Here is a picture of the lamps that we purchased in our living room. They are wooden based with beautiful gold leafed acanthus leaves.


This photgraph is the entire room as it looks this morning. It also demonstrates why we need lighting, not just for performing certain tasks. It is an overcasted, partly clouded day here in Ohio and room needs the light to warm it up and say, "Welcome Home."



Aren't they gorgeous? Well, Don and I think so and that is what is truly important, living with what you love!



While talking with my sister, Mary, via telephone last night, our conversation turned to our recent decorating. Mary loves the room and believes Don and I have done a fantastic job at a substancial savings for everything we purchased. We also talked about the quality of the furniture, during our conversation, I mentioned that not only do we love what we've accomplished, but that we're preserving history for these pieces will one day become tomorrow's antiques. {smile} I loved that thought, perhaps one day my granddaughter, Alexxis will treasure them as much as we do today.

They That Wait...

Hanging above the recliner is this framed picture. It was a gift to me from Don many, many years ago. I cherish this picture for so many reasons, however probably the most important one being it reminds me to wait for God, to trust him to know what is best for our lives. The verse is one of my favorite biblical verses:

And they that wait
upon the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up
on wings as eagles,
they shall run
and not be weary;
they shall walk
and not faint.

Isaiah 30:34

A sweet seating area

Directly opposite the wall niche is this seating area. The leather recliner was purchased a year or so ago, originally for use in my studio as a place for me to sit and unwind with a good magazine or book and a cup of tea. We swapped recliners between our home and the studio and I love the look the leather provides with the sofa and tables. It assists in creating a nice, cozy, intimate seating area for us to sit and entertain our guests, as well as provides a great conversation area. Did I mention that by strategically placing the end stand directly in front of the window deters Chaos from attempting to "get at" the mailman? LOL! I'm certain our mailman appreciates that!

The planter...

This planter was another recent find on our trip to Home Goods. I love it! Not only is it a perfect accent currently for our livin room, I can utilize it on our rear deck or back yard. I love multi-purpose accessories and bringing the outdoors in!

The planter by itself gets a little lost in the living room niche but contiains two shallow wells in which I added some faux berries into one and a nest in the other. I'd love to be able to add an actual plant, something that would assist filling the niche in, perhaps this isn't as crazy as my previous thought and idea, LOL!

Living Room Accessories

A thing of beauty is a joy forever;
Its loveliness increases;
It will never Pass into nothingness.

— John Keats

Corner Curio Cabinet

This is the curio cabinet that I instantly feel in love with as we entered Dalton Direct Furniture. Although it isn't currently lighted or wired for lighting, I know it is something we can add ourselves. I felt that adding this piece would assist us in providing an asymetrical sense of balance to the room, help to fill a bare corner, and provide unity to the height and scale of all the furniture placed within both sides of our living room. I've accessorized it using a few of my garden clotches, my collection of bird figurines, and another nest filled with eggs!

The Total Package...

This is the current area of our living room. Don and I are so happy with the progress that we've made even if we had to complete this project a little at a time. It's definitely been well worth the wait! We both love this space, everything from the color scheme we've choosen, to the pieces of furniture, right down to the accessories that we so carefully chose together from items we've already owned. We're still continuing to look and shop for just the right table lamps and we both desire something a bit chunky at the base with a graceful curve to reflect those in the sofa and endstands. This is a room we can live and love in, not too feminine nor masculine and reflects both of our personalities to a "T". We've accessorized using only a touch of silk greenery and all of our figurines reflect our love of nature! I couldn't resist adding at least one live plant to room, having a two year old lab named Chaos and our 17 month old granddaughter, Alexxis, in our prescence almost daily may turn out to be a challenge so we're taking a wait and see approach to how this is going to work; but overall, both beauty and beast are very well mannered --- at least the majority of the time, LOL!

Please excuse my use of adding a rug underneath the recliner. I assure you this a temporary solution to prevent the recliner from sliding and damaging the wall behind it.

Directly across the room...

Is where I've relocated our hutch. To the left of it is our kitchen doorway which I cropped from the picture. Anyways, the hutch is filled with a few of my favorite stoneware dishes and accessories, the Tea Rose Collection of Pfaltzgraf. I collected these dishes over the years, many were gifts to me from family and friends. They've been well loved and used over the years to celebrate many Mother's Days, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners. Some even contain a few cracks and are chipped but I cherish them all the more. There are even more of this collection on a long shelf above the opening in our rear kitchen area, while other pieces are stored in a cabinet.

I accessorized the top and tabletop section of the hutch using a few of my favorite home decor items, many of them hold special memories and remind me of some of the travels Don and I have made over the years, of our favorite places to shop, and family celebrations.

I'm desiring to add some greenery to the top and perhaps a small area rug or a co-ordinating runner on the floor one day... it's one of those "I'll know what it is I want when I see it" type of things that provide us something to look forward to. {smile}

Entryway

This is the view of the west half of our living room, what you'd see if you looked to the left as you entered our home. Although this area appears to be small, I can assure you it isn't. This area of the room measures 11'6" wide by approx. 13'; of course, I'm estimating that from when we previously laid the hardwood flooring in the 11'6"x16' area and am accounting for the 36" front door. Please keep in mind that the above mentioned area isn't shown completely as I found the area leading directly opposite a bit boring, LOL! It is the doorway to our kitchen with the hutch beside it on the living room wall. Anyways, we have a good size area for inviting family, friends, and guests into our home so "Come on in!" I'm more than happy to take you on a tour and show you the final results of what's been keeping us so busy the past few weeks!



Just to the right of this photo, you can see the previous "pass-through" window. It's long since been drywalled in, however, this "niche" carries a lot of Don's family history. When his parents lived in our home many, many years ago and after they put on the bedroom additions, they once utilized this area as a dining room, hence, the favored knickname of "pass-through window" as dishes and dishes filled with food once "passed through" this area. Today, I utilize it for displaying decorating accessories and am searching for that just the right touch to assist with filling it in. I'd love to add an actual piece of a tree limb to rest this planter upon. Wouldn't that be amazing to fill and change out seasonally using faux silk flowers and perhaps some moss to assist forming a piece of nature nestled in the wall. I know that may sound a bit "off the wall" but then again, your talking to the girl who once had an entire grapevine filled with greenery and white lights draped above her living room mirror. I'll have to find those photographs to share as I received a lot of nice compliments regarding it from family and friends.