The Living Room

The Living Room is the first room you see when you open the front door. It's an odd but cozy room that is a bit of a puzzle. For now, I've just decorated it comfortably with things I love.

Here's the living room before we moved in...

Odd, right? Originally this room was much smaller and the ceiling was about 18 inches higher. It was a parlor with a handsome central fireplace!  Much of the space to the right of the fireplace where the shelving unit is now was a wrap around porch. 

Years ago when living rooms became more desirable than parlors, the wall was bumped out to include the porch that once wrapped around the front of the house. The ceiling was lowered to the height of the porch ceiling. 

So now the fireplace is very off centered and is just a few feet away from the doorway to the dining room to the left. And this lovely Amish made shelving unit is bumped up against a century old fireplace...two very different styles. My first thought was, "I'll need to paint that shelving unit to make this room look more cohesive". However, this has fallen to the bottom of the list. Once I put all our stuff on the shelves, it somehow worked for me!

What I love:
Soft blue gray walls
Lots of light streaming in through old windows
Hardwood floors
Storage
Shelving
And of course the old original fireplace and mantle.

To decorate this room, I just started taking books and things out of boxes and worked with what I had. I love the results! It’s a super cozy living room that fits our vintage cottage look! Everything on the shelves has a history and story.
​Here are just a few:
​
My dad’s old cameras
Great Aunt Effie’s 1920-30s National Geographic Mags
My dad and grandpas Little’s old clocks...the kind you wind and they fold in a case.
Grandpa Mast’s hat
Grandpa Zook’s clock (on the wall)
Old farming and theology books
My collection of horse books
Breyer horse and a painting both Man-o-War
Most of the pillows I made
Denim rugs my mom had made
Old pictures
Family pictures
New treasures
Also in the room is a loveseat I deconstructed 
And an old metal trunk for a coffee table with a glass top and black and white photos of our 4 children under the glass. 

I’d like the shelves a little more book thick and am thinking about adding some children’s books which are still in boxes.

I took these pictures with the morning light streaming in...best spot for morning coffee and my Bible! And lots of football and other sports get airtime right here as it’s the TV room too!

We won't significantly change this room for awhile. Again, there are too many other redos needed before we tackle this one. I really love this cozy room like it is but it has more potential down the road. 

We might move the bookshelf unit to other areas of the house. This would create more space here. (I might paint the shelves white whether we move them or not.) We might take out the ceiling and elevate at least the part over the fireplace back to its original height and get rid of all the popcorn ceiling. This would make the room feel like it has an entry way that opens and extends into the living room. If we did this, I would for sure change up the lighting! At some point, I will want to update the wall paint but will likely use a similar color. Unfortunately, the windows were painted shut in this room so I would like to get them operable again and repaint all the trim.

Whatever we decide about this room, I know it will be beautiful!