The Living Room

Mountain Living
Over the years, I’ve grown accustomed to mountain living. The wide-open spaces, rustic homes, and natural beauty that surrounds me every day is astounding.

F is for Fugly
Unfortunately, my internal surroundings were not as inspired. Having bought our home at the height of the market, we didn’t have the funds to spruce her up; so for years, there she was in all her fugliness. Over time, the once white carpets became dingy, pastel walls became dull, and the big Brady Bunch fireplace that took up an entire wall remained a big Brady Bunch eyesore, and the bane of my homelife existence. I didn’t see how I could make it all better until one day…

I had a vision.

Actually, I had an ad that I cut out of a magazine, which became my vision. It was an ad for flooring, but it served as the foundation for the look and feel I wanted to achieve.

Archery
We have a bunch of arches in our house. They’re not the golden arches, but they do add visual interest to the space. We decided to incorporate one more—one big one—that would open up the space and bring our family and living rooms together.

Rock Me
After the space was opened up, we were delighted to see the humongous fireplace was starting to look smaller. Before, when it was contained to only that room, it took over. Now it was a focal point, albeit still an ugly one. Ya know how sometimes when you emphasize an ugly piece (i.e., give it a little TLC and make it stand out), it starts to look better? Well, that’s exactly what we did. Instead of knocking out the fireplace completely, we stained some of the rock to make it pop and applied a clear glaze, which added luster and depth to what was once a gray mass.

Floored
After staining the fireplace, we went to look for flooring. We’re in the mountains and amongst the vineyards, so we thought it would probably make sense to have the inside reflect the outside. We chose a rustic-looking laminate that, I’ve got to admit, made me a little nervous when it was first laid down, as it was beginning to look a little too Little House on the Prairie around here. Remember, mountain winery was my vision; Ma and Pa down on the farm was another story and vision entirely.

Enter paint.

Color Palette
Not too long ago, T and I bought a painting. We both loved the colors, textures, and the scene, as it reminded us of our most favorite place: the vineyard. We used this picture as inspiration for our color palette. From rust to yellows to hints of blue, I think they all go quite well together and exude warmth, energy, and that good ol’ back roads’ goodness.

Color Me Surprised
What a difference paint makes to a space! Although it looks super orange in this picture, it’s actually more of a rust color. We painted the arch brown (simulating a wooden beam), and chose a suede-looking light brown for the adjoining room. Hmm, things are starting to shape up! So long, Laura Ingalls!

Finishing Touches
Fortunately, we had most of the furniture we needed for this room. We just added two bookshelves on either side of the fireplace (a lot cheaper than the built-ins I originally had in mind) and a rug.

Overall, I wanted a comfy, cozy mountain room that I could enjoy from two vantage points: in the room and looking at the room. I think I achieved that. Here it is: the finished room.