After some peeks into the small spaces in our house – the powder room, the nursery, the laundry, the master bath – I’m glad I can show you our living room. It’s actually only one half of the original living room – we are using the other half of this enormous room as our dining room, and we turned the separate dining room into a family room.

I am not sure quite how to describe the style – it’s a little bit contemporary but classic. It has Chinese elements, but more of a Regency Chinoiserie feel than traditional Chinese. Is this the Asian fusion of the decorating world? Anyway, I love the cool soothing blues and grays warmed up with some green. It satisfies my desire for a grown-up space but is still a very comfortable spot to hang out.

Not much more explanation needed, so I’ll get to the pictures.  I’ve included links to the many DIY projects in this room.

A view of the living room side of our living-dining room, from the foyer.

The bamboo brush paintings are by my mom.  I sewed the living room pillows and repainted the vintage marble-top coffee table.

This picture was from the Holiday House Tour:

I love this elegant old Chinese chair that I picked up at the flea market.  It’s sitting by the window, next to a craigslist-find chest that I painted in teal.

Here’s another sunny view of our living room.  I love that it has so many windows.

To the left of the piano is an antique wooden window screen that I painted, and on top is a repurposed shoe box, decorated with paper.

These nesting tables are from a consignment store, and the silver box is a rummage sale find that I painted in silver.

This vignette on top of a bookshelf includes some art from a favorite calendar, an antique Korean vase given to us by Steve’s parents, and a little Japanese dish I picked up years ago while shopping with my mom and sister.

The bookshelf on the other side of the window has a similarly sentimental display – art from a calendar and from an old friend, a small blue and white Chinese vase from my grandmother’s house, and some candle sticks I found in thrift store.

Thanks for visiting!

“Jewels”