The Before: Entry, Formal Living Room, Parlor, and Dining Room

There isn't a defined entry/foyer in our home, which I'm not 100% thrilled about. All throughout our house hunt I was intent on having a grand staircase that opens into a foyer. This house doesn't have that layout, but you enter the home into a nice, large formal living room, so I think I can carve out a space to function as an entry and make it work. 

The FLR currently has a really pretty fireplace (to which the previous owners added a godawful electric insert for some reason - we're pulling it out) with built-in cabinets flanking it on either side.

I think the nooks on either side of the fireplace will greatly benefit from some wallpaper action and shelves built to the ceiling. 

My very favorite thing we're doing in this room (quite possibly my favorite thing in the whole house), is we're adding a rolling library ladder, which will go across the full width of the room, from one bookcase and across the fireplace to the other. I think it will look super cool, and will provide a dramatic focal point right when you walk in. It might make the furniture layout a little tricky, but that's a trade-off I'm willing to make. 

To the left of this room is the room we're calling the parlor, for lack of a better word:

It's really another sitting room, slightly smaller than the FLR. This room just needs some paint and new window treatments. We'll use this as the piano room, and will likely add a pair of chairs in front of the windows. I'm thinking either overscale wingbacks, or maybe the umbrella chairs from Restoration Hardware. They don't really go with the style of the house, but I've loved them forever and think this might be just the place for them.

My favorite detail about this little room is the closet/nook: 

I wracked my brain trying to figure out what to do with this space, before I finally came up with what I think is the solution. We're converting this into a fun little reading area for E, with a built-in window seat, bookshelves, and some super fun wallpaper. I hope she loves it.

Back to the right of the FLR is the Formal Dining Room:

This room is going seriously glam. It's getting Farrow & Ball's Hague Blue on the walls, and Ralph Lauren Northern Hemisphere wallpaper on the ceiling. I can't wait. Also, that sad little light fixture is getting swapped out for a swanky sputnik chandelier. 

In my next blog I'll talk about the office, family room, and powder room also on the 1st floor, before we get into one of the total gut spaces...the kitchen!