Before and After #13: Living Room

 

 

 

Unlike with some of our other rooms, where we gutted everything out and started from scratch, the living room has come along as a series of small improvements and adjustments over the past few years. 

It took awhile to find the right furniture arrangement, to land on the right color scheme, and to make small improvements like new curtains and light fixtures.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

This month we finally finished. We hired contractors to remove the acoustic "popcorn" ceiling, add trim, and paint the entire room the same bright, cool white (Valspar's Subway Tile) that we used in the kids' room. 

Adding trim around the windows:

I know white isn't the most exciting color, but it really helped brighten up this very dark room.



The surprisingly big difference between the old beige (right) and the new white (left)

I also like having a neutral base that makes it easy to change out colors for seasons, holidays, and parties.

In order to renovate the room we had to move out all the furniture and the rugs, which also gave us a good opportunity to do some spring cleaning like waxing the floors, washing the curtains, steam-cleaning the rugs, and organizing the liquor cabinet.

Then Dev started with five BILLY bookcases from IKEA and built them into one large wall unit, perfect for showcasing our large and growing collection of cool, weird objects.

 

Some close-ups:

 

 

 

 

Antique aeronautical test equipment and a "twirl-o-scope" with dove-tail prism

  

 

My death mask, L'inconnue de la Seine, a birthday present from Dev

But best of all, Suzan gave us this extraordinary 19th century German landscape painting - it's so perfect for the space, it seems as though it was made for it.  (I tried to get a good close-up of the painting but couldn't do it justice.)

We also made some smaller tweaks, like upgrading all the electrical outlets.   l also bought a new set of dining room chairs which haven't arrived yet.

The room is designed around one of my favorite color combinations, pale green and gold, and all my favorite materials and textures: wood, leather, silk, fur, wool, velvet, linen, copper, silver, bronze, iron, marble, and bone.

I picked up these beautiful antique walnut Drexel chairs on Craigslist and we inherited the beautiful bronze tray from Lucas's late grandmother.  And I love that copper table.

 

Amy Turner helped me buy this Tibetan cabinet at an auction.

 

 

 

 



The cabinet is completely full of off-season throw pillows.



I love this bone table.

 

Suzan helped me find this beautiful antique iron chandelier at a consignment store in Dallas - it used to house oil lamps before being wired for electricity.

BEFORE

AFTER

 

We still need to install the track lighting that will illuminate the new shelf unit, but other than that, the living room is done! 

 

Eventually this space will change even more dramatically when we make some major renovations to the kitchen, including removing the wall that separates it from the living room. But for now we're turning our attention to our bedroom, our bathroom, and the back yard (yesterday we got an initial plan from a landscape designer).  With any luck we'll have most of the house (except the kitchen) done by the end of this year.