Style Journal - Living Room Update

My living room furniture was already well-used when the pandemic struck.  The extra time at home hastened its demise.  T didn’t want to buy new furniture while we still had a cat in the home and there was some logic to that argument, though it left us with worn out and increasingly uncomfortable furniture.  When she left, so did the logic that kept me from nice furniture in my living room.  To me, a home needs to be comfortable and cozy and the furniture should help to create that vibe.  So it is that I have a new sofa, chair, and ottoman. 

The old sofa was chocolate brown, which was warm and cozy in the Winter but felt rather dark in the Summer.  

The new furniture is in shades of blue - my favorite color - and I am incredibly pleased with how it fits in the room.  Things are still cozy for the Winter and in the Summer I think that the room will feel more cool.

I will spend a whole lot of time reading in this comfortable corner of the room, surrounded by my books and the light from the windows. 

There are new pillow covers and window treatments to accompany the furniture.  My mom made the valences out of fabric from Rifle Paper, which I love.  There was enough left over for some extra pillow covers, and my handy seamstress ran those up for me. 

Lucy’s window corner got an updated rug that brings me a smile every time I pass by. 

This room is very much an expression of me and it makes me glad to be at home.  I am best pleased by it all. 

Stripes!

I have always wanted a Dash & Albert rug, and for Christmas, my parents gave me one for the living room.  Dash & Albert designs tend to distinct and tidy patterns ---- with a lot of stripes, ikat, Moroccan tile, and marled designs with a huge variety of color options.  I picked stripes.

I love stripes just as much as I love polka dots.  They feel neat and stylish to me and I like that.   

The range of colors hides a variety of sins and that’s a good thing when you live with cats.  

The rug ties the living room together and makes the space cozy.   It makes me smile every time I walk into the room.  That’s happy.

Living Room Re-Design

I've been putting off a final posting on my living room re-design because I'm not sure that the room is complete.  But while I consider some very small finishing touches, we're living in the room (appropriate, considering the name and all) and the more that I live with it, the more that I like it.

Feminist art not with-standing, the room is not overly girlish, which I like.  The new sofa is the most comfortable seat in the house, which I love.  The new chairs are scaled to suit me; also very comfortable.  The new curtains (thanks, Mom) add color to the wood blinds at the windows, but they don't overwhelm, which I like.

I did not get an ottoman, thinking that I'd give that change a try.  It did not suit, and I went to Ikea for an ottoman with a washable cover (essential under the circumstances).  While I like the color, I'm not convinced that it's perfect for the room.  I'd like another ottoman of sorts and am toying with my options.

The room is warm in tone, especially suitable for this year's very cold winter.  But it doesn't feel oppressive, so I think the room will make the adjustment to the warmer seasons quite nicely.  The room is welcoming and comfortable, which was my original goal.   I am pleased with the outcome, so I am declaring the project a great success. 

(Sort of) an Unveiling

The presence of our giant Christmas tree makes it impossible to truly see the redesigned living room.  I'll post complete pictures of the changes in January, when the tree has gone.  Still, most of the ingredients of the new room are on hand and it seems appropriate to post some pictures of the new sofa and chairs, both of which are very happy additions to our home.

The sofa is incredibly comfortable (and nothing quite reveals the sad state of the former sofa as a seat on the new one).

The chairs are just as comfortable and the brown and red color combination is quite pleasing.

When I come downstairs to the new living room each morning, it's a very nice room to behold.  But it can't compete with a seat on my comfy sofa at the end of a long day at work, which is heavenly.  This past weekend, I even enjoyed a little afternoon nap in the sofa's embrace.  I'm looking forward to many more of those catnaps in the weeks ahead.

Tiger and Lucy concur.

Living Room Redesign: A Glimpse

As I wrote last week, I'm in the process of updating my living room.  A new color scheme has been selected and new furniture has been ordered.  My mom has been at work on the new window coverings.  With the decisions made, I'm just waiting for things to arrive.  I'm in a furniture holding pattern.

Until yesterday, when I arrived home to find the new chairs in two boxes on my front porch.

Yippee!

JT had a friend over and L was drafted to help unpack the chairs.  The boxes were opened and then dispatched to the front yard for recycling.

The new chairs were carried inside and placed in their assigned corners.

JT gave one a trial sit.  He reports that it passes with flying colors.

I've since taken off the protective covering, of course.  I'll wait until the room is complete before I unveil the furniture here.  But things are changing around Sassafras House.

Stay tuned!

Household Style: Living Room, part II

On Monday, I started to write about the living room re-design underway in my house.

The walls are a light taupe that tends toward grey; it's neutral but not plain.  The floors are a golden oak and the woodwork in the living room (and all of downstairs) is walnut stained in a dark tone.  The room receives lots of light in the mornings; it's darker in the afternoon.  Even in the afternoons, however, the number of windows in the house ensures a good amount of natural light. 

The windows have wood blinds which match the woodwork and valence curtains in a cheery blue gingham.  They were made by my mom and she's agreed to make new ones, so those will be updated to coordinate with the new furniture and new color scheme.

The artwork currently in the room is a combination of World War I and II propaganda posters, a piece of linen embroidered by my grandmother, and family photos.  Most of the those photos are black and whites running up the stairway and hanging over a red storage bench that was a garage sale find a few years back.

The carpet on the floor is a red weave from Flor which I've had for more than three years (and which I still adore).  My goal is to construct a room around the carpet and the bench, both of which will remain.  The lamps and tables in the room will also stick around, as will the linen embroidered cloth.  The other artwork might be changed; the jury is still out on that.  I don't feel the need to paint the walls, as I still like the color very much, but I'm open to the prospect if necessary.  The colors at the heart of the new room are brown, dark red, cream, and brown.

The layout of the updated room will likely be the same as the current room.  For starters, that works just fine.  In addition, the room doesn't really lend itself to re-arranging.  The ottomans, which JT uses to sail across the living room (!) will be evicted.  One is likely headed to the study, with the dark blue chair.  The other may go to the playroom.  If I find any replacement ottomans, they will not have wheels, which is strongly opposed by JT but favored by the Mama for very obvious reasons.

The new sofa and two chairs have been ordered.  I've been looking at Waverly fabric and have settled on a pattern with dark red, cream, and brown for new window treatments and some pillow covers.  When the room comes together, I'll post new photos.  In the meantime, it's awfully pleasing to think about the changes that are coming!

Household Style: Living Room part I

For my birthday and Christmas, my parents gave me the gift of furniture.  Specifically, new living room furniture.  So today's posting is about the things that are currently in the living room.  In the weeks ahead, I'll be writing about the changes coming in the room.

My house is a bungalow so there is no hallway and when you enter the the front door, you are in the living room. 

 The room is a rectangle, measuring about 24x14.  So it's spacious.  But the combination of windows (there are 3, including a large sliding glass window that looks out on the backyard) and door ways (three….one very large doorway to the dining room facing the  French doors which lead to the study and a third leading to the kitchen) and the immovable radiators, means that re-arranging is not likely.

The study flanks the living room to the west and is now JT's homework and computer room.  When the new furniture arrives, I'd like to put one of the living room chairs in there so that we can read and enjoy that room.

The current living room furniture is a denim sofa, chair and ottoman which are ten years old and somewhat worn out for their efforts (particularly the sofa).  In the corner by the stairs there is another chair that is even older (I bought it when I lived in Nashville).  Suffice it to say they've earned the right to be retired from service.

Later this week, I'll post more pictures of the room as it exists now and I'll outline the changes I've planned.