our collected living room

After nearly 3 years of tweaking, rearranging, shuffling chairs, plants and window treatments, I can honestly say that I’m thrilled with where we’ve landed in our living room.  While the kitchen is usually the center of the home figuratively, this living room is literally the center of ours.  It is a large room with multiple doorways, windows and traffic paths so getting the floor plan just right was really important.  Originally this room was two small rooms that a previous owner opened up.  I’m glad they did.

Form, function and scale were also very important for us.  Our house is small and although the rooms are relatively large, there are few of them so each space has to work just right for our needs.  The corner by our sliding door always stumped me and I knew it could do better for us.

After months of searching, I found a fantastic antique Victorian secretary desk on Craig’s List.  Last winter we brought this stately piece home to finally give purpose to that corner.  It was immediately evident that this was what the room needed. It pulls triple duty for us as china cabinet storage, bar and work space.  The secretary opens to reveal the perfect little desk that Ryan works at almost daily.

Another game changer was finally pulling the trigger and purchasing just the right sofa which made its debut back around the holidays.  The white tufted chesterfield puts a smile on my face everyday and it brightens up the middle of the room.  I tend to wonder why I waited so long on this purchase.  Probably because it is the only thing, aside from the gifted yellow rug, that is brand new. Nearly everything else in this space was “found, free or flea” which epitomizes my vintage style.

Near the entrance, we were in desperate need of a freestanding closet to function for coat storage.  Again, after months of sourcing, I came across just the right scale antique piece.  Persistence pays off!  We drove about 3 hours to pick this one up and it was well worth the trip.  I painted the closet in MMS milk paint Farmhouse White.  The old finish resisted the paint just right revealing the perfect chippy texture.  Form and function wins again!

Those rugs are possibly my favorite find of all time.  That’s a bold statement to make in this room because it’s loaded with favorite finds.  They are authentic vintage kilim rugs that I picked up for a song. I will never let them go.

Along with the pair of vintage mohair chairs that I’ve sung the praises of here plenty of times before.  I doubt I’ll ever tire of those either.

This room has looked like this for nearly 6 months and I have no immediate plans to change it aside from the occasional accessory or vignette. Famous last words but I think we’ve finally found a happy eclectic mix of vintage/collected/bohemian/farmhouse/jungalow/beachy style. Did I miss anything in that style classification?

Updating this room certainly didn’t happen overnight.  First there was the wallpaper which came down immediately and up went creamy off-white paint.  Cornerstone by Behr.  I’m still happy with this choice years later.  Then there was the wood stove installation and slate surround.  Next was the flooring which Ryan installed every square foot of.  Finally, the furniture finds and accessories which make the house a home.

I’ll leave you with some before and after pictures for good measure.  Updates have come in phases but it’s always fun to look back at where we started when we bought this house, frilly curtains included.

Thanks for visiting!

 

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beach cottage bedroom

Is it spring yet?  The beach sure is lonely without you.  I am counting down the days until the neighborhood is bustling again.  As much as a I love a little wintertime solitude, I prefer the action that warm sunny weather brings to the sandy beaches.  With that said, let’s check out a bright and cheerful beach cottage bedroom.  Between starfish and vintage swimsuit art, it is just brimming with anticipation of summer!

If you are a regular around here, you probably remember that my folks bought a cute beach cottage about a year ago.  We’ve been gradually making progress room by room.  Each space was basically a neutral space that needed a punch of color and personality.  The carpet is brand new so it wasn’t going.  They also weren’t into painting as it was also recently done.  The reality is that other time-consuming projects, like creating a bathroom, took priority.  Basically we just pulled together a color palette and accessorized on a budget.  To do that, we used a combination of salvaged pieces, vintage, second-hand finds plus new textiles and art.  The color scheme is just so happy.  Perfect for the beach, right?

Once upon a time, the headboard was in my bedroom.  It’s a salvaged door which so happens to measure a short 60 inches – the same width as a queen bed.  Years ago, I adorned it with driftwood, paint and starfish which are still fun.

