. What is this stuff?!!

So I called in my decorator troops today (aka...my sister) and I'm going to make her help me make this room more welcoming.

The problem was that we thought we would only be in Columbia a year (13 months now...and counting), however Blake's new job will be here so it's time to get ourselves settled!

Here are my sister's thoughts...I'd like to change this room





into a lounge/reading room area, and bring some organization to our lives. Blake and I love reading so I think we might actually use this if we made it cozy enough (along with a desk for him to use).

Here are some photos that got me inspired to get going on the organization.

We won't have a big budget to do this so I will have to find some functional furniture at a great price that we can use for a long time. Here is what I'm eyeing right now...

(Two) of these, please

This chair and ottoman from Ikea (greatest store ever-next to Target of course), and at $249 it would be hard to beat for a brand new one

Then, to bring a little life to the room I'd add these...

This rug
And then fill my coffee table with these...

What do you think? Good idea or bad idea?! Any suggestions? HELP!!!