Thursday, February 28, 2013

Living Room


 So during the renovation the living room was used as the "staging" area for the painting supplies and just about everything else. I have looked everywhere but I can't find the original pictures of the house that show the wall to wall bookcase that was in this room but if you look at that little strip of green there on the wall and imagine a set of bookshelves the length of the room that will give you an idea of what was there. We wanted more wall space, since we have so much art to hang, and the shelving just seemed to make the room feel small. So down they came on the first day in the house. Turns out they weren't even attached to the wall. Kind of held up by paint, if you will. Frankie would have had those on the floor the first week in. Safety first folks!


My neighbor tells me we are the 5th or 6th owners of this house since it was built in 1965. At some point one of the former owners put these lovely lights in the living room. They are each on a separate dimmer which made my Dad and his buddy, our home inspector, chuckle and make a few jokes about evening disco sessions. As an artists family we kinda liked them. We can literally adjust the lighting in every corner of that room and highlight the work that is hung there. Not too much went into this room other than paint and patching and taking down the old blinds and such. Had to put down some new baseboard. Patch a hole in the wall where someone had tried to create a vent that would allow heat from the fireplace downstairs to warm the living room. Nice idea but we didn't want to eaves drop on overnight guests so - patched. Also it was right in the middle of the stinkin' wall. Right above the back of the couch but too low to hang a painting over. See it there in the picture? On the left wall. There were a lot of decisions made in the life of this house that still baffle me. 


Anyway now it looks like this! Again with the lovely windows to look out of. Lots of bird watching here just like in the kitchen. That funny little shape under the rug is a rug pad that was too small. Took these pictures the day after we got the rug and we hadn't fixed that yet. Now it just looks like a plain old rug with a pad that fits it. One of the most delightful things about this house - particularly our things IN this house is how they all seem to be made for each other. We have been collecting mid-century vintage furniture since we got married. We have always liked the style of the 50s and early 60s. Also it used to be the stuff that you could get at Goodwill and that was where we went to find furniture. Now people snag the nicer pieces and and put them on Craigslist. Still I just love the way it looks like we planned the furnishings when really this is just the stuff we had. The stuff we loved then and the stuff we love even more here. The couch is new. We bought two new couches for this house because our old one was just a disaster after three babies and a puppy. But this one is from the early 60s too. It's a sleep sofa that is so old the frame is made of iron and it weighs as much as a locomotive. I found it for a cool $100 on good ol' Craigslist. We have some super awesome friends who love us lots and lots because somehow we were able to find guys to help Stephen go pick up this beast and it's sister and then move them here once we were done with the house. Love you guys. You know who you are.


That is a tiny Ada over by the stairs being my "model" on the day these pictures were taken. This room gets a lot of use as you can imagine. I love the line of sight from the kitchen. The girls love to run the length of the house when they get all worked up and need something active to do in the afternoon on "inside days". There is so much light that fills this room at any time of day - it makes it a super cheerful place to hang out. 

And now since Frankie has been awake for the last 2 hours and I have been going back and forth trying to figure out how to help her get back to sleep.. I am going to bed while Stephen gives it a try.

3 comments:

Larry said...

The living room is such a wonderful connecting space for reading, TV or fellowship. Short distant to your amazing kitchen and within easy earshot of the children's rooms. I love that the home sits on a slight hill, so that from the living room space, you can have a slightly elevated view of the neighborhood. All very cool...

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