Early this week, we were gifted with a family treasure.
Steve, the girls’s dad, just moved to a new home and well, apparently it didn’t quite fit into he and his girlfriend’s decorating plans and he asked if the girls wanted this lovely old hutch that belonged to their great grandparents, Fabian and Eleanor. Of course, they said yes! They love beautiful old wooden pieces… and so, this old hutch came out to the homestead.
For a few days, it was in the studio, but we knew that was not the place for it. So Monday we moved it around and did a little rearranging to make it fit into our living room.
Being that we have a 115 year old farmhouse, that is multi-generational and has been added on to, our living room is right in the middle of the house. And unfortunately, is dark having no windows to the outside and has 7 different openings to other places in the house. Combined with super tall ceilings, this is one awkward room!!!
But we’ve been working with it, and it’s comfy, just still feels a little weird. We really don’t watch TV much so no one really spends much time in there. Ultimately, it would be nice to take and open up one of the walls to the outer room so that we can have more room and more light! But that is something we don’t feel comfortable just knocking out walls without a bit more guidance as to what might be load bearing and all that structural engineering thing and all.
So, we’re stuck with sort of making it work.
Lilly Kitty loves the picture of Mary being escorted away from Calvary, a beautiful old lithograph that we just love… so pretty and so mournful… we had it hanging where the hutch went, and I need to rehang it… (Actually, Lilly was fascinated by a little moth that had slipped in the house!)
This is from the studio entrance… we got that lovely big entertainment center for free off Craigslist! Love it. It’s actually very nice, a sort of cherrywood color that is pretty close to the family hutch!
Okay, I am side tracked! We got this hutch and so we were coming home and I got the idea that we should make it a memory or heritage hutch! We will start to add our own little heirloom pieces and such into it’s cabinets and then use the top cabinet as a display area for small pieces, photos and such. Isn’t that a cool idea? We really don’t need more storage, not really, but then collecting some special things in there just really seems to make perfect sense! Can’t wait to get started finding the right things to go in there.
We love that it compliments our other maternal great grandmother’s beautiful wood and marble table that my Dad brought to us a couple summers ago! Windhaven is becoming the family museum place and we don’t mind at all! We love stuff like that.
Okay… I do need some help though. Suggestions??? What do we do with this room?
We love the green… it’s a sort of nice natural modern green, sort of celery? Or light a bright sage.. I dunno… but we like that. Goes with the wood and our amber lights, and brown and beige tones of the piece and such. But what we have trouble with is a.) the very tall walls…. b.) the lack of natural light and c.) the multiple openings and such.
Any suggestions?
We’re not really into a lot of doo-dads and such, or really boarders… but the room just feels well, awkward. It’s not that comfortable. It’s hard to set up the furniture without blocking some pathway. I don’t mind blocking off the bedrooms to a degree, since we don’t go back there over and over. But we do go from the studio to the office and then into the dining room a lot.
We’re probably going to paint the floor soon, a light color. Maybe a light brown. To help reflect some light. I thought that crown molding might act to finish the ceiling a bit more and bring it down a bit. That neat lightweight foam molding is very very reasonable. We’re not set with the furniture in the places they are… but not sure how to move them around. Thought about putting the entertainment center on the wall that the couch is on, but well, not sure if that will help anything.
Help!!! (gg) Any suggestions would be welcome!!!
Maybe I’ll try and get a drawing of the house done and you can see our traffic circle dilemma!!!
Pin It
Such a comfortable cozy looking room…
lots and lots of mirrors!! that was MY solutions. Either..here and there placements..or all one wall. And the fun part is..finding old mirrors..there everywhere and their cheap. Most might have some damage or flaws..but thats the beauty of it all. I found a beautiful cut glass mirror..gosh..30 plus years ago..and its followed me all thru my journey thur this life..and it brings me light..and joy (its IS art)..everywhere I go.
I love to steal ideas from antiques shops..and small little lights..with soft pink light bulbs also adds to the beauty of a room.
Check Pininterest too for ideas.
SO love your little homestead..its doesnt have to be anything..but a house full of love..and that it is..making forever memories with you and your girls.
