Liking Lichen Green Living Rooms

Maire Claire Maison great room

I love a foresty lichen green. Perhaps because I like fungi? Could be it, but these two rooms are tops. This first rooms is from Maire Claire Maison. It was a cool article that took an unbelievably beautiful space to begin with and gave it 3 makeovers. I like the lichen green one for many reasons. Like I said, this was a great room to begin with. It has dark wood floors in immaculate condition. The ceilings are tall and the natural lighting is breathtaking. And there are great features such as millwork, the fireplace, the door hardware. I love the lichen green walls with the milk chocolate brown trim color. This is unexpected and a bit “moody”. The red accents make the green color pop. I like the room because it has a  cozy feel. Open shelves make books accessible and the large ottoman acts as table. And I’m a fan or antlers/horns. You put those in a room and I’m in love. This room has a very “exotic” feel to it because of the color combination and the mix of objects and textiles.

The other room, a foyer, was featured in Coastal Living. I love this room because the color combination is unexpected and I love this earthy green with wood tones. I also like this room because it is a coastal house that isn’t all light and white. I have been totally inspired by this room. I love the salmon door. I would love to see the exterior of this home. But, it looks awesome against the lichen green. I know what that color combo dominating some portion of my house. Lichen green walls and salmon painted thrift furniture or

Coastal Living lichen green foyer

salmon walls with lichen green fabrics…But, all of the colors work in here from the green to salmon to chartreuse to sky blue to sea pebble gray. I love it. Plus, the space isn’t too shabby with the all of the hardwoods. I also like steps playing bookshelf and the cool collection of pictures and how they line the stairs. And I love ship art. Especially ship art in a seaside home.

So, yeah. I’m liking lichen green rooms.

-Victoria

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Welcome Fall: 2 Harvest Orange Interior Spaces

I don’t really do “color”. Just look in my closet. It is a collection of black and gray; however, you will see some orange and coral peeping out of that abyss. I have a thing for orange. I would love to have an orange room but it isn’t really fitting with the scheme of things right now. But, I can admire it and plan for the future, right?

foyer from Martha Stewart

This first little space if from Martha Stewart’s website. I love the bold harvest orange with the crisp white millwork. This really pops. I love it against the deep wood tones. (That being said, I love anything against deep, rich wood tones). But, yes. This is a great space. I adore the curiosities displayed on the walls and love their bold, graphic, and simple frames. What is that black/espresso stuff lining each edge? I think the website said it was ribbon. That’s a bit odd and time consuming, I imagine. I’m sure it would look silly in real life but it takes a great picture. I would personally just painted it. This is a nice small foyer, about the same size and layout of the one that we have. Currently, it is housing a dark ladder back chair until I find that perfect something. I still do not what that something is.

The other room is a living room from Southern Accents (RIP). This room has that colonial feel but it is really fun and vivid with the walls that harvest orange shade. This is another example of how nice this color goes with white millwork (doesn’t everything). I like to see orange look this formal and not like an Ikea show floor. Orange has the potential to really look elegant without being too immature or “modern” a.k.a Target’s “dorm” collections. It works nicely with deep woods and some rustic pieces. I must mention that this chair in this room is very weak. I am not fond of “skirts” but the chair could of benefited from a print or even another bold color such as ochre or brick. However, that’s my opinion.I can never look at a room and think that is perfect and to my liking. I do the same to my own space. Perhaps that is one of the many reasons why this is taking so long.

Southern Accents harvest orange living room

-Victoria

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2 Elegant Powder Blue Dining Rooms

Powder blue paint is not going to work with my house in its current state. We have too much Fender Strat aqua elsewhere. I do love powder blue because it is soft, light and it’s a bit conservative but still fun. It works with any style. These are 2 dining rooms that I like. I haven’t worked on our dining room in a very long time. It still has wallpaper patches. I’m trying to get motivated here.

Domino (RIP) dining room

This first one is from Domino. It’s formal but a bit fun. The powder blue looks so sophisticated and fresh. It works so nicely with that pure, true white trim. Of course that trim would work with anything; it’s wonderful. I like this dining room because it has a bit of that “French” style with attainable accessories. That crystal ship light fixture is available at Z Gallerie. It goes for under $800 and really adds so much to the room. You can find a table very similar to this at a junk store and paint it white and distress it. You could do the same with the chairs and you could use a metallic finish paint to fake a galvanized look. Portraits like that are available on Jayson Home & Garden website for under $1000. I’m sure you could go antiquing and find something you like for cheaper. I love the hobnail glasswear.All of these things can be found but it does take time. I don’t have enough of that. Since we are in this new house, we have no furniture that works. I know exactly what I want and since I refuse to purcahse anything not well made, it will take some time. Until then, we are living out of boxes and sitting on painfully uncomfortable chairs that I have refinished.

