(Photos 1 and 2 are “before” pictures)

Finally! I have been done with the house for a while but have been so busy I haven’t had any time to post them all. Let’s start with the living room.

The most important aspect of this room was that I could maintain my quirky design personality while keeping a hint of traditional formality.  The curtains are dummy panels hung with command hooks; no walls were hurt in the hanging of this fabric.  Next, I wanted the side tables to speak to one another but not be mirror images, so I used similar accessories on both (picture frame on one, plate on easel on the other) and similar small green plants.  The table on the left is much lower than the one on the right so I stacked two vintage suitcases to keep the lamps level.  I cycled through all sorts of lampshades before I settled on my final choice.  All the others were too formal or fussy but when I found these natural woven shades they played perfectly off the slip covers I sewed for the wingbacks.

Speaking of wingbacks, we bought the chairs in a pink floral fabric that was in great condition but didn’t fit my decor.  I checked into having them reupholstered but the cost was right up there near the $1000 mark so I quickly abandoned THAT idea (for now.) I then ordered slipcovers online but they were ill fitting and looked pretty awful.  So I bit the bullet: I sewed slipcovers.  I had never done it before but had a general idea how I should proceed.  I found a sturdy khaki duckcloth and pinned it to each section of chair, cutting out around the exact shape of each section with am inch and a half seam allowance.  I then pinned all the pieces together until I had the entire chair covered with pinned sections, pulled the inside out pinned montrosity off the chair and sewed along all my pin lines.  Simple.  Time consuming, but simple.  The only tricky part were the curved arms where I had to fashion a pleated curve as well as the “patch” on the front of each arm.  But once the chairs were finally finished I was so in love with the final project I give myself a little pat on the back whenever I walk past them.

The pillows needed to follow the same idea as the rest of the room: playful but not too casual.  I chose a stripe that has a nod to the nautical and backed it with natural canvas that matches the couches exactly.  I added a deep red ticking accent as well as an aqua batik-ish print that adds a little of the, “huh, I would never think that would work” that I like to have in all my rooms. I made a table runner for the coffee table with the same fabrics I used for the pillows.  On top of that, I placed three glass candlesticks for height topped with map patterned candles and a woven basket of greenery and bamboo balls.

I hung my “Birch Tree” painting over the love seat to fill the space.  I’m not in love with it as it sits right now but I think that once it is framed it will work perfectly.  In the opposite corner from the painting is my desk/work station.  I transferred the frame collage that I originally had over the couch between the windows to over my desk wrapped around the corner.  Why did I move the artwork? The collage was too busy over the couch and conveyed a super casual feeling…since its one of the first rooms a guest sees when the enter the house I wanted it to make just the right impression.  I replaced the look with a large mirror with a dark wood frame that works with the accent tables and surrounded the mirror with a more conventional look of photos with white mats and black frames.  The photos themselves are off-kilter representations of what I imagined would be in a living room, or sitting room, in the 30′s or 40′s:  glimpses of a globe, horn rimmed glasses, a typewriter, a settee, a clock face and a rotary phone.  I cropped them so they were jsut a little “off” and adjusted their color so they were more faded and antiqued than the original.  They’re perfect.   With the collage situated around the corner over my desk, I still get the fun vibe that I love, people just have to enter the room and look around in order to find the treasure!

My desk top is littered with french flea market finds (vintage milk basket, old school pencil sharpener) as well as books, glass cloches, a couple of topiaries and a large hourglass.  I used a pewter layered display plate as my notion wrangler and a small brass lamp and vintage gold plated ceramic dish round it all out.  If you remember my sewing station in our apartment in Naperville, you’ll remember the green “idea” bulletin boards I had above my desk.  I used the same frames and foam core board and just replaced the green cotton with a natural flax.  I also sewed pocket panels in the larger board to hold some of my supplies.  It’s all working out rather well so far!

So, there is room number one, the Living Room.  Let me know what you think, hopefully it has inspired some great idea for you that you’ll utilize in your own home.  If not, I hope your little bit of voyeurism liked peeking into my most ‘formal’ room.

Later Gators.