So this living room is huge.
Here's the situation: The front door opens into the living room in the far right corner. When you walk in, the room stretches to your left with the fireplace and the arch into the dining room adjacent to that. To the right is a smaller arch and two steps up onto a landing that has a coat closet and a window, then a quarter turn and the stairs lead to the second floor. That's what's pictured just below.
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| Sorry, kids just won't stay out of pictures! |
In this before and after shot, you can see the archway to the stairs. Just behind my son, there is an air return on the floor. It is 2.5x2.5 and was covered very flimsily with wooden slats that had seen better days. My brother actually stepped right through it when he came over the first time. Oddly enough, he hasn't been back since...
Anyway, I had bought 4 decorative iron plates/grids at a yard sale several years before. I had used them once or twice as over-sized trivets and had plans to hang them on the garage outside as a garden decoration when I had the idea to use them to create a new grate for the return. A local welder came and measured everything, took the iron pieces, and made a grid out of metal and welded the iron squares onto it. It's a bit over-sized for the hole and not done as neatly as I had wanted it, but I like it and I think it gives a nice flair to an otherwise ho-hum element.
As far as changes go, we ripped up the carpet and found hardwood underneath and patched where necessary. We sanded down and painted the doors on either side of the fireplace, removed the brass frame from the fireplace and gave it a good scrubbing. I actually scrubbed the hearth on my hands and knees with a brush and a bucket of water next to me. It was very 1870.
Now it looks like this. Curtains and rods are from IKEA, lamps a random collection from second hand stores. The red chair and loveseat both came from Goodwill, and the pair of chairs and ottoman are Ethan Allen that I got at a yard sale for $200 for all 3 pieces! They are slated to be recovered, but until I can find a fabric I like and decide where they will live forever, they remain like this... The table between is from my old
study at our last house. Rug was $40 at Home Depot in the clearance section.
The entire room got a fresh coat of paint, trim included, and whatever plaster-patching needed to be done. The walls are Sea Reflections from Benjamin Moore. That pin wheel over the mantle was from an antique store in downtown Franklin, bought back in 2003.
The front door needed a lot of scraping and a few coats of paint. It's huge and heavy and I LOVE it!!!
This biggest change is the bathroom we added in next to the stairs and across from the front door - you can see the difference in the first set of pics on this post. Bathroom details are in another post.
This little corner is to the right of the dining room doorway and next to the bathroom. The shelves are filled with personal books (work-related books are in the office) and the television and DVD player and WiFi, etc. are on the shelf. The white shelf is solid wood and was in my old study, as was the zebra rug. The black one is from Ikea - it's actually two pieces put together with a floating shelf on top to give the illusion of a built-in. I wanted a real built-in, but the contractor never could get a bid together or find the time to work it out, so I just did this. The perk is I can take it with me!
This little table was second-hand ($40) and we use it for puzzles, games, art, or a second dining table when we have company. In this picture, you can see how this nook fits into the rest of the room. The door on the right goes into the bathroom - which is very well insulated. :)
Ideally I wouldn't want my television that far away or that high - though both would be fine if it was bigger - but it looked too high and silly and small on the mantle. It would be best to not have a TV in here at all, given the way we use the room, but... Mostly I just use it for exercise videos and the kids occasionally watch a movie down here. I could lose the table and one of the bookshelves and do a different furniture arrangement and put the TV lower down but essentially in the same place. The problem is we just don't watch it enough to make that important to do. However, we do read - a lot.
Next to the front door is the piano. Also formerly of my study in the last house. I don't like that chair with it, but I had to use something...
I do love that lamp, though.
<< This is the view from the front door, looking slightly left.
This is from the dining room looking into the living room. The black thing on the window is homemade stained glass that my daughter made in art class. This is not my favorite room in the house but I have made a sort of peace with it. I wanted to buy all new furniture for it and make it very English Country House, but I could never justify spending the money on furniture I didn't technically need when there were SO MANY THINGS that needed my attention and cash. Ah, well, c'est la vie.
I love this fireplace. Big. Impressive. Brick on the inside. Gorgeous wood molding surrounding. I can't imagine ever living without one again. I have become completely spoiled.
We finally brought the furniture from the upstairs family room downstairs to the living room. I'll admit this was my favorite arrangement for this room. Too bad we waited so long to do it! 
