Thoughts on using a formal living room

Do you use your formal living for the sophisticated soirees that it was decorated for? Yeah, me neither.

 It somehow doesn't sit right with me have a room that is rather museum-like in one's house. Why bother? I will tell you that the layout of this particular house allows me to enjoy the room without being in it sometimes but still that seems a waste. I have met people that turned this room into a playroom for their kids and the resulting plastic wasteland is a huge turn-off right inside the front door, for me at least.

It may seem silly but the way I use my formal living room is to have relaxing phone chats. It's as far away from the noise of TV as can be and the pretty things I love are right there to look at while I talk.

In addition, moving my little desk into the living room makes for a very pretty place to write checks and handle other sundry office chores. When it was in a different location it did not always stay tidy but the higher order of the living room shames me into always leaving it looking nice.

It is perhaps still not living up to it's full potential and when I have elegant parties in it I'll be sure to post here. Until then, I am enjoying it anyway.

A colorful update

I suppose this post should be titled "Happy Mother's Day to me" or "The family room isn't ready". As many things go in improving or decorating your home, one thing had to happen before the original project can be completed. The color neutralizing in my family room led to shopping which led to brightening my living room and not finishing the family room.

Here is a partial before, so you get the idea.

Totally tired of it!

So I removed the vibrant pieces from the family room and went pillow shopping for some comfy pale gray pillows for the sofa. I only bought one and then raided my son's room for more. I figured It would make a good blog post with before and afters. Well...it's not finished and I had colorful things that make me happy that needed a home.

A conversation later that day.
Me: "Want to know what I would like for Mother's day?"

Mr. Designdumonde: "Yes! And I want you to shop for it and wrap it"

Me: "OK!!!!!"

My pillow shopping had led me past these cunning little stools at Target.

 

 I wanted two but two just did not work in my living room. In fact, pink did not work in my living room even though the walls are the palest pink!! Horrors!

More shopping happened and the bombe chest and desk traded places.

I made sure there was a bit of vibrant pink and orange sprinkled about the room. The foundation is still ivory fabrics with dark woods and though predictable, I am really happy with it.

Room of the week

I was really drawn to the the symmetrical windows and bright light here, and the curtains look much like the ones in my living room.

I think the elegant proportions and chandelier seal the deal for me with this room.

Did I mention the floor? 

Thumbs up or down?

Christmas switcheroo

If you are a regular you will remember my furniture rearranging escapade a couple of months ago.

My living room went from this...

to this...

Which I hated and changed to this...

I bravely solicited comments and the consensus was naught.

 There were so many different points of view that I just decided to leave it. I nearly killed myself moving all of the furniture myself. 

I had this nagging desire to move the sofa back under the painting which I created and hand stretched expressly for that spot.

Last week I decided to try the one arrangement I had not yet tried and I had big, strong Mr. DesignduMonde to help me.  It was time because we had to accomodate the Christmas tree. It only took us 10 minutes.

I am not crazy about the bombe chest being crammed in the corner but I feel so much better with the sofa under the painting and I am in love with the creamy vignette created by the chairs, curtains and the tone on tone abstract I bought from my friend Kenneth.

Sweatin' with the oldies

By "oldies" I mean me and by "sweatin'" I mean me and my crazy idea to rearrange my formal living room several times by myself.

I mentioned in my post on Saturday that the arrangement was just not very inviting.

I took the easy route first.

This "easy" route was just me moving the two chairs, x-bench and Korean chest. Since that was too easy and my living room was not completely clogged with furniture, I pulled the black velevt chair out of my bedroom and tried to kill myself carrying it down the stairs. 

As you can see the two cream chairs blocked the archway to the dining room but full denial kicked in and I declared my husband "stupid" when he said, "I hate it" and walked away.

Hours passed and I came to realize I had to move the sofa to the window wall along with moving everything else in the room.

That pretty glass and bamboo coffee table got a "Mommy, you just said a bad word!!" out of my audience but the real treat was the bombe chest. Marble is freakin' heavy.

I just spent Friday afternoon telling my friend how useful furniture sliders are and how we have used our so much but apparently walking down stairs to get mine would have put me over the edge and I did it the hard way. I am stupid like that.

I spent time in each seat and I think the final result was worth it.

Which layout do you like best?

Saturday inspiration

Not my living room

Today I am playing with the furniture arrangement in my formal living room.

No one ever goes in there unless they are on the phone and need to get away from noise and I hate that.

I decided that the furniture arrangement was just not inviting. The issue is that two large archways limit the arrangements that are possible.

I would love to show you all this but it has been gloomy and rainy all week here in Virginia and I am ready for that to come to and end. Fingers crossed that the sun comes out soon.

What have you been inspired to tackle this weekend?

Mistakes I have made in decorating

This is going to be embarrassing...gulp.

This post is not so much about my taste or not being trendy but more general mistakes I have made in decorating choices.

Mistake #1. Fighting your space, aka trying to shove Downton Abbey into a cottage

While there are elements of this former living room that I love, I took it too far, too heavy and too Granny.

I was going for an English country house look but  in a Cape Cod, with a tight budget and this gawd awful wood burner that I nicknamed, Bubba.

I so hated the 1960s orange oak trim and that fireplace trim that I ignored it. I did not have the budget to remove Bubba, fix the flooring and add a fireplace. Although,one January morning (actually 21 of them) I was glad to have Bubba when our furnace died.

I digress, my point is don't try to make a palace out of a cottage. I could have much more successfully ignored the elements I did not like, had I kept the decor more relaxed and casual. Lighter and brighter would have worked better.

Mistake #2. Not visually connecting items

Those antique frames and photo would not have looked too high had I placed a normal chair underneath but they appear to be floating away from the low lying bench. Now I could not add pillows to that bench as it was used for hats and gloves and needed to be opened by young children daily.

I could have extended the grouping on the wall, gallery wall style farther down the wall visually connecting the items.

Ahhh! That is enough embarrassing photos of my life for one day. I am cringing right now. I don't even want to think about the tragic paint color I chose for a kitchen and this was when I was a working designer!
What mistakes have you made? Fess up people.

If I could stretch my living room

view toward the entryway of my house

I have thought that my formal living room was oddly small since I bought this house. The heyday of the "parlor" is long gone and many suburbanites use the formal room as a giant toybox...gasp. Personally, I love formal spaces and entertaining in them.

Bombe chest flanked by equal windows

Before I show you my desired design let me show you what exists.

view into the dining room

This is the view into the dining room when standing in the center of the room. The pair of Brno chairs are now in my family room.

The dining room is decidedly masculine and completely traditional and I wanted the adjoining living room to be a bride to its groom, so to speak. 

stool from Target recovered with Le Lac in the foreground

I should mention that I prefer furniture to "float" in a room but this room is too small to float the 72" Sheraton sofa.

Here is the current floorplan.

If I just could s-t-r-e-t-c-h it a few feet in each direction...

I could have two Sheraton sofas facing each other, a favorite set up of mine.

Between them would be this coffee table.

I would add a fireplace and keep the mantelpiece fairly simple.

Over the mantel, since I am dreaming, would be a Sally King Benedict painting like this.

Over in the corner would be my Bombe chest acting as a bar.

 Think this.

or this.

My stretched living room is a far cry from its current sate.
Anyone have a magic wand handy?