Possibly my favorite part of the room are the swimsuit prints.  These were very hard to find!  We spotted them about a year ago at Bed, Bath & Beyond but were not ready to pull the trigger.  Of course that was a mistake.  Months later when we ready for art and agreed on the swimsuit prints, they were gone of course.  Local stores were wiped out.  Spoiler alert, after weeks of searching, I finally found them AND they were half price.  Naturally, I also hoarded a set for myself because you never know when you’ll need vintage-inspired swimsuit art.  These were the only two patterns available out of the original six or eight prints.  Fortunately, the colors were perfect.

Those lamps are new-ish but found second-hand for mere dollars.  Aren’t they perfect?  The end tables are both painted in MMS milk paint, apron strings on the left & kitchen scale on the right.  The kitchen scale drum table doesn’t actually belong in this room.  It is one of a pair which are available for sale at West End Garage.  Normally we have a coordinating chest on the right but this one looks pretty darn good there.

Let me divert your attention to the other side of the room.  What was once two dusty old closets, is now a full bathroom.  It is the tiniest full bathroom aptly named The Water Closet.

The closet space was the selling point on this old house but not for storing clothes.  The house had all the space they were looking for in a beach cottage but just one bathroom which was a deal breaker.  We stood in this very room when I had the bright idea that the side-by-side closets from adjacent bedrooms could be knocked out to make room for approximately a 30 square foot bathroom.

Now, I can’t take all of the credit.  My dad is the plumber who masterminded the water closet complete with a pocket door.  I will take credit for the pocket door actually.  That was my idea.

To the left is the toilet and to the right is a shower stall.

Admittedly two closets were lost in the making of this full bathroom.  However, we compensated with stand alone closets in each room.  As it turns out an additional bathroom is strongly preferred over closet space in a beach house anyway.

Just three months until Memorial Day!

Source List

Bedroom

• Bedding – Homegoods
• Headboard – salvage
• Tin Shelf – salvage
• Night stands – vintage painted in MMSMP Apron Strings & Kitchen Scale
• Lamps – estate sale finds
• Curtains – thrifted
• Top down shades – JCPenney
• Swimsuit prints – Bed, Bath & Beyond (sold out)
• Cedar Closet – vintage painted in MMSMP Artissimo

Water Closet

• Towels – Homegoods
• Shower Curtain – Homegoods
• Tile – Home Depot ‘Noce’
• Mirror – vintage
• Rattan shelf – trash (no shame)
• Rattan baskets – Homegoods
• Plumbing – Marston Mechanical

 

 

 

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makeover: sunny days

It’s been awhile.  But for good reason.  Just last weekend I wrapped up a makeover project with a great friend.  I am excited to share the results today.  I can pretty much guarantee fewer posts in 2016 but when I do post, I hope to knock your socks off with reveals like this one.

Let’s start from the beginning.  The beige, boring before. This room wasn’t given much attention nor was it used frequently.  It was where all of the random pieces of furniture ended up.  Some with great bones, others not so great and a few left behind by previous owners.  The one thing all of these pieces seemed to have in common was that they were a shade of brown.  The walls too!  Beige and brown are almost always the default “safety” color when arranging a room.  Am I right?  We needed to inject color and personality into this space immediately!

When consulting with the couple, we discussed how they wanted to use the room and the feeling they wanted it to evoke.  This space is going to be used, as intended, as a living room for hosting friends and family.  No television, just conversation.  We also determined that the adjacent space beyond the pocket doors needed to be defined.  This would become the library anchored by wall-to-wall built in bookcases.

In our initial consultation the couple described their style as “minimalist modern” although I might argue that it’s “contemporary traditional” but who’s keeping track.  In fact, let’s go with “organic modern”.  I think that sums up the outcome.  The project was a healthy dose of DIY, vintage, home store finds and shopping the house, my favorite.  A full source list can be found at the end.

One specific influence kept surfacing when flushing out their style and it was Kimpton Hotels which is known for bold interiors.  Specifically their use of contemporary patterns, intense color and often natural elements juxtaposed with metallic & reflective finishes.  The most important element being “pops of color” as described by my friend.

