The Living Room

When we first moved into our cozy cottage last October, our living room did triple-duty. During the home's four-month-long renovation, it served as our family room, kitchen/dining room and studio. Then, once the construction was complete, the living room went back to looking like this . . .

Last summer, we sold virtually all of our living room furniture (e.g. the 1990s busy floral tapestry sofa and loveseat) at our former house's estate sale and I was excited to start fresh. I longed for classic neutral pieces that would be more timeless and go with everything. 

We opted for Bassett Furniture in Westport, CT, where Robin, one of their designers, kindly came to our home and measured the space. She helped us select fabrics and order the appropriate size sofa, occasional chairs, pillows and two upholstered benches. Each was custom-made and delivered within 30 days. We even found the rug there. Robin, thanks for your help. Truly great service!

Once we had those basics in place, I began to look for a chest of some sort that would provide us with much needed storage. I found a pine one, below, at Knock on Wood in Norwalk, CT. We placed it against the long wall across from the sofa and chairs. Perfect! Then it was time to hang something special on the wall above it.

I chose to create a gallery wall using my collection of hand-tinted landscape photos from the early 1900s. Many of them were shot by Wallace Nutting and a few are by his contemporaries. I adore these old pictures. They have just the right vibe for our 1925 home.

Finding a coffee table became my next task. I wanted one with a glass top so that the lovely medallion in the center of the rug would be visible. After much searching, I finally found one I liked at Wayfair.com. The small, white table between the chairs came from there, too. Even though I had to put both of them together myself, they were so reasonably priced, it was worth it.

Next, I focused on smaller home decor pieces. For the coffee table, I found a rustic wooden tray on Etsy from a seller called Cupola Vintage.

Homegoods provided the glass bell jar that sits on a galvanized tray from Terrain. This cloche displays rocks and shells found on our recent trip to Martha's Vineyard. An old photo of Edgartown Lighthouse serves as a backdrop.

More MV beachy finds reside in a green glass bowl from Spain that was discovered at Marshalls.

This oak secretary was one of the few things we kept from our old living room. Filled with white pottery and old books, a chair from Goodwill completes the vignette.

 Of course, I had to find a spot for our beautiful dollhouse . . .

And our collection of heart-shaped rocks . . .

The very last piece of the living room puzzle was finding lamps. I envisioned a matching pair of floor lamps for either side of the pine chest. I am so darn picky — it took me forever to find them. 

After an extensive search (thank you, John, for your patience), I found two very affordable ones at Wayfair's Joss and Main. They just arrived, so I took a quick pic of them for you.

And there you have it . . . our finally furnished living room! We love it. What do you think?

Susan

Comments

[Susan Freeman]

Your living room looks lovely. That beautiful vintage dollhouse is perfectly showcased in this room!

Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley

[Susan]

Thank you, Susan... and Bentley! :)

[Lemon Tree Tami]

Absolutely beautiful and yes, very timeless. I like how you can just change out the pillows, rug and throws to get a completely different change to the room. I think that I'll have to go with more neutral furniture the next time we go shopping. Right now we have slate blue chairs and a navy sofa. Very, very blue. :-)

[Christine]

It's really beautiful, welcoming, relaxing but has lots of eye-appeal. Great use for the bell jar and I really like the collection of heart rocks. It's been a big project and has really come together so well. Enjoy.

[CeCe]

That dollhouse...swoon!