Hey there! How's it going? I am in New England and again enduring a Nor'easter. Unfortunately, my husband is traveling for business so, I am alone in the house. While I am hunkered down, I thought I would share with you one of the rooms of my new house that I am attempting to redecorate in my own style. I have told more than a few people that the moving process and subsequent decorating has taken way longer than I ever expected. Unpacking and deciding where things go is thought-provoking and slow, at least for me.
Early on in the buying process I had decided to swap the dining room and living room in terms of function. I have a large family and want to be able to use my large dining table when the whole family gets together. None of the houses we looked at while house hunting had a dining room large enough. Hence, came the idea to use the much larger, less used living room as the dining room and turn the dining room into a sitting/entertainment room. Since that decision was made, I have been obsessed with creating a room that matched my vision. I am not totally there yet but, I am on my way.
Below are photos of the dining room as styled by the previous owners. These photos make the room look larger than it actually is, the wonders of the real estate world. My photos are amateur, but I hope you will get a feel for the room anyway. To my taste, the room appears dated in these photos. The first round of business for me was to remove the curtains and get rid of the yellow paint. The previous owner loved yellow. Alas, it is not one of my favorites.
Once we passed papers, we had painters come in and repaint this room, the family room and the office. The living room, now the dining room, is going to take a lot of work since it has wallpaper on the walls and blue wall-to-wall carpeting on the floors. I am not sharing photos of that room yet. There are too many other things to do before I attack that project.
Please be patient with me because I do know that I have a way to go before I am done with this sitting/entertainment room but, I am happy with the progress thus far. The woodwork was painted white, and the walls were painted a griege color. I had to make decisions quickly so, I chose the color that is in my daughter Amanda's house. I believe the color is called Paperclip. The white is White Dove. I think they are both Benjamin Moore colors but, I am not positive. I had never hired professional painters before and was a bit overwhelmed with the decision making :). The Paperclip shows a bit darker in my house than Amanda's which has many more windows than mine. This fact has led me to leave the windows bare and without curtains for the moment. I am living with that decision and seeing how I feel about it as time goes on.
We brought the white tufted coffee table and gray sitting chairs ↓ with us from our old house and a few side tables, as well. The rest I have been slowly purchasing. I wanted this room to be intimate, a place to have a beverage and just talk and visit. I set out to find two chairs that would complement the ones I already owned. I settled on these high back faux-leather chairs.
I have kept the brass chandelier that came with the house for the time being because I kind of liked the contrast of the metal against the rest of the decor in the room.
My daughter, Brittany, painted the painting above the fireplace for me. Tom, my husband, is going to make a frame for it. When that is done, I will hang the picture higher on the wall. As I said, this room is still a work in progress. The painting is of Gibbet Hill, a pastureland the exists in our old town of Groton, MA. She painted it as an homage to the town in which we lived for almost 35 years.
Once Brittany's painting was placed on the mantle, an idea came to me. I decided that those Highland Cow paintings I had seen all over the place and loved just had to be part of the sitting room. I can't tell you how much I love this guy!
Another reason it has taken me a while to finish decorating this room is because there was a piece of furniture from my mother's house that I wanted to incorporate in the room. My mother is now in assisted living and not able to use most of her furniture, so I am happy that I have found a place for it in my new home. It never would have fit in my contemporary in Groton. It took us a while to get to the storage facility to reprieve the cabinet because of weather and scheduling.
This cabinet originally came from my grandparent's home, and I remember as a child loving to look at the fancy dishes my grandmother stored in it. I found a similar piece of furniture in the catalog of Joss and Main and immediately thought of my grandparents' cabinet. I knew I had to use it in the room.
It even has an old-fashioned key that you need to open the doors.
Pretty cool!
I haven't gotten to the point of entertaining outside of the family yet but, my children have come several times and we've enjoyed chatting in this room. I can see my vision coming together...slowly.
I have been adding more items to the walls and soon will run out when the weather permits for a plant or two. I think they will fit nicely in this room, maybe on a plant stand or on the hearth.
It is amazing how many elements are needed in a room to make it feel and look "lived-in". I added the basket to the top of the cabinet and the mirror on the wall the other day. Both were things I brought from the Groton house.
But my favorite thing so far is looking in from the kitchen and seeing the Highland Cow.
I hope you see an improvement to the room. So many people who saw the photos of the house before we bought it said the home looked comfortable and welcoming. I have been afraid that I might lose that impression when adding my own touches. I hope you still find the room warm and inviting. I can only say I have enjoyed the process and personally love the room. I am still debating the curtain question, however :).
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