saraband's Profile

What a warm and welcoming atmosphere in this home. I'm struck by how the furniture and decor all seem familiar (the source is list relatively accessible--nothing too design-y, pricey, or obscure), but it all comes together in an inspired way. I especially love how the parents encouraged Sawyer's participation in the decoration of this house.

Paint is on my mind these days, so I'll be the first to request a catalog of the paint colors used throughout the house!

Why is everyone calling it a "gazelle"? It is clearly a deer, and a Thai lucky deer, at that.

Wow, as a child it *never* occurred to me to eat outside of the dining or breakfast room, unless it was a party, in which case the kids sat at the card table specifically made up for eating. And we had white couches in the formal living room. BUT, I remember taking a red sharpie to a red parsons side table once (thinking I was so clever because then my drawings would be camouflaged). I grew up in the era of spanking, and nothing generally gets past my mom, but for some reason, I never got punished for that! (Must call and ask if she remembers!)

Chiming in on the 8 x 10 or 9 x 12 under the coffee table, nothing in the dining area.

I think it would depend on how you intend to use the space. Do you like having friends over, or do you go out more? When I lived in a studio (smaller than yours), I had a full bed and a computer desk, and I ate at the bar that divided the kitchen area from the bed, so no dining table. But I also did most of my socializing out of the apartment, and did not watch TV, so no need for couch.

In your case, I would start off with a bed in the corner where nikokera suggested, and then see how much room you have left over. You can always opt for a love seat or a couple of arm chairs instead of a standard three-seater, or even a low coffee table with floor cushions if you are the type who prefers sitting on the floor (there was a recent post on that).

As for colors, I would also go slowly. Work with the occasional tables you have, see if they fit the space. No need to get flustered at this stage, because you can always go a different direction once you've settled in and see how the light and colors work. It's super that you already have a piece of art to anchor your space. You can certainly pull inspiration from that.

Congratulations and good luck!

As someone going into a huge painting project soon, I want to hear the "rhyme, reason, story, and tale" for all the colors!

Kate, out of curiosity, what color would you choose instead? Because to me, in the photos, the paint color looks great with all your art and books. On my monitor, sometimes it reads vermilion and other times more terracotta (although in one picture, photo 19, it looks positively pink--is that another wall?).

But I'm so glad that this post exists...if only for the giggles. Seriously, I can't even bring myself to pooh pooh this post for being so pretentious because the comments are so darn funny!

"A challenge was the low ceiling in the entrance area. To make it feel higher I decided to use a full gloss finish to add a sense of height."

I think painting it dark gray has exactly the effect of making it seem even lower.

But maybe the full effect has to be experienced in person. Even in the photos, the gray looks vastly different on the first and second floors.

In your shoes, I'd opt for storm windows. This is from George Nash's _Renovating Old Houses_ (our bible): "While the thermal performance of a refurbished single-glazed window fitted with a tight storm panel can never quite equal that of the best factory-made double-glazed windows, the difference is not so great as to merit the replacement of old windows solely for reasons of improved energy efficiency. The argument for new windows only makes sense when compared to the cost of doing nothing about the old ones or of paying a professional to improve them. Otherwise, you probably won't live long enough to amortize the investment."

Our old house did not come with its original windows. The owners before us inherited the house with bad replacement windows (just as drafty, but without the charm of leaded glass), so they went ahead and did what heather77 recommends, which is having simulated divided lights on the street-facing windows and just single panes on the back. It cost them a bundle, and it's nice having one fewer project to worry about in this house, but our windows are certainly not as charming as our entryway, which does have old glass and real divided lights. Consider yourself fortunate you get to make this decision!