The Living Room

Before:

During:

After:

Oh, man was that carpet horrible stuff.  I am so glad we have pretty hardwood floors now.

The living room is my favorite room in the house.  I love that there's a place to hang out WITHOUT a television right there staring you in the face.  It has already cut down the TV viewing in my life significantly.

I'm also pleased with how this room is coming together.  The chair is an antique that belonged to my Great-Uncle Charles, and we've tried to coordinate the rest of the room around it.  I like the pop of the red couch.  To the right of the fireplace is Sweetie's Christmas gift to  me - a seven foot tall giraffe that fits perfectly in the room.

As much as I love this room, it is far from done.  That's the challenge of moving into a space significantly larger than the one you came from - you've got all kinds of extra space to fill now, and filling that space takes money.

Specifically, things to be done, in somewhat priority order:

• Area rug for the seating area.  I think something fairly plain, but graphic.  This comes first, because it will be easiest to select it before other fabrics are added to the space.
• Window coverings.  The picture windows behind the loveseat are quite spectacular and lovely.  You can also feel them sucking the heat out of the house on a cold winter's evening.  And since they are east facing the morning sun can be deadly.  We'll probably do sheers in addition to something more substantial - we face out to a pretty major roadway, and it would be nice to let the light in without having to watch the cars drive by.
• Tables.  Specifically:  A large end table for between the sofa and the loveseat.  A small table for next to the chair (My parents may have something that will fit this bill that I can hijack from them when they clean house in the spring).  Also, some sort of table/cabinet/desk for wall between the red couch and the fireplace.  It's a fairly large space of empty air at the moment that will take a special piece.  I think it's one of those "I'll know it when I see it" pieces, and will likely wait until the room has taken a little more shape before it is decided on.
• Light fixture.  The ceiling fan/lights we received at the house, while functional, are really not my style.  And in the living room Sweetie sometimes runs the risk of bumping his head.  I'd like to replace it at some point.
• Shelving.  We have a random bookshelf sitting in the little niche to the left of the fireplace because we needed something to go there, the bookshelf needed a home, and it all worked out that way.  It does an OK job there, but eventually I think I'd like some sort of built-in there that better fits the space.
• Fireplace.  I want a mantle clock.  Don't need one, don't know what I want it to look like, but I want one.  We also want to find something to replace the Poinsettia when it dies.  It was a random gift from my parents as they were heading out of town after the holidays.  The red works perfectly with the red in the rest of the room, so we need to find something to fill its place (although it's still fairly healthy, so we have time).  Also, WAY down the line, I'd like to find a more attractive fireplace insert that better shows off the tile, but that's a LOW priority.

Next stop:  Dining room

Comments

[tommyspoon]

Makes me smile to see Sweetie's picture up on your living room wall!

[Herb Koguchi]

In designing a room, you should make sure that the furnishings complement each other. Just look at how much your living room improved. Why don't you try putting in light-colored drapings for your windows? That way, the room won't be too exposed, and you'll get enough light at the same time.