After a brain-addling move that consisted of packing up our old home quite literally to the last possible minute, we’ve taken our time getting settled in at the homestead. But now that the space is really coming together and I’ve been able to unpack and add some tidbits, I wanted to share a peek at some of the (mostly done) spaces with you, The living room is one of the last rooms we’ve actually filled with furniture, mainly because our old couch had some lovingly worn spots on the cushions where sequoia would regularly jump, spin, and then collapse in a comfortable huff. It was also a heavy pull-out, and since we have guest rooms now, lugging a very dense sofa up the gravel path to the homestead was deeply unappealing. So we only brought one sofa with us (the one from our old basement), and no arm chairs or coffee table, which made for quite a sparse space for the first few months.
But I didn’t want to rush it, because I was specifically wanting a cozy, warm, and old-world feeling comfort in this room in particular, and I wanted to take my time finding pieces that fit that. To do this, we stuck with natural materials like, stone, wood, ceramics, wool, linen, and cotton. I also aimed to incorporate a lot of antique pieces into the space, since I feel like they just add so much character and richness to rooms. I also loooove my houseplants (and plants in general, for that matter), so I wanted to make sure to fit the large monstera plant where it could shine. I ended up nestling it into the corner between two big windows where it could get a lot of indirect light and it seems very happy there, as evidenced by the new leaves its grown.
After lots of searching, I ended up getting an esme sofa, gio arm chairs, and ora coffee table from sixpenny home, because I loved their timeless aesthetic, and I especially loved the fact that all the fabric was slipcovered, so I could tae them off and wash them whenever they got dirty (which has been SO helpful with the dogs, no more spot cleaning with a damp cloth for me!) I wanted the layout to feel symmetrical and balanced, with the cozy limestone fireplace being the center focal point of the space. So I put one sofa on each side of the room, and then the two armchairs with a space inbetween them to enter and exit the space easily, and also to give a visual sightline to the fireplace and mantel. I really love the armchairs in particular because the arms aren’t bulky, so they allow you to see through them and don’t take up a lot of physical or visual space.
I love handmade pieces, too, and am completely obsessed with the hand-thrown ceramic lamp we got from my friend Sarah of Notary Ceramics. She is an insanely talented potter who makes an assortment of various different beautiful pottery things, and I absolutely love the textured glaze that she put on this piece. I also wanted to incorporate our vintage pieces into the room too, and had been saving some for this room in particular. Jeremy found a beautiful old writing desk/glass cabinet at a secondhand shop about five years ago, and we kept it in the garage at our old place since we didn’t have anywhere to fit it in our old home. I just *knew* it would have a special spot at the homestead, and I’m so glad we held onto it! I put it up against the stone wall at the base of the stairs, and filled the shelves with some of my favorite books, art pieces, and Greek iconography. I just loved the curved glass of the cabinet, it’s such a beautiful piece and it feels so nice to see it every time we walk down the stairs.
At our old home we had a family photo wall behind the dining table, and I really treasured feeling like they were in the space with us. Here, we don’t really have a big wall space by the dining table so that wasn’t really an option, but we had a BIG beautiful blank wall in the living room that was perfect for all our cherished photos of family members who were no longer with us. I am a bit of a planner, so I meticulously traced all the frames and cut out their shapes from spare paper grocery bags to get the placement juuust right on the wall before we actually started nailing things in—with so many pieces having to fit together, it was just easier to arrange the paper tracings first and then replace them with the actual framed photos. Eventually, we’re planning to build a built-in here with shelving up above and cabinets below, and we’ll have the photos on the shelves along with lots of books (which are currently still in boxes in our basement). But for now, it’s a wonderful way to get to see everyone and make them feel apart of the communal space.
The last littile bits that really tie the room together are the rug and the curtains. Never underestimate how much fabric can make a space feel comfy and cozy and warm! I spent a loooong time looking at different rug options to 1) protect our lovely Duchateau hardwood floors from the high traffic of the living room area, and 2) to add another level of coziness through the added texture and softness that rugs bring. After much scouring of the internet, I ended up going with a wonderfully fluffy revival Moroccan wool rug (I was sold pretty much as soon as I saw the honeycomb pattern on it—the beekeeper in me lost all self-control at that point.) And the curtains I just got on a pretty good sale from CB2, because they were discontinuing the very long length ones, so these ones are like 120 inches long and drag on the floor a bit. They’re heavy, which makes them stick a lot on the curtain rod, so I got some curtain rings and am eventually going to hem the curtains and get the rings put in, but this probably won’t happen until the fall or winter since the garden is taking up all my “crafting” time at the moment. But you know, everything is always a work in progress, and I’m happy to take my time as I get settled into the space more and more. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into our almost-done living room, and I can’t wait to share more of the homestead with you (especially the garden!!!) as it evolves!
