So this room is by NO MEANS finished. We still have to paint all the trim, paint the walls, add curtains. But it is totally livable for now. Oh, and one day, replace the carpet. Because even though it is a mostly kid-free, dog-free zone, and a shoes-free this carpet is going to get old fast. Two great danes plus a toddler and a baby on the way in the family room (which shares the same carpet) means we are not exactly “low impact.” I absolutely love this room though. I feel lucky enough just to have a formal living room where we never sit. No, I joke. I love this room because the views are the best in the house (they look onto the pond) and I get to have all my not kid proof stuff somewhere. It is where I keep our “fancy” stuff.
So even though it is not finished (is any room ever?) I wanted to show you what we are doing with the space and a couple of DIY projects that have found their home in there. I will also share some ideas we have had for the ultimate design.
So here she is…
When you come in the front door, you can turn right and face the dining room, go straight up the stairs, or turn left and go into the living room.
If you take a hard right once you are in our living room, you will find our little nook with a bookcase (an original Stickley my mom found and bought for $400! and had refinished.) This sucker is staying in the family forever, whether it is at my house or one of my siblings. And believe me, it is HEAVY! This is no Ikea bookcase.
Stainding from the viewpoint of the bookcase/ chair, this is the rest of the room. The french doors on the right lead into our family room.
And facing the front of the house (standing with your back to the french doors/ family room:
Out these bay windows, is the pond for our neighborhood. Here are a few pictures of the pond from this summer. It is literally across from our house (you can see the location in the third pic.)
Here is our retrofitted East-Lake table. My mom bought the original with a beat-up top for $75 maybe 10 years ago. We grabbed it out of storage and E built a plywood base for the marble slab to sit on. The marble isn’t perfect and the edges are in rough shape, and it has a big ol’ crack forming a radial line; but it was $18. It matches E’s grandmother’s East-Lake table (above picture, right) really well!
You can see a peek into our family room in the picture below. Usually, we have a very photogenic baby gate up between the french doors. Yes, my voice is dripping with sarcasm. But it is necessary. Ella likes to run into the living room and bark at passing dogs and scratch at the mullions. You can guess how well that goes over with me!
And here Ella is (but not barking/ scratching). She decided to grace yet another blog shoot with her presence.)
And show her moves. I give you “Blue Steel”
And E wanted me to let you know that it is always staged just like this. I always have a full pitcher of water waiting for him when he gets home/ toddlers to play in and make a mess 😉 The lucite tray was another DIY, read about it here. And the faux agate coasters were bought from Target and I colored the edges gold with a gold Sharpie. The real deals retail for $75 for a set, I found our fake ones at Target for $7.
Domestic Mamma says
Lovely living room, I am in love with your windows and the view outside them. I so wish I lived somewhere that got snow in winter, so pretty, and your dog, OMGosh so big!!!!! but so gorgeous and cuddly looking.
[email protected] says
Vicki,
Thanks so much! I do love having the snow (especially because we don't have as much as Boston right now!) It makes the house look so much brighter and it much nicer to look at than the dead grass! You are so sweet to compliment Ella, she is huge but the biggest lapdog! She sits in my lap every single night! 125 lbs of pure lap dog!
xo
Annie
walter says
I reached this blog searching for an answer about stairs. I didn’t found it here, but I love your home! You must be very proud of it.
In any case, I don’t want to bother you, but if you can answer this, you would help me a lot. Do you know if there any rules about which side the staircase should be placed in a living room? I mean, to the left or to the right? I know the question might seem stupid, but… I don’t know.
I know I have to hire an architect for something like this, but is just a question that got me anxious since yesterday and I think I can trust your taste/opinion for this.
I’m talking about this kind of houses, you can see they don’t use a foyer, but just a larger living room with space for a stair. Well, I don’t like that too much, but I don’t even know how or where one should place a stair.
https://www.google.com.ar/maps/place/Necochea+3832,+7600+Mar+del+Plata,+Buenos+Aires/@-37.9848403,-57.5487245,3a,37.5y,213.27h,97.17t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCaHppbu8PkWon_AF14hK_Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x9584dbfd13fee4a1:0xceab26229377cb65!8m2!3d-37.98349!4d-57.551521
You can’t see it, but the entrance to the house is at the left side of the room in the middle. I think I would place the stairs to the right side of that room, like entering and having it in front of you, I mean you would have to walk to the right side ot the living to reach the stairs. Do you think that’s normal???
Sorry for the weird question in any case, you can delete it if you want…
Bye, and thanks for reading this in any case.