Our Living Room, Revisited

The last post before my blogging hiatus focused exclusively on our living room and, in the ten months since that write-up, the primary pieces remained while I've continued to refine the room with a few final additions. Let me show you around.

Before I highlight the latest details, I have to remind myself (and you) of where we started just three short years ago when we purchased our house. Here are shots of the living room from the MLS listing sans all decor:

We stripped out the elements that didn't work like the infamous "window to nowhere", the old fireplace screen and dimensionless mantel, and built-in hardware. 

Now the same space today. In this first photo, the double crown moulding and built-out mantel we added is on display, as well as my auction-find open arm chairs and myrtle topiaries from Terrain. This room really reflects the evolution of my interior decor style, which has been greatly influenced by Brits like Ben Pentreath and Rita Konig. I'm all about layers, patina, prints and plants these days.

One place where we splurged in the room was the custom-sized 'Zira' rug from Fibreworks that grounds the room and is extremely soft underfoot. When we began to price out a rug, Adam and I were very discouraged to receive quotes nearing $6,000 due to the size of the room; yikes! We're willing to invest in quality pieces but that felt like a enormous expense that would literally be walked on daily!

And just like that, a guardian angel came to our rescue; Heather (whose fabulous blog you probably already read, Love Your Space) emailed me with an offer to order the rug at cost for me, which was such a generous thing to do and yet another example of how wonderful blog friends really are. Thank you again, Heather!

The living room features many antiques, including the hutch (found on Craigslist) and my latest acquisition: the antique French zinc-topped farmhouse table, which serves as my indoor garden table, behind the sofa.

I decided to hang a vintage floral still life painting on the front of the hutch to break up the redness of the wood and introduce a little more green and blue to the room. If and when I tire of that painting, I'll swap it out with something else because I really like this look.

We've continued to love our tufted sofa, upholstered in woven white Sunbrella fabric. Playing off of the white sofa, I opted for a simple, white pinch pleat curtains from Country Curtains for the oversized bay window. I deliberated over fabrics for custom curtains but nothing felt right except for white, which allowed other elements in the room to take the forefront.

The top of the hutch provides a platform for a very large, branch-like piece of coral that I picked up at one of my favorite thrift stores here on the Main Line.

(all via Meet Me in Philadelphia)

Nothing in the room has a particularly fancy provenance. Most pieces were accumulated over time from thrift stores, auctions, estate sales, antique shops and I love everything individually and, now, collectively.

I think that's what I want this room (and all the rooms I'll be sharing in my next several posts) to convey: buy what you love over time and what results is a space that feels uniquely you.

Up next: our dining room. I'm simply crazy about it and can't wait to dive into the details with you all. In the meantime, if there's anything in the living room that you have questions about, let me know!