The furniture that used to be spread over 2 much larger rooms in the old house are now squished into this living room. Even so it's still a pretty comfortable size. The sectional couch that's right now in front of the bay window is going to be phased out because it is huge and clunky and taking up way too much space. And it seemed so diminitive when it was in the basement. There are two other pieces to the couch, one in the kitchen (which I strategically did not include in any of the photographs, heh) and one at the top of the stairs (firehazard!). Once that's out, we'll be money.
So the best thing about this living room, aside from the high high ceilings, is the flooring. In some long-ago issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine there was a photo of one of her perfectly groomed cats lounging on the pine floors of one of her perfectly groomed homes, and I don't know why but that photograph and description struck me and stuck with me. The floors were made of these beautiful, thick-as-tree-trunks planks of what was described as "pumpkin pine," aged to this lovely amber color. I coveted those floors. Everytime I see original flooring like, I think "Dude, that's Martha-grade stuff." (It's up to you to decide if that's a really compliment or not!) So when I saw the wood floors in the living room, all thick and pumpkiny and shiny but clearly aged, I nearly passed out. And this was after I passed out over the kitchen. The place was just full of wonderful, happy surprises.
In the bottom photo, Bunny is standing over my new lightbox: the radiator cover. It's where I've been taking most of my yarn or finished sock portraits, like here, here and here. I sit on the back of the couch, prop my feet on the radiator cover, and snap away. It makes the perfect "lightbox," big enough to photograph more than just a skein.
I love the planks in their varying degrees of thickness and color, and the oversized, antique nails that hold them in place. The selling agent claimed that the floors are original, but whether or not they are "pumpkin pine" or some other wood I don't know. I'll have to find out because I'm really curious. Original flooring does seem to be pretty rare though, susceptible over the long years to the aesthetics of its many owners and changing trends. The unit right below us, for example, has brand new flooring. Lovely in its own way, but just not the same.
It kind of happened that we have lot of Asian-themed furnishings. It's weird because I never liked that look, growing up. All of my parents' friends would have a formal living room that would be filled wall-to-wall with typical Asian furnishings, like those boxy, squat couches whose cushions are embroidered ostentiously with dragons and are lined in plastic. Throw in a couple of brush paintings of peonies and oranges, a large "lucky" cat ceramic on a shelf or two, a little Buddha in some corner, a karaoke machine in another, and a gigantic portrait of some relative's unsmiling baby decked out head to toe in gold jewelry, and you've got a room that screams HAI DON'T FORGET I AM CHINESE!!!! It always made me shudder.
Everything in moderation, I say.
So the Asian contributions to the living room we all bought at a Chinese antique warehouse outside of D.C. several years ago. My uncle hooked us up, and we got really good deals on what I think are pretty unique pieces. For example the two frames on the walls (took us forever to hang) used to be the wooden window or door frames of a house (so we were told), and there are carved bats at each corner because surprise! bats are auspicious. We love things that are auspicious. The coffee table also has an antique window frame inlaid in the center. We got the bookshelves at the same place.
The couch in the middle is happy to be here. We hardly ever sat there in the old house since we were always in the basement, but now it takes center stage. And we weren't sure if it would even make it up. Ultimately, it came through the window, via crane and 4 burly men to haul it in. That was so. terrifying. The piano, which I've had since I was 7 maybe, also came through the window. We will not be moving ever because I don't want to see anything that heavy dangling 100 ft above the ground ever again.
That, and because this place just rocks.
Next, we take a grand tour of...the bathrooms! Really!
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