The Living Room

You may remember my post on our starting point in building our dream house—the east-facing window over the kitchen sink.  When that point of reference was fully “pinned” down, we started thinking about the arrangement of the rest of the house around the kitchen.  It’s strange that the only requirement I had for the elevation of the house was a deep front porch!  I worked with my builder’s wife and designed the house from the inside out. The elevation was an afterthought. We nailed it down after the entire inside layout was decided.

My hubby and I love to entertain. During years of hosting events, we discovered that guests tend to pack the kitchen, even if it’s obvious that work is being conducted there and that they are in the way! At gatherings in our previous home, we’d be packed like sardines in our little kitchen while the huge living room on the other side of the kitchen wall remained empty! In order to entertain my typically very social Southern guests, I needed an open floor plan attached to the extra large kitchen.  I wanted guests to feel like they were a part of the kitchen action from the breakfast area as well as the living room.

I decided very quickly that the living room needed lots of windows for natural light, beautiful wooden beams, and some Texas limestone arches to remind us of our roots. It had to be comfortable and welcoming enough to entice guests away from the kitchen!  

On the left is the Pin I loved the most. On the right is my living room.

Granted, my living room is not as elegant as one in the Pin.  I wanted something that would be comfortable for the family as well as our guests.  We actually live here, you know!

It took a while to choose the center fixture.  While a chandelier would’ve been gorgeous…. let’s face it–Mississippi gets HOT!  After a year of living in our living room, we decided on a windmill fan.  It’s great.  I highly recommend it; you can feel its effect in several rooms joining this one.

As for the sofas, they are off-white linen beneath the slipcovers. The slipcovers are from Pottery Barn and they are cool to the touch. I ordered the sofas from Ethan Allen before I adopted Dizzy Izzy from the dog pound. The two don’t mix well, hence the slipcovers.

The large spaces on either side of the fireplace presented a conundrum, too. After a few years of occupying the house, we decided that we needed a linen closet and a coat closet. Restoration Hardware had a big sale one year, and I purchased the wardrobes at a fantastic price. I modified one with a hanging bar for our coats. I love that the doors are louvered to allow airflow inside.

The living room looks out on the backyard and pool and joins the breakfast room, which is open to the kitchen. Pictures of parties in this house have featured actual guests in the living room as well as in the kitchen!