My Living Room
Since I shared the space that inspired my living room I should share with you my living room. Perhaps I'll go room by room with our house. I LOVE this house. I feel personality in architecture and space and our house is very matronly and sweet. She's not fancy, but she's caring & comfortable.
We live in an 1920's bungalow in the Historic Houston Heights. I am absolutely respectful of old houses and sincerely appreciate the craftsmanship of old homes. They have an integrity that I seek to preserve.
The space is a long open room that combines the living room with the dining room and essentially an entry. I changed up the layout by reworking the lighting. I moved the fan from the "TV" area to the middle of the space. The original dining pendant remains in its place but I found a matching one on Ebay that is on the opposite side of the fan. Changing the lighting in this manner frees the room up to be used as is best for the occupant. For us that means the dining room is closest to the front door with the living area taking the rest of the room.
So here you see the before. So. Plain. TV at the front and dining at the back. I switched it. Besides changing the lighting I added built-ins, crown molding with drapery pocket and draperies.
This after is a bit more pulled in but it shows the new front door and dining built-ins. For small homes built-ins are really the only way to go. Even as people that don't keep a ton of stuff we still need these built-ins for sanity. Otherwise a small space can feel disheveled with a quickness.
The fireplace remains the same but the pink ceramic tile hearth was changed to a travertine herringbone mosaic. The built-ins flanking the fireplace and extending to the ceiling change the entire feel of the room. It feel spacious and open. Exactly opposite of what so many assume will happen with built-ins. And who doesn't love a drapery pocket? I love simple drapery panels in a sleek drapery pocket. Because of the age and style of the home I used the crown molding to create a drapery pocket. A great option is to build it into the sheetrock. Then it appears your draperies are ascending from the ceiling!
The gallery wall. This wall behind the sectional is long. I found a few pieces of art that I liked for the space, large art, very large art. But nothing completely grabbed me. So I started collecting art, some I made but most was found at estate sales and local artists. The key to a good gallery wall is to mix paintings with photography, color with black and white, framed with canvas, and have a great variance of sizes. Then just pour yourself a glass of wine and start at one side working your way to the end.
I've always been quite private about sharing my personal spaces, as they tend to be a bit more eclectic than spaces I design for others. I do know it's fun to see where designer's live. So I hope you enjoyed!