Welcome to my lounge

Hello Gentle (imagined) readers.. Let’s move on with the evolution of my little house on Tanglewood.

As my work-from-home confinement continued, my work-on-home projects did likewise.

With my front entry way in place, the living room was next on my list. The layout of this room has always been awkward. It’s 18 x 12, with 5 (now 6) large windows, and a 7 foot wide uncased opening to the next room in the west wall. There are only 2 outlets in the room (most of the rooms in the house only have 2. I guess this was all they needed back in the day!), on opposite ends of the long space. One under the center window in the north wall, and one in the south wall. On the east wall is a square box of molding that once surrounded a gas heater for the room.

So where’s the focal point for the room? Is it the windows? Is it the faux fireplace framing? Is it the south wall, the one good place to put a tv?

Now let’s talk paint! I pig headedly picked all the paint colors I wanted before I moved in and painted 5 rooms all at once. 3 of these colors I still even like! The living room is one of them. I used French Silver by Behr on the wall. It’s a nice blue based grey that reads as really neutral to a sophisticated silver depending on the light. Once finished… it needed something. So I decided to paint the lower part of the wall at the level of the faux fire box in a darker color. (Dark pewter, also by Behr.) Upper walls are Satin finish, lower walls are flat.

I used low ikea cabinets (besta) to make a sort of credenza. One I had, from my apartment. Two I had to purchase (one used, one new). Unfortunately, my preferred color is the red/brown color they no longer make! Not one to be deterred by difficulty, I used cherry wood contact paper to make the other 2 match. (sorry, no pictures were taken during this ordeal). I also realized upon completion that the space was 2 inches too small for them, because of the base shoe molding on the side walls.

Still determined… I took the end off the last cabinet, cut two inches off the length, and put it back together again. The last section on the right is in front of the cold air return for the HVAC, so I just cut the carboard back out of the cabinet.

Now back to lay out. This is how the room was arranged for 4 years. The couch faced the TV, the space behind the couch where the windows are was un-used. Comfortable, but not really stylish at all. The couch and chaise were purchased when I first moved to the Dallas area in 2003 and shared an apartment with my twin. They have been too large for every apartment we ever lived in. The coffee table was built by my dad as a housewarming gift using (in typical Edwards style) old table parts rescued from someone’s garbage.

As an added problem, now that the office is a foyer… I needed a place for my desk (which I can’t get rid of because now I really need a desk… working from home, remember?) This room went from functional but style-less to nonfunctional. TNT placed, time to light the match.

SO, what did I need to make this room finished, now the window was rearranged.

Move the TV to unify the faux fire and TV focal points.
Get technology off the credenza
Get rid of old furniture
Get a couch that has a better scale for the room… to use the space correctly.
Find a useful place for the desk
Get power where it needed to be for all the above
Improve lighting
Style!

I got a TV wall mount and plastic wire runways from amazon. I ran the cable from the DVD player to the TV and an extension cord around the south wall to the north wall. A more stylish solution would be to put this behind the drywall, but that would mean a lot more plaster work. Maybe later, I will do it. I ran wires behind the credenza and moved the dvd player to the shelves in the center section. My wireless printer occupies one shelf on the far right section. That’s #1 and #2 on the hit list!

Sold the couch and chaise and bought a used sectional from fb marketplace. It was cheap because it has been shredded by cats, but I will be recovering it with new fabric soon. It’s a sectional in name only. It’s really a couch with a matching ottoman that can be clipped to one corner. I also got an inexpensive midcentury style armchair with a broken leg. It was no big deal to fix the leg and add another butt space to the den. #3, #4… check!

I ponied a second outlet off the outlet below the center north window added power below the north east window. In this case, I was able to put the wiring in the space behind the baseboard by notching out the bottom inch of the dry wall. The desk fits there with power for my computer and a lamp. #5 & #6!

Now, let’s get to style.

I want masculine, cozy, den like. The south wall got a blue wood plank wallpaper. I extended the French silver color over the ceiling. (photo is an in-progress shot. That's why Bentley looks so judgy.) It’s subtle enough that you don’t immediately clock it, but it makes the space sort of wrap around you. This room has popcorn, like most of the house did. But it’s a more even coat than the others… it oddly doesn’t bother me. (hard to explain, but if you saw it, you’d probably get it.) Or in another year I will take everything out of this room and scrape it, paper it, and paint it again. Time will tell.

All the moldings and window casings were painted out in the darker grey (dark pewter) to match the lower walls. I am 100% sure I will eventually out a chair rail up over the seam. These cheap drapes were found on amazon and I kid you not, they perfectly match the two greys in the room and line up with the painted lower section. It looks like I planned it, but it's all luck!

Lighting! This whole house is dark. There’s a single, not that bright, ceiling light in the center of the room. I wanted more lights, but I also want the ability to have the fan on without the lights… so anything I added need to be switched separately. Enter the sconces!

It’s actually really easy to add a pull switch to a fixture. You just drill a hole, screw the switch to the fixture base, and wire it between the hot (black) wire and the source wire. So I got these simple industrial-ish, adjustable sconces, added switches and fixture boxes and Edison style LED bulbs. They nicely frame the 7ft cased opening on the west wall.

As a bonus, I found a large ikea floor lamp for free on craigslist. It was free because a dog had chewed off the cord (and foot switch). A new foot switch cord and soldering iron took care of that.

Lighting and style!

I love the big sea scape on the south wall. I took that picture at Christmas 2016 in Australia (on the trip when my brother’s husband proposed!) and a friend gifted me the (expensive!) framing. I want two more printed and framed to make a dramatic trio…but having to save up for the framing.

Back to the East wall…. It needed something! A floating shelf “mantle” above the TV filled in the oblong open space beautifully… and got more tchotzkies off the credenza.