A Good Start

My name is Vanessa and I am a perfectionist. Not for everything, but definitely when it comes to design. I never want to share anything before it's absolutely perfect - the way I envision it in my head. But that's not realistic. I don't want to give the impression that a room goes from meh to major over night. The best personal spaces are built gradually over time and consist of pieces that you love and are a reflection of you. I always say that you should be able to walk into a room in someone's home and immediately know something about that person. Rooms should be personal. And that takes time. (And financially, it's just not feasible for most people to redo everything all at once!)

So today, I thought I'd share a work in progress. This is a living room I've been working on for a few months. We started back in January and have been working away at it, replacing piece by piece with furniture and accessories that really resonate with the owner.  When I came on the scene, there were two great pieces already - an AMAZING coffee table (from Wicker Emporium) and a parking metre that was a gift from an old job (i.e., something personal with character and charm). On top of that - the room itself has great bones: beautiful mouldings, a great brick fireplace, and hardwood floors.

Thus far, we've picked up a beautiful Afghan rug (from Tabrizi), two gorgeous distressed leather club chairs with nailhead trim (from London Loft), a vintage locker turned bar (from Rusty Hinges), and a small metal tray table (also from London Loft). We've also repurposed a round glass and metal pedestal table from another area of the house.

Here are BEFORE photos and PROGRESS photos:

Before

Progress

Before

Progress

Before

Progress

And here are a few more progress shots:

Progress

Progress

Progress 

Progress

Progress 

Progress

Left on our list?

• A new couch. We're thinking something grey. Maybe similar to one of the ones we spotted at Attica a few weeks ago.
• Built-in bookcase instead of a railing. Right now it looks like this:

          But something like this could be awesome:

By Smith & Vansant Architects

• New lighting. Better lighting by the bar - whether that's a floor lamp with a better profile (skinnier) or a sconce remains to be determined. 

A table lamp with a wider base for the pedestal table - having a lamp with a skinny base (like the current lamp) looks imbalanced. We need the chunkiness of a wider lamp base to balance the proportions. This lamp from Attica is a contender:

• Art for the wall to the left of the fire place. On the lookout for either one large piece (portrait-orientation) or several coordinating pieces (landscape-orientation) hung in a column. 
• Vintage dresser to use as a TV stand. The current one, although not bad in general, doesn't work at all in the space. It's at the same height as the coffee table and makes everything feel too low. We need something with a bit more height and I think a vintage dresser could do the trick.
• New curtains and throw pillows.

• A neutral doormat for the patio doors, which get a lot of use. The current one competes way too much with the new rug and doesn't match the direction in which the room is going. I'm thinking something sisal or jute.

And that's that! There's still some work to do, but the room feels so much warmer and personal now. One of the first things the owner said about this room was that it's never really felt like home - he no longer feels that way ;)