living room - Seeing Design

Published September 5, 2011 by Anne Collins Howard

The Winning Bookshelf

For those of you who participated in the Bookshelf Runoff over the summer, thank you for your vote! With your fine taste and discerning eye, you picked the Left Bank by Vivaterra and it couldn’t be more perfect for our living room. The gray-washed wood shelves and exposed rivets give the room a little edge but the classic shape lets me know we’ll love it for a very long time.

With the bookshelf built and in place, the fun part begins: Accessorizing…

Bookshelves are like one big showcase for your favorite things. Little collections, one-off objet, happy photos and quirky art get a new sense of purpose and importance when strategically placed among tomes.

Here a mix of fashion, design, fiction, photography, and travel books become pedestals and frames for beloved objects like our red-handled wine corker from the old bottling rooms of Burgundy to pieces from our camera collection (featuring Mike’s antique accordion Kodak and a cheeky ceramic Polaroid I got him for Christmas).

Really, anything heavy and interesting is a bookend. Here, a charcoal-heated iron that Mike found in India keeps our literature in place and looks quite sculptural in its new found role.

Filling the formerly empty expanse next to our fireplace, our bookshelf of favorite things makes the living room feel like a much more personal place.

Finds

Anne's buys decorating decorative objects furniture living room

Published April 7, 2010 by Anne Collins Howard

Apt. Makeover: My Living Room

Pretty without the pretense, our goal was to make our living room the most inviting space in the house. It’s the first room guests see when they walk through the door so it had to look polished but, once first impressions are out of the way, the idea is to get comfy.

Living Room Before
Maroon damask and gold accents set the tone for a formal and “mature” space. And I wanted nothing to do with that. The architecture of the room with its cove molding, 19th-century fireplace, and plaster ceiling medallion already said that. What it needed was some soft, contemporary touches to counter it.

Living Room After
These 1940s French chairs are the sassiest and most sophisticated thing I’ve ever purchased. Asymmetrical and curvaceous, I love that they command attention but I wasn’t going to let them take over the room. To balance the space, I paired them with their polar opposite design: the nitty-gritty bricklayer’s table. The steel box formation and reclaimed-wood top bring a touch of boy to the semi-girly decor.

Window Frames
Since this is technically a railroad apartment, I liked the idea of adding more windows in the center of the space. These 12-glass compartments provide no extra light but the subtle reference and the photo storage is unbeatable. (See how we turned old windows into picture frames here.)

Media Center
For optimal television viewing, the most logical place to put the TV would be over the fireplace—but I couldn’t bear to do it. I didn’t want a black hole of a plasma and the back of a sofa to be the first thing you saw when you walked in the room. To remedy this, we placed the TV on the same wall as the front door so guests could take in the full space before arriving at the inevitable electronics–and my fabulous Matisse cabinet. The delicate leaf-cutouts lighten the large piece of furniture and its compartments are perfect for favorite tchotchkes. The prints, above, are the latest addition to the house and were a year in the making, so I’ll save that explanation for a later post.

Stress-Free Chic
Though the frilly chairs may fool you, this is one tough living room design. The chocolate brown upholstery on the Grayson sofa, the indoor-outdoor Le Poeme rug, and a distressed coffee tabletop can all handle a party without a scuff.

Going Forward
Still in need of window treatments, mantel art, and a bookshelf, this living room–and apartment–is a work in progress. From the projects that make the house run a little smoother to the accessories that make us smile, decorating has become a lifestyle that we won’t be done with anytime soon.

Projects

decorating DIY living room our house

Published December 3, 2009 by Anne Collins Howard

The Right Rug

Thank you again to all who voted in the Rug Runoff; the rug has arrived and I couldn’t be more thrilled with your pick! Le Poeme adds just the right amount of pattern and contrast to the room. The color of the cursive picks up the chocolate tone of the couch and the beige backdrop is nice moment of calm amidst the silver sage walls and fuchsia accents.

I love the fact that the pattern comes from the words of a French fable, but I didn’t want the verses to feel quite so obvious. By turning the rug in the opposite direction and having the text run upside down, it doesn’t scream script; instead, you see a swirling pattern before it registers as cursive.

I was a little concerned that, as an outdoor rug, it might feel crispy and awful to the touch, but it’s surprisingly soft. The letters have a raised pile and give it just enough texture. Plus, the all-weather surface is bound to buy us a little spill security.

But perhaps the best part about this rug, after a year of fiendish decor spending, is that an 8-by-10-foot was only $579 at Ballard Designs. That was hundreds, if not a thousand, less than the others in the runoff (thank you).

Le Poeme is also available with black script and will be available in sage and denim in spring 2010.

Finds

Anne's buys living room our house

Published November 11, 2009 by Anne Collins Howard

Rug Runoff

In decorating and politics, Mike and I agree on most issues, but, for some reason, selecting a rug has been an ongoing battle. As hard as I try to get him to embrace florals and pink palettes, I cant seem to sway him! So, with that in mind, the final rug selection has come down to a series of abstract and geometric designs that I think we both could love.

Though we are getting closer to making a decision, the debate is still on. Let us know which rug you think will work best for our living room.

Note: Our palette right now is silver sage, chocolate brown, creams and golds (and a few fuchsia pillows I’ve sneaked into the mix). The room needs a punch, but were open to whether it comes from pattern or color–though I’m thinking, a double whammy of both pattern and color might be a bit loud, considering the rug will be the first thing you see when you walk through the door.

I love the texture of Angela Adams’s hand-tufted wool rugs. Undoubtedly, the appeal of the Betty rug is not only how it will feel under our toes but also that it will highlight the gold hues in the room–namely, my to-die-for Barbara Cosgrove lamp and the feather pattern in the upholstery on our French chairs.

I first saw this Liora Manné design in Metropolitan Home’s Showtime House and fell in love. I adore the idea of words as pattern, and the French verses of the Jean de La Fontaine poem, scribbled out in cursive, nearly have me sold. With phrases running off the edges, this Ballard Designs rug is completely unconventional, but the neutral palette keeps it sophisticated.

Home-decor-teal-rug The green in this Thomas Paul Flock flatweave rug matches our walls exactly. Not that I support matchy-matchy rooms, but this rug could be a nice way to harmonize the space while adding a spunky pattern.

Home-decor-pink-rug For the record, this bubbling pattern is not pink. As far as Mike is concerned, its a bright burgundy, and I’d like to keep it that way. Avalisa’s Wonder Wool rug is modern, playful, and great for hiding stains.

Home-Decor-Floral-Rug With such an oversize pattern, this rug is barely floral (work with me), and when you cover it with furniture, the pattern will become that much more abstract. Okay, fine! I admit it: Mike has already vetoed this one for its overt girlishness, but anyone who doesn’t live with a male should consider buying the Portier Ecru rug from Designers Guild; it’s gorgeous.

Those are the final selects. Which one do you think will work best in my living room?

Etc Finds

living room rugs

Tag: <span>living room</span>

The Winning Bookshelf

Apt. Makeover: My Living Room

The Right Rug

Rug Runoff