More Decorating
The dining room in the carriage house is moving along. Click on pictures to enlarge.
The 1950s Metz set is now fully in the room. Metz did high-quality furniture and was unusual in hiring a lot of women and paying them equal to men! This was pretty much unheard of at the time. It is still not the standard. FFS.
The curtains are hung! I really love them. They hang from a galvanized metal rod, WAY less expensive than a standard curtain rod of such length. Note that I hung the rod wall-to-wall. A bit of brilliance. I think this makes the room look wider, but it also allows the window trim to remain exposed by having the curtains cover the side walls, and also allows ALL the glass to be exposed. I love sunlight.
The view amuses me. For, there is no view. The wide window looks out to the white vinyl siding of my neighbor. At least there are no windows looking back at me!
The painted green line above the curtain rod is crooked! I will correct this.
The Metz set.
The sideboard is fabulous, and with travertine inserts and beveled glass. It needs a good polish after being in storage since 2013.
The east wall. It will soon have base molding! And door trim (left). The sconces need to move a bit closer to the picture as the right sconce touches the curtains. I am hoping to purchase a Metz sideboard for this wall, minus the upper section. They are out there but I need one within driving distance.
For years, the picture was in my current living room. I found the image on the internet, had it blown up to poster size, and then framed. It was HUGE in the living room but looks so much smaller in the expansive dining room. It is a portrait of Alaska, a famous drag queen. It is so utterly ridiculous that it makes me smile. It is my favorite portrait of Alaska.
The over-scale sconces are part of a set including a chandelier. They are 1950s Hollywood Regency. I have the set listed for sale but in the meantime…Ross happy to see them!
A few years ago I purchased a set of china for the Cross House, circa-1950. It proved not right, and I later purchased a grander set and stored this set away. But, it looks perfect in the carriage house dining room!
I have been amazed how all this has come together.
Save the new drapes, I already had everything you see. And these various elements have proved to work well together, including the Cody paint job. I am amazed.
Before.
After.
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Remarkable!
The Carriage House dining room looks fabulous! Love the drapes. They compliment the color scheme. I rather like the sconces either side of Alaska’s framed print.
The Metz dining set and sideboard are amazingly marvelous!
I just love the Carriage House!
Love watching all this happen! I just bought a 1908 Victorian farmhouse that needs rather more work than I can imagine. One step at a time…
How did you hang the curtain rod? Liking the wall-to-wall concept…
I did something similar with a closet pole and used the wood round closet hangar things on the wall on each side. I imagine there is something similar for a galvanized pole.
Thank you!
Absolutely stunning! I love Alaska and that picture is perfect. What a great idea.
Paint the floor and you will be good to go.
That side board is fabulous. Aside from the travertine and the beveled glass, the wood. And the table too. I love how the grains are combined and mixed. This is a hangover from previous decades. My coffee table and end tables have a veneer pattern to them. In the subsequent decades it looks like that concept was simplified and then simply went away. The burl wood on the sideboard is what really catches my eye.
I think you should hang more of your lights for sale throughout the house and then use those photos to help sell them. Then when they sell, swap them out for something else in the inventory. That way you get a chance to enjoy them before they sell and its an advertising opportunity to help sell them and the other fixtures.
There is nothing like shopping on your own storage. It should be so surprising that you have things that go perfectly together. Look how the wood of the shade picks up the upholstery on the chairs. The green drops on the sconces compliment but don’t match the walls. The beading on both the sconces and the chandelier. The china fits in and the table runner brings it all together. The black frame of the photo and the curtains.
Going wall to wall with the curtains was absolutely the best treatment. You don’t want to cover up that gorgeous wood trim and what else are you going to do with that bit of wall space? It makes the room look bigger.
Which room is next?
My late wife called the extra wide curtain rod a ‘curtain garage’. That way you could hang your curtains out of the way and enjoy the beautiful windows, trim and light just as you have done here.
I love seeing your vision come to life, Ross. It is so satisfying to redecorate using bits and pieces you already own. I love the drama in this room and I think that what helps it be even more delicious is the rustic backdrop of the floors and the curtain rod.
That looks great. Those reds are just right, and they really pop against the green of the walls. The furniture is very harmonious with the window trim, even though they are different styles and eras. The drapes add a nice contrast to the red and green color blocking and provide texture. I wouldn’t have ever thought of Hollywood Regency sconces, but they totally work (I love HR though so….). You barely even notice the unfinished floor. You could probably leave it and it would be ok, as long as there aren’t splinters or anything.
Those plates are great too.
I can’t wait to see what you do with that kitchen. I know you aren’t going to spend much more time fixing it up, but I am sure you will come up with a few excellent decorative twists that will pull it together and bring out the charm.
I so love your unique sense of style! If it’s not too presumptuous, may I suggest adding a panel to the bottom hem of the curtains to lengthen them to the floor? For whatever reason, mid-wall curtains make me squirm. Plus, a little dash of color in a different fabric would be fabulous!
It looks wonderful! What time’s dinner! 🙂
https://i.etsystatic.com/28672520/r/il/ed660d/3484982093/il_794xN.3484982093_nxtb.jpg On Etsy $1200 with “free” shipping, just as a baseline.
Thanks, Linda! I saw that but it’s too far away and the shipping is another $450. Ouch!
Perhaps there will again be people who happen to be in/ near your area, that might be able to transport the sideboard closer to the Carriage House?
Everything is coming together nicely, even the china matches the dark red of the chair upholstery. Great job, it’s fun to go shopping in the inventory you already own.
Simply fabulous!
The before and after make’s one think to oneself – that can’t be the same room! Fantastic transformation. I’ve been admiring these sconces on your website and it’s a joy to see them here. I still vote for painting the plywood for now. I think it will serve you well in the moment.
I am going to suggest a truly horrifying thing. Please don’t come for me! BUT, in the future after the carriage house is producing, would you ever consider replacing the clear glass (facing the neighbor’s blank wall) with stained glass reproductions that echo those in the big house?