 

We started with a relatively neutral color scheme by painting the walls a soft gray and then worked in the “pops of color” and texture.  The sofa is gorgeous and so comfortable.  It is a classic gray velvet Chesterfield accessorized with bold throw pillows that can always be changed out down the road or seasonally for a new look.  Crown molding and windows were updated before we got to the fun stuff.

Nature is an important element to the couple since they are avid gardeners and Renee is a floral designer.  The vintage botanical print above the sofa was a find that I’d been hoarding for just the right project.  The set of wing chairs initially started out as a bird motif but after that pattern was discontinued we came across these butterflies which were a great consolation. The birds landed on the twiggy side table.

It was a no-brainer that the rug needed to be yellow, Renee’s favorite color.  We cycled through a few choices, even sending one back, until we found this one with a simple over-sized pattern.  I stumbled upon the perfect mirrored, coffee table with geometric cut outs mimicking the pattern on the area rug.  We debated over pattern vs. solid panels for the windows but ultimately settled on navy and pulled that deep color onto the walls in the library.

Can we talk about the lamps and end tables?  Two of my favorite elements in this room perhaps because each set is totally unique – a vintage treasure and a DIY.  Would you believe those end tables were sourced on Craigslist in mint condition?  When first reviewing the listing, we anticipated painting them white but lucked out.  The natural wood is very pretty and didn’t need any updating.  Check out the lattice-work on the bottom.

The lamps were hideously dated but the perfect shape, scale and a matching pair.  At 5 bucks they were a steal.  They even came complete with pleated shades which we ditched for ruched drum shades.  A simple DIY with high gloss spray paint gave us the ginger jar shape lamps we were looking for and a fun pop of color.

Library

Turn your attention to the newly minted library.  The couple took the momentum from the living room and ran with it in a series of DIY projects in the library.  We flipped the color scheme just a bit with navy taking center stage on the walls and gray taking a backseat.

Bye bye beige!  The bookcase is an Ikea hack.  A set of five Billy bookcases were framed and painted to create a wall-to-wall bookcase.  Signature pops of color, of course, are found stenciled across the back.  The displaced books and mementos from the living room all found a new home organized on the shelves.

Vintage and contemporary pieces are right at home in this new space.  The fantastic natural light doesn’t hurt to showcase all of their finds.

Dining Room

It wouldn’t be a home project without a little project creep, naturally.  In this case the dining room is adjacent to the living room which means the crown molding needed continuity as well as gray owl paint on the walls.

Changes in the dining room included updating the light fixture to reflect the organic modern direction as well as the bird art.  I convinced them to anchor the dining table and chairs with an area rug which Renee did a great job of selecting.  I enjoy the quiet simplicity of the dark stained Windsor chairs, trestle table and humble bench but I do think the room feels a bit warmer with the bold rug.  Do I dare say that it adds a “pop of color”?

Well that sums up the entire makeover which is Olive approved…

Source List

Living Room

• Sofa – Macy’s Saybridge
  
• Paint – Behr Dolphin Fin
  
• End Tables – Vintage Craigslist
  
• Lamps – DIY via Craigslist
  
• Lamp Shades – Target
  
• Throw Pillows – Homegoods (patterned) & Vintage (solid)
• Area Rug – Wayfair
  
• Coffee Table – Homegoods
  
• Wing Chairs – Macy’s
  
• Pouf – Wayfair
  
• Twig Side Table – Pier 1
  
• Mirror – Vintage
  
• Botanical Print – Vintage
  
• Curtains – Boscov’s
  
• Top Down Cellular Window Shades – JCPenney
• Magazine Rack – Vintage
  

Library

• Bookcase – Ikea Billy Hack
  
• Paint – Behr Very Navy
• Chair – Ikea Poang
  
• Throw Pillows – Ikea (patterned) & Vintage (solid)
• Rocking Chair – Vintage
  
• Curtains – Wayfair
  

Dining Room

• Furniture – Vintage
  
• Rug – Ikea Vidstrup
  
• Bird Print – Ikea
  
• Light Fixture – Overstock