Trying to find a ray of light in this dark time, which btw, will only get darker – for a while at least. So a decorating project is taking place. We moved into this house 13 years ago, changed some paint colors, but that was it. Time to not live in someone else’s house.
The house was built in 1950 this is the entry room, I’ll show you the front door shortly. It was the living room of the house. Since then, previous owners added a large room in the back that functions as the great room, so we turned this into the dining room. I have never liked the rough grout or the pine wood, but also didn’t do anything about it. So big changes will happen there. Yes, I put up the fan chandelier, which will move to the great room, since the fan we have there isn’t working well, rather than fix, I’ll simply put this one there.
Here is the front door. Oh yes, along with painting, I did do the mosaic work on the archway, that is staying until this house gets torn down.
The dining room table and chairs are staying, the chairs are being reupholstered as I type this. I put in that one sconce and the buffet. I realized immediately that one sconce wasn’t enough. So soon there will be two and they are nothing like these ‘traditional’ fake crystal things. I bought this cheaply. I’m spending a lot of money on new items – not top of the line, but good interesting pieces. Working with a designer is so much fun. She finds things that I never could, and I’m all there for it.
Big changes are coming for the window seat. I know, the bright sunlight makes this hard to see, I had the window seat cushion made. I don’t even remember what was there before. Anyway, it too has gone to the upholsterer, he will use it as a template and is making a cushion that is much thicker and in the richest royal blue velvet possible. There are be a lot more pillows as well.
Cushion gone. Oh, the walls here will all be wall papered. And the pine is getting a major paint job. Removing it was just too daunting, so other solutions have been found.
Here is a peak at the new direction. First the wallpaper, designed by my friend Teale. This is the starting point of the project. All the walls in the dining room will have this paper. That rich blue velvet is going on the seat cushion. The rough weave is going on the chairs, and other cushions will be made from some of these other fabric. Oh and that tile, that will cover the ugly brick.
Looking from the dining room into the breakfast room, this of course was originally the dining room of the house, and then on into the kitchen.
There will be tie ins to the the dining room, no wallpaper here, a new chandelier, which has already arrived! Items are arriving but must stay in boxes for now.
This table and chairs will be replaced I bought this when we moved in here. The table is wonderful, a little too big for the space, so the new table will really only sit six, but I do have a dining room! This is where a designer is super helpful, I had the idea of different chairs, different colors, the end result is ok, but with better advice, they would have been better. Anyway, this set will be sold very cheaply when the new one arrives, so anyone local who is interested, let me know.
My kitchen has given me the Heebie-jeebies since day one. The previous owner painted it a bright yellow, probably because of the tiles, then realized that was a huge mistake and went over everything with a brown stain. Ugh! I’ll have another post with better images, but since I’ll have a painter here, we are repainting the kitchen. Not the cabinets, they will stay, but the hideous yellow is going away.
Leah