I am finally updating our living room and getting rid of some things. Moving on a bit. Good for me and maybe others when you stay in a house ten plus years?? Sometimes yes, sometimes no?
First off let me say you never see me photograph or blog about my living room much because we live HARD in this room. We didn’t until we had kids but now of course it is a “hard working space”…so until this last Christmas when i posted about it here, i usually don’t show the entire room. (i will spare you the photograph of half dressed children eating goldfish and playing legos with toys and sofa cushions everywhere;;)
It did apprear in the 2005 issue of BHG..wow my style has evolved a bit.how about those tassles!
Also my sofa is slipcovered and never photographs well even though I love it… it’s just not photogenic..ha!
See here (from Christmas 2011) the sofa is COVERED with pillows to cover the stains of little boys and years of use! This is its best angle!
Anyway, let me tell you about this room. We love it. My husband has long said its his favorite room in the house. It’s not huge, doesn’t have an overhead light and the floors (and fireplace) need some work but its a great room. One day we may make it a dining room when/if we close in the garage for a family room! And the centerpiece for TWELVE years of this room has been the rug. The quintessential cottage rug. (pictured here last Christmas)
It has been perfect. When i bought it, black (classic color i know but it went through a trend period you have to admit) was so the color of choice and the large scale pattern was and still is so pretty. We had just bought our house in 2000 and were still sanding and painting the downstairs while living upstairs. My mom and I were shopping at that large home EXPO store (no longer in business?) and I spotted this rug and we both gasped, it was on sale and large and cottage-y and black and i had to have it! And i have loved it a long time. But it’s time to move on!
The other component to this room..the toile drapes made from inexpensive Waverly toile. I was so nervous making those drapes. They were my first pair to make on my own without my friend Camille present and i measured and measured and tried to hard to get the scenes lined up. The previous owners had a yellow painted wood rod and rings, I painted them on and sewed the rings on (notice the rod and rings in the photo above to the left of the Christmas tree top if you care about details like that)..didn’t even attempt or care about pinch pleats..i had LINED and that was all that mattered!
So yes i am emotionally attached to these items, the rug and the drapes (still using the sofa and the antique coffeetable was sold when the stork arrived) BUT i am willing to share them with you. I have had so many requests to buy this rug over the years of blogging..Don’t laugh, I am serious, so i hate to just throw it in the attic..if anyone loves it as much as I once did, EMAIL me at ehmathis@ gmail DOT com and we will talk..same goes for the drapes. I added the black check panels on the bottom a few years later when the “raise your rods” craze hit. It did really help the room!
AND don’t worry the new look doesn’t stray far…what did I replace the drapes with. . . RED TOILE, i just can’t totally leave it behind…vintage french red toile this time…probably from the 70s or 80s..i love it! and this time pinch pleats and a new rod and ME NOT SEWING! And the new rug is just plain jute chenille from good ol’ pottery barn. I have to say it hides crumbs much better than black!
[items are best for local pickup in Houston, Texas vicinity]
I still have your BH&G feature from 2005 torn out in my inspiration files. Little did I know our paths would cross in the blog world. BTW – I will always love toile!
xo~Jill
Wow, I can’t believe you posted about this today. I am going through the exact same thing for our living room. So tired of the drapes and trying to find an updated fabric to replace them with that will still have a little bit of red in it because I can’t get rid of our slipcover “red” sofa. I wish I could just start all over but there is a little thing called money. Bummer. Can’t wait to see how your room turns out.
Like Jill, I too still have the pages torn from Better Homes and Gardens. I just love your style…then and now. Can’t wait to see what you do. It will be beautiful for sure!
Oh my gosh,I love your room! I wouldn’t change a thing- but I understand {we are going through the same thing in our house}:)
Is your sofa from Pottery Barn?
It will be fun to see the changes to your room!
I must know about your PB rug. I’m looking at the same one right now for our much used living room. Is is soft enough for the kids to play on? I’ve looked at the rug in the store, and it seems soft enough, but it’s hard to tell with it hanging. It’s a great price and everything I’ve bought from PB has been great quality. Hoping this rug is the one for me, too.
I LOVE the look of your living room – can’t wait to see more of it, and the changes that are to come!
Can’t wait to see what you’ve done with your LR. I always love your style – both before and now – and will ALWAYS love toile. 🙂
I too have been in love with red toile for a long time. When I was a little girl, my favorite aunt had her headboard upholstered in it, along with dust ruffle and drapes. She even had Clarice Cliff Royal Staffordshire dishes for everyday, which I now have.
Looking forward to seeing the ‘new’ room. You are going to share soon? Please don’t make us wait ’til Christmas!!! 😀
wow, I forgot that bhg photo was yours – even seven years later it is still really lovely. But yes, time to freshen up – excited to see your new changes.
Holly, will you keep us posted on your new rug? I’d love to know what you think about its durability, softness, ability to hide dirt/stains…I have seagrass now, which I love, but wouldn’t mind it being a bit softer underfoot. Thanks!
I love your style. I find myself wanting to move a little past (or at least update) the cottage-y, vintage-y floral/toile look that I’ve loved so long, but feel afraid that I’ll do something and it will be to modern/minimal and I’ll hate it! So I’m enjoying watching what you do, knowing I love your “old” style,and trusting your leadership-by-blog as you evolve and update. Does that sound stalker-ish? Don’t mean for it to!!
Cant wait to see the refreshed space but still love this room too. Can’t remember howi found your blog but looking at these pics today a light bulb went off in my head – this is the same room from that sweet girl who used to post such great advice on the southern living message boards ! So glad to have found you again and not even realize it! Your advice after this curtain project got me over my fear of sewing my own too.
Holly, LOVE your blog, check it out regularly! I also remember the BHG issue with your house; loved it then and love it now! One thing I would REALLY like to see is how you incorporate a TV into your family room without making it the huge “focus” of everything. I have a beautiful stacked stone fireplace in my 1950s cape cod, and have thus far successfully fought husband and family to keep our TV OFF the front of it. But our room is long with MANY window and door openings, so I may have to give in soon. The current placement is not good. I wish more bloggers would show the “reality” of the TV in the room!
Thanks!
What a familiar site when I clicked on this post…your living room photo is in one of my decor notebooks – and the mixed drapes. I never made the connection before – I must have started reading your blog way after that feature. Fun, fun, fun.