Decorate me, dress me like a doll
NS November 3rd, 2007
We finally got our dining room table and chairs delivered on Thursday and got everything set up today. The Halloween decorations are down and the room is a blank canvas, just waiting for me to put my mark on it. I am so friggin’ excited, it’s almost sad. But this room is my baby. I know every inch of the walls I stripped, filled, sanded, prepped and painted. My hands have explored every nook and cranny, run themselves over every inch of surface. I have scrubbed the floors with a scrub brush on my hands and knees and used a fork to get tiny bits of packing styrofoam out of the crevices between the planks of wood. I have already cried, laughed, been dog tired, gotten lost in my thoughts, and felt immeasurable achievement and satisfaction in between those four walls. It is the room that made me realise just how incredibly lucky I am to have a home to call my own.
So this blank canvas and the decoration that needs to be done may seem a bit silly to my husband, or to others, but I can’t even begin to describe how important it is to me. It’s not because I’m materialistic, or love to design rooms, or want to impress anyone or show off my ‘style’. I just want a room I can sit in and feel proud. Inspired. Happy. Calm. A room I can see myself eating my meals in, entertaining friends, reading a book, writing articles and perhaps even a book, playing with my child and then children, and even a room I can imagine being in as I sob and shake with sadness or grief or anger, my fists pounding the table and my blurry eyes searching the ceiling for answers. This is the room I want to feel alive and in love in and I need it to be my oasis.
So, dear readers, I welcome decorating suggestions, tips, ideas or links. I already have a few thoughts on what to do to the left wall, the one immediately adjacent to the entrance, but am not sure what to do on the feature wall with the fireplace, or the one behind the table. I also need ideas for window treatments on the windows and door that leads out to the garden, and ideas for what to do for lighting and wall art. We plan on getting a liquor cabinet and/or a small sideboard on which to store our alcohol and glassware and display some decorative items. Help me decorate my room! Here are some photos to help give you a better idea of what I’m working with:
Let’s see what ya’ got!
- Home and Hearth , Photos
- Comments(13)
My friends have a whole wall dedicated to family photos through the generations. It’s really beautiful and a great conversation piece.
In a room like that, FOREGO THE CEILING LIGHT! If it has any windows facing south or west, I’ll say it again, get rid of it and remove all signs of it. Ceiling lights scream hospital, bureaucracy, bad shit, and lack of imagination, all things I hope the former owners took pains to avoid. Have you thought of a ‘natural chandelier’, the kind that is a basic flat piece of nonflammable material, on which you place a bajillion candles? This can be something that you use for ambience, for holidays, etc, but it’s also really cool for nighttime writing (accompanied by an awesome additional modern lighting device, of course). I think Japanese lamps are silly, unless you’re into Japanese decor throughout the room, which I don’t see with you, but what do I know anymore. Having a variety of heights with your lamps in there will be cool, too. Hmmm, I want to come over and hang out in there! It seems like it’s going to be NS’ room!
Yeah, I’m definitely wanting to do a cluster arrangement of photos and prints on the wall where the radiator is, which is the left wall as you walk into the room. I’m going to start looking for interesting frames in thrift stores and on eBay, I want ones of all different sizes. I thought a combination of photos and art would be good, perhaps even some things I make myself. I like the idea of ‘photos through the ages’, I’ll have to see what our families have got in the way of good photos I might want to display.
Put a great mirror or better yet, a nice print over the fireplace.
Your door area is set up in a way where window treatments might not work. If you do, I’d keep it light, simple and sheer. It’s hard to tell if your windows open in or out. If they open out, maybe some valances. I’d put a topiary or some interesting sculptures on the sills there.
I echo the family photo idea. My aunt uses the same style/color frames for her collages. It brings the eye to the actual subjects and not the business of the different frames. That said, I DO think that different and unusual frames work just as well. I guess it’s more about what the space around it looks like to decide what effect your collage will take on.
For websites, the only ones that comes to mind right now are –
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
http://www.shelterrific.com/
Both can direct you onto other sites for ideas as well.
Good luck!!
i LOVE the dining room table and chairs! i’m thinking something with those two windows leading to the garden….i can’t decide if i would just have some treatments at the top or put something that could cover them completely if you decided (roman shades, perhaps). maybe some taller decorative vases on the two sides of the garden door would be nice, too! (your mom could go to town finding some hand-blown glass vases for that!)
