The living room is a very used space in our home. We are almost always in the living room. It’s functional, great for family time, pretty to look at, and has great window views.
When we did our first walk through of the home, the actual living room, was being used as the previous owners dining room. I believe they did this only because their couch was too big for the room and so they used a different room for their living room. They had a giant couch in their way I believe. Those large sectionals, they can seem perfectly functional when your sitting in a giant warehouse size furniture store, that’s until you get them in your normal size home and they look terrible. (Speaking from experience of course.)
photo taken during inspection
A favorite detail of mine in this home is this little woodwork feature. It’s the neatest thing. I was told they’re called soldiers. They’re in every corner of the house on the first level. I never noticed these until the our move in day. I am so obsessed with old houses, and at the time I’d never seen these before.
Soldiers in the corners of the bayed windows. Notice the outlet, that was not actually wired in. Just an extension cord that ran under the carpet that we discovered when ripping out carpet.
The room itself has 3 beautiful bayed windows. This is a favorite feature of our home for me. Our two sons rooms have this, along with the dining and living room. It’s the coolest thing since it shows a view of the backyard, side yard, and front yard all from one room. I love that. It also faces the most beautiful maple tree we have. It’s massive, and is perfectly center with the window. Some people might find this annoying since it’s in the middle of the window, but I love it. I believe its probably been here since the house was built. That’s a old maple tree if you ask me.
Of course we wasted no time. We ripped out carpet in the entire downstairs the first night we were here. The floors revealed were that beautiful wide plank pine. We loved them. We knew they would be beautiful restored. They had a orange color to them. I don’t believe they ever stained them to be orange, I think this just happened over time. And who knows how long the carpet was on there.
orange flooring reveal
Wallpaper removal was a must, of course. with extra sticky glue. We found some markings from ”George,” our previous owner. Wall read “wallpaper hung by George Sadler, 1976.” I wish it had been a secret note from an original owner, since I have yet to find any markings in this home from the original builders.
Wallpaper removal at night, creepy shadow from the chandelier.
We didn’t bring any furniture into the house for the first month of living here, except for the couch, our king size mattress, and a boxspring. Sky our 5 year old acquired the couch, and slept on it for a month before we were able to move in furniture. This was mostly because we were having the floors redone and couldn’t have anything inside. The was a very difficult time. Lets not forget I was 7 months pregnant and we were working extremely hard to get things done before the bundle of joy arrived.
Our trusty floor guy did the downstairs floors, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. They are a beautiful rich brown, (no more orange thankfully) and are truly beautiful. Floors that are over 100 years old cannot be competed with. They are just awesome. I’ll never forget the day we could start bringing in furniture. It was like Christmas.
We continued at getting that wallpaper and wallpaper glue off. It was a long, messy process. After you get the top layer of paper off, the glue is what’s left behind. We literally scraped glue off these walls for months. You spray it with equal parts of water and vinegar, and a dash of “Diff.” Diff is a very inexpensive product we purchased at Home Depot, and it seriously was the best thing we found. And believe me, we tried everything. Everyone has a secret concoction they “found on Pinterest that toally works.” Not true. Not for this old house and plaster walls. So hot water, vinegar, and diff is the way to go when it comes to plaster walls in my opinion. After Glue removal came wall and crack repair, primer, and paint. Of course we use a crazy strong smelling Stain blocking Primer, that will literally make your nose hairs burn off. But to me, thankfully this sealed away all nasty old smells. Now, my house smells of apples. (Literally, I burn apple cinnamon candles all the time.)
We went with that Navy Blue paint color in the living room, along with the parlor. Even though it is two rooms, I wanted the parlor and living room to feel like one big space. The large opening between the living room and parlor room is a pocket door, which we absolutely use. The other large opening faces the dining room. This is sadly missing it’s pocket door. We do know that at one point their was also a fireplace between the living room and dining room. So a pocket door must of came after, and then removed. Who rips out fireplaces and pocket doors? Sad Stuff.
view from parlor looking into living room
looking from dining room into living room
looking from dining room into living room. Inbetween these rooms is where a fireplace once was.
The 3rd doorway leads into our office. (Which I decided yesterday is going to be renamed the library.) Right now it’s filled with kitchen things, as we are heavily under construction in our kitchen. So it’s neither a office, or a library at this point.
I do love the furniture in this room and I believe it’s completely functional and goes with the house. However, we will be purchasing a new couch one of these days, since the one seen here it’s a absolute piece of crap. It has a permeant banana layer smashed into the cushions, compliments of our son Cash. What’s funny about this terrible couch is the place we purchased it from went out of business like a month later. Figures. I even real adulted and bought a warranty with this couch. Meant nothing a short month later. I haven’t figured out what I’m gonna replace it with, but I absolutely love our leather Restoration Hardware Chesterfield so I’m thinking something along those lines. Only problem is I don’t have a million dollars laying around for a second one.
I love this room. I love the simplicity of it. I am a wannabe minimalist when it comes to decorating my home. I have decluttered so much in my home in the last 2 years that I truly feel peace when here. I can never stop talking about the change my life has had, in getting rid of so much “stuff.” I can’t stand clutter. I believe this is why I have learned to keep up with my home, and it’s truly picked up at all times, only because we don’t have that much stuff to pick up anymore! Life changing I tell you!
I love Victorian features and I don’t like to cover them up with loads of decor, drapes, or wallpaper. (barf) I like bold paint, and bold rugs. I keep my furniture choices neutral, and easy to mix it up with. So many people ask me where I find all my rugs. Overstock.com is always my go to. I believe I can have bold rugs when decorating because I keep everything else extremely simple, plain, and classic. Decorating is fun and should show off some personality. I could never get sick of daydreaming decor and beauty for this home.
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