• The modern, streamline, minimalistic look is “hospital or office”.
• Anything else, foo foo, Victorian, Period, non manly is “grandma”.
As you can tell from previous posts here, the house is finally coming together a bit more. Tom gave me weird looks at times during my progress until he saw the final product. He was concerned I maybe a bit foo foo, refer to above definitions. I try to stay more toward a masculine look, so far, he has been ok with the “industrial urban setting” feel I am trying to create in the living room area.
We kept most of his apartment furniture…yes, I got rid of his old coach not long after we met when he wanted to redo his bachelor pad. The sofa and the leather reclining chair stayed (I picked them, haha). But we left the coffee table alone then.
While settling in, we used the old coffee table as his new TV stand. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, the very first piece of furnishing we bought after the house, even before any other appliances (such as washer, dryer, refrigerator, etc) is his new TV. Oh the living room is too big now; he NEEDS a bigger TV, which was the reasoning he gave me at the time. Yes, doesn’t that sound familiar to anyone out there??? Oh, and he told me he was compromising because he only got a 55”. I am starting to think that is genetic. So we didn’t have a coffee table like for 2 months. I kept my glass coffee table in the family room downstairs, along with my kidney shape sofa, will have to post that later.
I found a Foundry cart and thought it would be unique as our new coffee table. Long story on acquiring this piece too, I first spotted it at HomeGoods in Torrance. I thought it was a bit expensive. And Tom wasn’t too impressed with it from the picture I took via my BB Curve. I waited and waited. Of course, by the time I decided to bit the bullet, after seeing it online here for A LOT MORE, someone else bought it!!! No way was I to pay this outrageous price for it.
That began a wide area search for this table AGAIN. I even considered ordering from an antique store in Canada, the problem is the shipping alone is $300. I called all HomeGoods stores in LA area, no one else has it. I had to try my luck in OC, and found one out in Ladera Ranch. Vanessa was coming up one weekend, so she drove out there to pick it up for me. This thing is heavy. Trust me, she and mom were wondering what I was thinking….her kids loved it because they can push it around with those heavy duty wheels!
When we got it here, Tom wants it as his precious TV stand, something about it looks better from the side where one can see the industrial wheels! It does look great as TV stand, perfectly fit in the spot, and mixing the new technology with vintage industrial furniture is quite cool. Of course, my dear hubby is taking all the credit for his brilliant thought!!!! This means I am on another search for something else as our coffee table AGAIN. And we are once again using his old wood coffee table (temped as TV stands for two months) in the living room.
I think a cowhide rug for the living room would be a perfect fit. I found a reasonably priced one from CostPlus World Market. I don’t think the color is quite right yet….
This set of French Door opens to the small balcony next to the front entrance.
And that chair next to the fireplace, I had it in my bedroom for a long time. I love the pattern when I first saw it, too cushy for anyone to sit on, but look great. I was a bit surprise with how well it fits there now.
Can you recognize my dual didgeridoo from the old house?
We both love the dome shape fireplace. We have two fireplaces in this house; this one upstairs and one directly downstairs in the family room. No fire log in either one, I will have to find something before this winter! It is gas burning, but certainly it can be used as wood burning, but that means I need to clean up. Gas it is….
Let me tell you, the house was very empty when we bought it, if the foreclosed owner could have taken the walls and the windows, they would too!!! No fixtures in the bathrooms or kitchens. I think it was too much trouble to take all the door knobs out; otherwise we probably had to replace them too!!!
This living room and the original dining room flow into each other. Imagine an elbow, one leg of the elbow is the current living room, the other leg is the original dinning room. There is no separation whatsoever. This entire area was covered with old stained carpet. We put in the new wood floor, walnut & custom stained to our liking. We put one of Tom’s keyboards up here, easy access for him. He plays once every few nights after work.
For the second elbow area, I think a baby grand would be nice, but talk about being really low in priority. Our plan is to turn the area into a smaller and more intimate dining area. I want a circular pedestal table with four chairs. When not used as dining, we can play games. Yes, we both have Mahjong in our mind! For now, we left my old sofa there until we can replenish our furnishing expenditure! I have more aboriginal arts here, the mask and the aboriginal canvas painting on the wall, I just got it stretch after being in my closet for the last 4 years!
This pocket door leads into the kitchen area.
This two sets of French door leads onto the deck.
We have no plans to add window treatment. I like it simple with plenty of lights coming through. But this means, at times, we have to escape to the family room below during the early morning light and late afternoon sun. There are 3 sets of French doors here in this elbow area besides the front entry. Two of them open up to the deck, same one our new dining room opens up to. The other set opens onto a small balcony facing the front. But there are plenty of greens used as border, plus with the sloping of the driveway, you cannot see the main house or the front entry from street level.
Just for fun, here is the before picture of the living room.
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