Once I got the library squared away, I actually knew what furniture I was working with in the living room. I hear from the contractor that the painter isn’t coming out for another couple of weeks, so I’m just going to set everything up how I want it (except for stuff on the walls) and make him move it all when he comes. It has been such a headache because there’s actually very little wall space, and I want to reserve some of it for a piano. We’re going to get a real piano (or actually decent keyboard) sometime this spring so the kids can start real piano lessons. First view from the stairwell:
I am actually really opposed to TVs being the centerpiece of living rooms. I prefer for them to be a bit inconvenient, a big uncomfortable, as that discourages watching too much. I would much prefer bookshelves or family pictures be the focal point of the room. But when Pepperdine updated the unit, they built the cords right into the wall, assuming that anyone moving in would have a flat screen TV that they would of course mount above the gas log fireplace. So we had no choice. And realistically, there was no other place to put it, anyway.
That staircase goes up to our room. We had those bookshelves in our room, but it was too claustrophobic, so I moved them to the only other place in the house where there was wall space.
The darker color is what the accent wall is going to be. The cool, unwelcoming greenish gray that is lighter than and clashes with both our beige walls and our furniture is the “accent color” that the idiot Pepperdine designer said would “look good” with the rest of the color scheme. It doesn’t. I hate it more every day. And at least I know now and will never be tempted to hire a “professional” interior designer myself. I wish I’d painted a larger sample swatch, because I love the new color more every day. It brings out the green in the trees right outside the windows.
My corner desk was handmade for me by my grandpa. But it is a difficult piece of furniture to actually use. There were so few corners in this house, and I originally had it in the corner above, behind where the piano is, but it fit better in this alcove. Yes, it does cover some of this narrow, funky window, but better that than crowding the couch. I didn’t know where I’d put the red chair and just happened to stick it there the other night when we were moving around couches, but I really like it right there. The kids are always hanging round the computer, listening to audiobooks, so this is a more comfortable place than my desk chair. It kindof hides the mess that my desk always is from the rest of the room. And it promotes conversation.
Next up: the girls’ room, which is also not completely done, but is currently cleaned up, so I figured I’d snap pictures now, even if the blackout curtains aren’t hemmed.