Sunday, July 12, 2015

Getting There - Almost

The Dining Room was the easy thing. Placing furniture in the Dining Room was always mutually decided.
The table due to its size could only go one way and the sideboard had its place on the back wall of the room. The finishing touches will happen during the week for our first official dinner party for friends who are celebrating their birthdays. We were to go out to a restaurant but we thought it would be nice to have them here with us in our newly decorated Dining Room.

Do you think we need a rug under the table - something bright?
At the end of the weekend, I put up the blinds, hung the mirror and added a couple of prints.
I'm thinking we might make this our French room with prints brought home from our travels.
It's the Living Room that's caused a little more robust discussion between the two of us. You may remember that we purchased two 2-seater couches - we didn't give a lot of thought of how they would be arranged in the room. They were purchased for the next house which may sound a little strange as we don't really know what that house may be as yet. It was an impulse buy, we just liked them.

Anyway, we've tried several different configurations which all have their pluses. It's just that we don't seem to agree on any one of the choices. I love this, she hates it. She likes this, I'm a bit ho-hum!!!
I'm sure we'll work it out as we give it time to live in.
I guess on the bright side is that we can always make changes depending on our mood or entertaining needs.
The room has two focal points - the fireplace and the bay window. The challenge is to give them both the attention they deserve.

My idea was to set the furniture diagonally in the rectangle of the room however it does close the room up a bit.
Sue's idea was to push one couch to the bay window which gives the feeling of a larger room.
It does add space and opens up the room while making the fireplace the focal point.
The next job is add the colour to the room in the form of wall hangings and accessories. A coffee table is coming later in the week and we need a large rug to the living room.

By the way - did we tell you its winter in Melbourne. It seems that our friends in the Loire Valley are experiencing a heat wave.......Ha!...........mid 30s are commonplace in a Melbourne summer, occasionally rising to 39/40 degrees.

But then again we are complaining because we are having a cold winter with the mornings in the single figures. The top was 12 yesterday and today.

This weekend has been consistently raining so working on the inside of the house was fun however I do have to get those pickets back on the fence rails - maybe next weekend.

Wet, wet, and more wet this weekend so no outside work.

8 comments:

  1. A rug under the kitchen table? Hmmm no, not if children ever eat there.

    Love the living room. The room's two focal points, the fireplace and the bay window, definitely have to be emphasised.

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    1. Do you remember our earlier incarnations of our Cal Bung Hels. I remember your comments back then. After 30 years here, the house has changed its personality several times.

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  2. I think a rug would look lovely, maybe a blue/grey chevron pattern. I agree with Hels though, not if kids eat there, my floor under the table gets more food on it than the kitchen work surfaces do.

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    1. Thank you Kirsty for saying hello and reading our blog. As for kids, they turned into very nice adults at 27 and 29 YO and have lovely partners that appreciate wine and food. The boys often take turns cooking during the week.

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  3. Hi Guys, I do not have the whole picture but .... A couch back should not block an entry doorway. I would place the couches across from each other at right angles to the fireplace. I would put them on a rug that would be large enough to go under the couches. A coffee table between the couches close enough that you can place your feet or a drink on the table.
    Do you have a table that would fit into the bay window where you can display your treasures.
    The placement of the couches this way will open the view into the living room from What I presume is the entry hallway.
    could you try the table that is beside the fireplace in the dining room? It seems too wide for that position and presently too much is lined up along the wall.
    Try the table in the bay window. If a light chair could go in with it it would feel like a desk.
    You don't need a rug in the dining room that you may not be able to use in your new space.
    I like the doors in the living room.
    Looking forward to what happens next.
    Janine

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    1. Wow Janine, many thoughts to consider and many thanks to you for such positive ideas. Please keep on board, we can use your advice as we draw closer to an auction date.

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  4. I am sure that you will reach the right conclusion about where everything goes......We bought a table, dresser, and settees ahead of a house move fifteen years ago, but that furniture never really fitted into the next house although I made it look alright, but it is in this house in France that it has come into its own, as if we bought it with this house in mind but didn't know we did all those years ago!

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    1. True Vera,
      These couches don't know where there future may lay.

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