Wow, that room is gorgeous. Did you share photos of that fireplace earlier? I remember seeing two fireplaces.. anyway, I really like what you have done.
I don’t have many ideas. We are still working on our dining room. It basically has one wall, since one side is fully open to the living room, one side has a half-wall/breakfast bar and entry to the kitchen and one wall is sliding doors to the patio. So far on that wall we have a sideboard, and we just purchased a mirror to hang above it. We’ll put photos on either side of the mirror.
I love your room and I really admire that you did all that work yourself, with small child in tow. That’s impressive.
I don’t have any advice about how to decorate, only that you should have objects, pictures and things in it that you love. If you find it beautiful, then it will be beautiful. Have fun and please post some more pictures when it’s done.
I love your table. Very simple and clean-lined. If you hang a lot of pictures in a grouping it may be good to keep the frames all the same color, perhaps all black. Maybe all black&white photos then a pop of color with one or two great prints in the mix? Lay them out on your floor first to see how you want them on the wall. Saves a lot of mistaken nail holes. A lot of people tend to hang pictures too high. Take your time decorating because it is such a personal choice. Just enjoy browsing stores, flea markets, thrift shops. You’ll know what you like when you see it. Decorate to please yourself, not others. You are the one that lives there. Have fun. I can send some family photos with Andrea when she visits in December if you’d like.
Oh I totally know what you mean about decorating… I am so friggen excited for christmas decorating I can’t contain myself. I’ve been planning my xmas decorations for a month already and scoping the thrift stores for special finds hehe. It’s not about being materialistic, it’s about being sentimental. Personally, I love garlands and wish I had a fireplace like yours to place one on. I especially love the less traditional ones, because they are still festive but don’t clash as much. I saw one in a crafting mag with copper leaves, christmas balls and frosted miniature balls added on to the plain garland. Looks fabulous. I also love, for christmas, hurricane vases with crushed glass and candles or flowers for table ornaments.
Adam — thanks, I love the table too. I like your suggestions for the windows too, that’s what I was leaning towards as well. We both have such great taste!
Unfortunately, I don’t think lovely hand-blown vases at kid height would be wise so I’m going to have to put some less fragile things in the windows and leave anything breakable to the mantelpiece or up on shelves.
Abigail — yes, I did share photos of that fireplace earlier, on another site I think. I hated it at first but then it grew on me and now I really like it. I think it was just the peach wallpaper that was here before that made me go ‘blech’!
Charlotte — thank you. You are right, as ever. If it’s beautiful to me, that’s all that matters.
Lyn (aka Mom) — that is so funny that you said that, because those ideas are *exactly* what I had in mind for that wall. I’m going to be on a frame-finding mission in the coming months! And yes, please do send some nice b&w photos with Andrea when she comes.
Chloe — I’ve been trying not to even think about Christmas because I know that I will be tempted to go hog wild and blow my entire decorating budget on seasonal things. I have to restrain myself but last year’s decorations will have to do for this year. Well, maybe just a couple things I make myself…
Okay, for some reason my spam filter had blocked out Andrea and Tabitha’s comments so they are only now appearing after my approval. So to respond to them…
*Andrea — Interesting ideas about the lighting, I hadn’t given it much thought yet. I don’t know if functionality and convenience will allow for an overhead light that requires a chair and a seriously long lighter to get lit, but I do like the idea of different heights of light around the room. Hmm, something to think about. And I agree about the Japanese lanterns, they look out of place unless the room is either done in that style or so neutral that the shade is the only spot of colour. Oh, and my windows face east, so afraid some kind of overhead light will be necessary for the afternoons/evenings.
*Tabitha — Ooh, I like the idea of a topiary and/or sculpture of some sort on the window sills. Still not sure what to put above the fireplace. My first thought was a mirror but my only concerns about that are a) that’s what many people do (and I just have to be different!) and b) because the sun rises through the east-facing windows and I tend to do a lot of my work in the mornings, the light will be blinding bouncing off of a mirror at that time of day. I’m thinking of something a bit more abstract, perhaps. I will definitely check out those links though, I love being able to see photos of other people’s ideas (without having to buy a bunch of expensive magazines).
i’m so spatially challenged that i’m having a hard time suggesting ideas without actually seeing the room in person. when i’m there in december we can go on the hunt for fun stuff like frames, prints, lamps, etc. it’s going to look great!
What is great about pictures of family in matching black frames, is that they can fit on any wall!
Arrange them in abstract patterns and they really make a room feel cozy and homey