This other dining room is courtesy of Martha Stewart. I am in love with most of the colors that she uses.

Martha Stewart dining room

You can take any color and mix it with some rustic, rugged wood and I’m pleased. Oh, and brass doesn’t hurt. I want that light fixture badly. This is another powder blue room with amazing millwork and large, light plank wood floors. This color appears so light and airy with the pairing of bleached out wood, crisp white, and taupes. But, I feel it could also look amazing paired with darker woods and fabrics.

I do love this color. I used to be scared of it because I thought it was too childish. Obviously this is not so. It is very regal, formal, and classy.

-Victoria

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I Love Putty Colored Rooms.

I’m learning to love neutrals again. I always wear neutrals but usually prefer brights in the home. I guess I am growing up because I can’t get enough of elegant neutral shades ranging from taupe to rocky cliff gray. It’s that sea pebble addiction that I have. The dining nook will be painted a gray shade and I hope it turns out nicely (this is one of the last projects on the list). Neutrals create such an elegant backdrop for all of your things. I do love my stuff.

Coastal Living dining room

This first room is amazing. I love this formal dining room found in Coastal Living magazine. The millwork is amazing I really do love the choice of colors. The lighting isn’t too shabby either. I could live without that hokey hardware on the buffet and I want to slap whoever spray painted that antique mirror, but hey, it’s a beach home. Beach homes think they can get away with that kind of stuff. I think I am going for this shade because it is so beachy. It’s beachy without being a vacation home shade. We often forgot (somehow) that we live less than 4 blocks from the sea. This is novel to us since we are from a landlocked area. The locals don’t get it because it rocky beaches don’t feel beachy. But, anyways. I thought this was a room that was well executed.

The 2nd room is something from apartmenttherapy.com. I mainly care about this pic because of the buttermilk Frenchie resting under the chair like a big knot on a log. Anybody with a French bulldog has great tastes, right? 🙂 Well, one I got pass the “him a cute baby” phase of looking at the picture, I realized that I like the colors used as well. They are neutral and really bring the room together without being intense.

Apartment Therapy living room

It’s a cute room and I love that they chose a softer white to paint their trim with. This adds so much class. I’m a sucker for putty shades. Every time I see them in use, I want to paint the entire house in these colors. Off subject: I know people love the color coordination of books but it is my pet peeve. Why is that? I organize mine by type, like a library would. I just don’t like the color thing because it is like you don’t read, you just look. Maybe you can remember a book by its cover but I don’t. What do you do with a Pocket Poet’s series?

-Victoria

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Sage Green “Library” Living Rooms I Like

Robert Smith in a library looking living room.

I have decided to do the living room a little bit “stuffy” and the rest like a library. I still need for this to be a functional room. The built-ins will hold all of our books, surprisingly we have shed ourselves of many during this move. On the back wall I hope to put our 2 large Ikea Expedit bookshelves on the back wall to house records. This will be our “library”. Our place to relax in front of the fireplace, listening to exotica records and reading Pacific Northwest mushroom guides. I want it to be a cozy/functional but still very formal and put together space. I have found 2 sage green rooms that seem to pull this off. The first room is mainly a picture of Robert Smith. You could put anything in this room and it would look good (even Robert Smith) with all of that woodwork and trim. I do like the green color and it works nicely with the warm wood floors. I suck at arranging furniture in a room. This is my weakness mainly because I haven’t lived in a place long enough to acquire all the furniture needed for a room. The needs have been so different for each space we’ve rented. I kind of like the chair in front of the books like this. You just reach over and grab one and look through it. It is a cozy reading nook.

What is there not to love about this formal green living room/library. I’ve learned many valuable lessons on my path to first time home ownership. Many things have been stupid mistakes like “this mortgage broker is a d-bag and can’t do his job” or “maybe you shouldn’t purchase a home that is packed to the brim with some guy’s crap”. I have also learned much about design as a sort through pages and pages of decorating blogs. I have learned that rooms with 15 foot ceilings look awesome no matter what. Such as this room. If could have anything in it and look awesome with all of those amazing structural details. I just really like this room. This green looks very nice with the dark accents and high contrast zebra rug. It’s a formal room but it is still really, really functional. There is a computer in there, a desk. They even have clutter out with a coffee mug and it still looks polished and elegant. It’s just a matter of having everything where you need it. Oh, and having a totally awesome house with tall ceilings and awesome trim. The house we are getting has simple, wide trim. It’s typically of the 30’s and I’m excited about it even if it isn’t as embellished as these rooms. I can make it that way. Millwork is not dead. You just don’t see it too much in modern hastily made cookie cutter homes. I know the addition of millwork isn’t a priority with a rehab home but I hope that one day we’ll at least finish one room with fancy trim like this.

-Victoria

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