We’re in the early stages of planning a kitchen remodel, and we interviewed several architects. One, whom we didn’t end up hiring, became somewhat fixated with this large picture window in our living room. It’s the first thing you see when you walk into our house, and admittedly, the view is mixed. You can glimpse the western sky at the top, which is often stunning at sunset, but much of the view looks out on our neighbors and also on our own cracked concrete driveway, including parked cars and a basketball hoop. This particular architect couldn’t help himself from repeatedly bemoaning this “tragic” window. He coyly promised a solution, but I guess he’ll never get the chance to tell us about it.

Meanwhile, here’s my decorating solution. I love how this table makes a pretty focal point that screens and distracts from the less picturesque parts of this view.  I realize it’s not technically in our foyer, but the table serves a similar purpose of dressing up our entry.

The table is actually a small dining table we had.  Without the leaves, it works as a large display table in this space and doubles as a serving area for parties.  The Craftsman style pedestal looks pretty standing in front of the window.  The chairs are made over from a craigslist find and deserve their own post!

I can’t say I’m not a little curious what our sassy visiting architect had in mind, but for now, I’m very happy with the way this little vignette dresses up our living room while screening the less attractive parts of our view.

More on those dreamy chairs soon!

“Jewels”