Hmmm… Yeah… I have a couple mirrors in the dining room that maybe I could move around some. Might help to reflect the wee bit of light that we get in there. It’s comfy enough, just doesn’t really seem…. well…. right yet. We all agree. Since knocking down walls is not in the budget at the moment.. I guess we are stuck with a few simple changes that might help make it a little, well, more comfy! Thanks!!! Great Ideas!
Do you know anyone at all that could tell you which walls might be safe to knock down?
Anychance of putting in a skylight or solar tube?
If none of those I would go with light floors and walls, more lights and lots of mirrors.
And start putting up framed pics of various family members to complete the “memory museum/shrine” vibe starting in there!
Great Ideas! I would love to put in a solar tube or skylight, but there is a dormer up above!!! Darn…
And the walls that I think would be good, are all part of the original house, so I’m not sure… that is probably not within our budget at the moment anyway, so I guess that gets to wait.
Still, wish we could open it all up somehow… I’ll try and get a drawing put together!
Hi Sherri…it would help to have a rough sketch of the room and the door placements. That being said, you’re on the right track as far as moving the furniture away from the walls. It looks as if you could use one more chair…an easy chair perhaps, to create a visual balance with the sofa and the current high back chair. There seems to be an area rug on the floor, which can also be helpful in defining areas.
Instead of a number of small wall items, one or two large (either a mirror or picture with the smaller items clustered irregularly nearby) will help bring the room more into scale. And when you hang wall items, do not place them high; the proper height is eye level. Hanging them higher actually draws the eye upward and places unwanted attention on the height of the room.
Several small lamps scattered here and there make a really nice ambiance in a dark room. I personally hate energy saver type light bulbs. I think they cast a harsh, garish light. Incandescent bulbs give a nice warm glow.
Another thing I noticed there are no plants anywhere (please don’t be offended). I have a north facing apartment and get very little light, so nothing green grows in here. I love fresh flower buquets but they are pricy. However, right now chrysanthemums are on sale all over the place for $3.00 to $4.00 a pot. I have cut them off to have a long stem and put them in a white pitcher. You’d be pleased to see how pretty they look and they last a long time with an occasional change of water.
You also have fields of growing things: evergreens, weeds, twigs, branches. Put some in a tall vase, or bucket or umbrella holder and twine them with some white lights. Absolutely enchanting.
Okay, enough, but I hope my comments helped a little because I think your room is so friendly and homey and has TONS of potential!!! hugs, stef
We’ve had a couple plants in there, but everything just fails because it’s SO dark, pretty much all the time! I like the idea of some dried growy stuff… hmmm…. that might kind of mimic the outdoors a wee bit and add a little height.
I think you’re right too… most of the wall hangings on the sofa wall are kind of tiny, that’s probably not helping with the larger scale of the taller walls! You guys are geniuses!!!! (gg) Sometimes when you see something day in and day out, you get a little well, lost in ideas.
We just have a piece of remenent carpet on the floor… sort of like a rug. The floors in the studio and the living room are REALLY nasty rough. Not totally sure what to do with them… we had a guy out a long time ago and his estimation is that they are not worth refinishing… very pitted and gouged and uneven etc. Since we’re not sure what we want to do ultimately, don’t want to put in carpet or whatever until we have better vision on the final outcome! Hoping that we could perhaps knock a wall down… open it all up. But these things take time!
Everyone’s ideas are awesome! I will try and measure and draw up a scale model pretty quick… it might help a lot!
Happy Labor Day! (wow..where’d summer go?).
Sherri, you’re the Queen of finding deals on Freecycle, et. al. Maybe you can find a carpet remnant you really like for your living room until you can afford to do your dream remodel.
Haha, yeah, I am pretty good at it. I’m debating whether we want carpeting or a nice rug. WIth pets and such, carpeting just seems to be more of a hassle for us then a pleasure. I think ultimately, we’re going to paint it all, see what we think, then decide on a final outcome. I’ve seen some really nice big area rugs on Craigslist and such… Might just do that. Just not sure all the way around!!!