If you’ve been reading for awhile you know that I have been struggling with my lower level room.  Mainly because I loved it the way it was.  It was old, it was new, and it was funky and purely me.  

What changed?  When I lost my mom in 2019 I brought over a Kittenger camel back sofa that is 100 years old with the most gorgeous carving on the arms and legs.  

It is a very comfortable sofa for me and I couldn’t stand the idea of it being thrifted when this is a lovely antique.  So I said to myself ok I’ll just recover it and it will be more me.  The problem is the fabric.  It is in perfect condition.  I like blue but I just don’t like this windowpane check.  And this isn’t the “look” I wanted down here.  I also brought over a Queen Ann lowboy “dressing table” that I dearly love.  

I have no other place to use it so here it is.  The two pieces compliment each other beautifully but that’s my moms look not mine!

In the fall I was determined to embrace this blue couch so I bought some buffalo plaid in blue and made some pillows (love them).  

I dug thru my stash of antique textiles that I had forgotten about and pulled those out and thought to myself now we’re getting somewhere. Balancing the blue with all the green paint in the antiques is the challenge.

I packed the built-ins and corner cupboard with the transferware and sprinkled the rest around the room.  

I determined a painting with some blue in it was in order and oh wouldn’t it be nice if I could find an antique.

Traveling the south last fall I looked at every antique shop I entered and found several that I loved.  The problem of course was the price, or the size or something else.  Nothing was quite right.  But behold, in Florida I found a painting that not only could work but was the right price and was an antique.  And it looked like Nebraska!  But I didn’t bring it home.  You can read about that here.

I don’t know why this room has flummoxed me so much but I just couldn’t get myself satisfied with it.  Considering the fact that it contains some of my favorite antiques I find that interesting.  Last Friday, I got a hair brained Idea that maybe it was the furniture placement.  I got the glides out and shoved them under every piece of furniture and started moving everything around.  Twelve pieces of furniture!  Not one piece was saved from this insanity.  Well the corner cupboard stayed put.  Of course, in some cases I laughed at myself and said “Shelley you know better!”  After 3 days time I got most of the room to a state where I was  satisfied. Or was I?

I moved the sofa to the wall where my antique barn vent is hanging and I immediately felt this was better.  I might add that this room is L shaped so it can make it awkward.

The barn vent helps to bring down the formality of the sofa.  Win!  Next I had to figure out where the trunk was going and after trying it in 3 spots I determined the only place it could go was to the right of the corner cupboard.  

Some fiddling with the two lowboys to determine their best placement and chair placement the room seemed to be breathing easier. 

By moving the barometer by the bookcases it helped to somewhat center this off center area and balance the wall space.

The pie safe got moved but ended back where it was.  There is only one spot in the room where it can go.

Taking the blue transferware out of the built-ins, it was just too precious and I realized not me.  I filled them with a hodge podge of stuff.  Some pewter, antique books a wood element, antique tin document boxes, a small leather trunk I picked up 21 years ago in Williamsburg on March 15th.  I remember this because it was the day my granddaughter was born!   A pair of encaustic paintings I did years ago found there way back into the cabinet too. Just stuff but good stuff.  I stepped back and said yeah that’s better not so “pretty”.

Fox pillow and antique textiles balance the green with the blue.

Next up was adjusting the art.  I had to find a new home for the antique painting and that was easy.  It ended up over the trunk and works so much better.  The scale of that wall is smaller and it holds the space above the trunk very well.  The introduction of the blue sky above the dark green trunk helps to distribute the blue around the room.

The next problem child was the wall space where the sofa was.  It is a good size wall and of course everything has to sit off center on the wall because of the built-in.  

I just didn’t have the perfect piece of art.  I was looking at the taupes in the snow covered grass in the new oil painting and how it plays with the taupe colors in the encaustic paintings in the bookcase and I remembered I did have another antique painting that I brought from my moms house.  Mainly I have this painting because I like the frame but the canvas is in awful condition.  It actually had a fist size hole in it.  

Years ago I had taken it from mom to repair it myself!!! Yikes.  I didn’t know what I was doing.  I stretched some canvas on the back of the canvas and started to fill in the loss.  I figured we had nothing to loose.  I took it back to her and she hung it in the living room!  So if you squint and don’t look too closely you can get by.  Of course this painting so desperately needs to be cleaned.  I don’t love it enough to make the investment so this area will be a work in progress.  I actually found this painting and the artist in researching it.  Crazy, too bad it’s not in better condition.  Anyway I added back the tin sconces that I love and for now added a pair of transferware plates under them.

Now it was time to redo the corner cupboard.  Stuffing it with transferware I walked away for a few days but new I wasn’t finished.  

I couldn’t put my finger on it so I decided it needed to simmer for a bit. A few days later in the morning I had a eureka moment.  Making a few adjustments I added in the antique wicker tray with a beloved sugar bowl, a small pewter pitcher and moved the crystal decanter and it made all the difference for me.  It needed the basket and the pewter.  

They say to never pull the spanish moss down from the trees because it’s full of chiggers.  Did you know this?  Being a Nebraska girl I didn’t and couldn’t resist coming home with spanish moss from the air B&B in Florida.  Never found any chiggers in this batch.  I placed some under the plate that is housing some of my ink wells.  The slope of the traveling desk makes placing them a challenge.  This trick keeps them fairly level.  The picture of the little girl is me.  Mom found the frame and stuck me in it.  It always sat on her dresser.

 With a critical eye I stepped back and looked at the room as a whole.  Sitting in every chair and on every perch and for the most part I felt it was good.  Some areas I liked quite a bit with other areas that would do and that I new needed a bit more work.  

Who’d of thought with all the furniture in this room that I would need just one more piece!  Are you kidding me!!!  I needed an end table for the left of the sofa and it had to be round.  Consignment stores here I come!  With no luck, I’m thinking of alternatives like a cover up table and determining that this area can be a work in progress too.

A home call in the northern burbs was the perfect excuse to stop at the local Restore.  Got to love this place!  They keep expanding their furniture area which makes me so happy.  They even have a gorgeous Ethan Allen dining room set in there complete with China cabinet.  Back to my humble search.  Sitting in a corner was a round maple “Early American” table.  Perfect size & just $69.00.  Hmm not what I was looking for but it is certainly not formal and it has good bones and it is very sturdy.  Yeah there are bad scratches on the top but that doesn’t bother me.  Yeah I can make this work.  Sold!

Can’t wait to see what I do with this one.  A little antique textile is covering up the deep scratches.  So for now this saga is done.

Wow that was a lot.  Thanks for hanging in there with me.

As always, thanks for stopping.

Shelley