A Living Room That’s Actually Livable! Check Out Part 2 of Maxwell’s Home Reveal
In this second of the final series of posts showing off my completed home, I want to go in depth and share with you all I can – everything that went into this living room – a practice which is so important to our website. My whole house was copied, inspired and pulled from a thousand different ideas that I’d seen over the years and I would love it if this could have the same impact on others. Here, then, is The Living Room…
Floors, Walls, and Ceiling – Dinesen
Coconut Mat – 1 Inch Thick Custom Cut Recessed Plain Coco Coir Mats
Coat Hook – Line Depping for HAY
The Entrance & Living Room – January 2019
Actually, you come in the front door first and you can choose to go around the staircase, surrounded by slats of Dinesen Douglas fir, to either the left or the right. They both lead to the same place, but the right path takes you by this lovely little sit-down area where shoes, boots, and other things that need to be put away can go. I was inspired to design this little entry nook by this amazing mountain house in Switzerland.
The screen was architect John Berg’s master stroke as I wanted something that would hide the staircase, show off all the amazing wood, and also let the light through the middle of the house. I also LOVE the way you can see the shape of the stairs climbing up behind the screen. It took a lot of work to install these long pieces of Douglas fir, and to stabilize them we inserted little tabs of wood in between at the top and the bottom. The amazing, long credenza was designed by John Berg as well and made by Jason Gandy in Brooklyn. There is only one closet in the whole house and so this credenza and the other one in the kitchen are really important for storage.
Credenza – Jason Gandy/Aardvark Interiors
Large Portrait of Ursula – Maria Theresa Meloni
Small Landscape – John Britton
Owl Light – Owl by Roost
Here’s the living room with the furniture turned for winter to face the large fireplace, which nicely sits in the wall that separates living room from kitchen, but not by too much. The fireplace was an important design moment as I wanted to have the biggest one that I could, and I ended up buying a fireplace “appliance” made of metal that was installed into the fireplace and doesn’t carry any of the weight that a brick fireplace would. (Fireplace appliances like this are much less expensive and require much less work. It does make odd sounds, however, as it expands and contracts with heat from the fire). The unit I bought was as big as I could get, and I think it makes a difference to the scale of the room as the dark rectangular hole becomes a prominent feature to the whole room.
Sofa & Chairs – Maxwell Collection/Interior Define
Rug – Mohair Slate from The Rug Company
Coffee Table – Trio Oval by Neri & Hu
Floor Lamp – AJ Floor Lamp
Floor Lamp – Greta Grossman Grasshopper
Faux Fur – Restoration Hardware
Poufs – Flocks by Christien Meindertsma from DWR a long time ago
Dark Blue/White Balls Fabric on seat – St. Frank
Other Blue Fabrics – Les Indiennes
A close-up on the wild fabric mixing; these patterns are block-printed from Les Indiennes. I stole this idea from the very talented Tiina Laakkonen, who has a store in Amagansett where she covered a sofa with a mix of Marimekko fabrics. She also did it in her home, which I found here.
I love this view through the living room, through the Grasshopper lamp and into the kitchen. The firestarter by the fireplace is a total find and from a small online New Zealand design company.
Armchair – Maxwell Armchair
Floor Lamp – Greta Grossman Grasshopper Lamp
Fire Starter – George & Willy
Black Chair – Johansson J64 Chair by Fredericia Furniture
Here’s the moment to talk about the sofa and chairs. The result of my first collaboration with Rob Royer’s Interior Define, I drew from old English sofas that you just want to sit back into or nap on. The sofa is covered in a mish-mash of fabrics in homage to Tiina Laakonen’s house and we were able to do that right in the factory on a raw sofa.
Sofa & Chairs – Maxwell Collection/Interior Define
Side Table – Circoe Side Tabe by Susanne Grønlund for Softline
Coffee Table – Trio Oval by Neri & Hu
Poufs – Flocks by Christien Meindertsma from DWR a long time ago
Rug – Mohair Slate from The Rug Company
That’s the end of my Living Room tour. Look below for the previous post, kitchen and dining room, and if you want to go back to the very beginning, here is Honey, I Tore Down The House! Next week I’ll head into the two guest rooms and the downstairs bathroom that they share. Bye!
Resources:
Architect: John Berg, Berg Design Architecture
Contractor: Peter Germano
Interior Design: Rebecca Robertson