My Living Room and Rate My Space

I've had a few people asking me to show some photos of my living room. So I thought I'd share some with you all today. The reason I hadn't shared them previously is because this room is still a work in progress. But you can get an idea of its potential by seeing what it looks like right now. Our house is open (it's like a big circle around the staircase) so all of my spaces on the main floor really have to work together. That's actually harder to accomplish than I thought it would be.


The color on the walls right now is a pale taupe. It's a little lighter than we'd like, so we are planning on painting it a little darker, more like a cafe au lait. We already have the paint, waiting patiently in the basement, just begging to be used. Once we get it all painted, I'll post the new pics (and let y'all know the brand and color of the paint - I'm too lazy to hike all the way down to the basement to find out right now.)

This view gives you an idea of the orientation of the stairs. You can see my little console table in the background. I just love the reflection of the stairs in the mirror- of course, you can't actually see that in this photo. This view also shows the beautiful charcoal drawing between the windows a little better. It's a piece done by my artist father-in-law and I love it. My taste in art tends more toward the traditional, and my father-in-law is very contemporary. By marrying into this family, I have really gained an education in contemporary art (the Hubby's fine art photos tend to be a little contemporary too). I think it works quite well mixed with my more traditional pieces. But I admit it can be an acquired taste.

Here you can see my antique trunk and box sitting below the charcoal. I love how they play off of one another.
A view of my piano...I love white frames...and my little birdcage. And I admit that I commit one of the biggest decorating no-no's. I have pictures of my family everywhere! With a talented photographer Hubby, I have a really hard time editing myself! (I'm fairly protective of my kiddos so I made sure all of these photos are older - those babies are now big kids - sigh.)

And here's another view of my buffet. When I asked y'all to vote on whether or not to leave it green...the overwhelming majority told me to leave it as is. I do love the color and it actually works really well because my dining room/kitchen which is just off to the right in the photo is actually painted Ralph Lauren's cathedral gray which is quite green.

This space still really needs draperies on the windows. The red roman shades are lovely, but they were really just put there to replace the vinyl miniblinds that were here when we moved in with the intent that we'd add drapes soon. Well, it's been over a year and I'm still debating between a yellowy-gold silk buffalo check, and a brown-toned toile...any opinions?

And of course, I need to find a coffee table. I'd really like a round one. I've been looking for the perfect yard sale find to cut down, but no luck so far. Our town is having a big yard sale on the town common this weekend...maybe I'll find it there....a girl can dream can't she?




On a different note...
I finally did something that I have wanted to do for a while, but I was a little chicken. I posted my boys' room over at HGTV's Rate My Space. I am passionate about decorating, and it's something that I have finally (after working briefly as an interior decorator about thirteen years ago) decided that I would really like to pursue in more of a career-type way, so I decided I better put myself out there. I'm inviting all my bloggy friends to PLEASE go over there and Rate My Space. Thanks for all of your kind comments and support...it's your encouragement that makes me feel like I can really do this!