This is part of my series about how
I’m decorating my apartment.
You can check out other rooms here.
I’ve always loved the look of old-timey smoking lounges. You know the style: tartan everywhere, dark green walls, floor-to-ceiling bookcases filled with antique books, wood panelled walls and ceilings, brass tables, and leather chairs. Although I’d never buy anything made of animal leather, I am seriously in love with everything tartan. This is my inspiration:
The room I had to work with wasn’t a perfect fit for this style of decorating, since its wood panels and ceiling were already painted white (and I wasn’t about to strip and stain them — not in a rental, anyway!) so I did the best I could with what I had. While the light fixtures, drapery, rugs, and some of the furniture was gifted for these articles, I nabbed several great vintage finds off of the local version of Craigslist and DIY’d.
This was before we moved in (that’s the previous tenant’s furniture):
And this is now…
This brownish-green velvet sofa is Flamant’s Sofia Sofa. I put a herringbone throw blanket over the top to give it a more casual look, and to protect the velvet:
I got these gorgeous, soft, tartan curtains from Curtains2Go, made for my apartments’ extra-tall ceilings. I was very pleasantly surprised by how high-quality they are. They feel and look like a wool-cashmere mix, but they’re vegan (and won’t attract moths into your home!)
Here’s the sofa I bought for €50 before I painted the wood gold (using a semi-transparent gold paint that shows the wood underneath). I plan on reupholstering the seat cushions using tartan fabric matching the drapes, and making several throw pillows from the same fabric. I’ll update this article once I’m done!
And here it is after I painted the wood gold. I got all the furniture you see in this shot used. It’s all vintage. The globe opens up into a bar (I scored it for €40) and the chairs are antiques (for only €25 each!) #TotalSteal!
And, of course, a gratuitous kitty photo (if you want to see more, follow our kitties on Instagram):
The candles are electric and I love this stag head candle holder:
This gorgeous aged iron pendant chandelier is from the Fredrick Ramond Collection at Hinkley Lighting. I love the antiqued glass and the vintage look of it:
The carpet is from CarpetVista… I love the pattern!
The red bookshelf is from Grange. They let me choose the colors and finishes, so it matched perfectly with the look I was going for. Inside are decorative tins from my favorite tea brand, remote-controlled electric candles (since real ones are a hazard when you have cats), and I found the horse sculpture in the gift shop of the lesser-known castle that inspired Versailles.
The dining table is from French Heritage. It’s the only piece of furniture we brought with us when we left NYC for our year in France (we donated everything else!) I picked it up at ABC Home in NYC and I absolutely love it. It’s made from reclaimed wood. The green chairs are from Flamant and the brown ones are vintage — I picked them up on LeBonCoin for €8 each, then painted the ribbon detail on them gold.
Mike inherited this sculptural wall art from his grandmother, and the rest we bought on eBay or used for about €15 to €40 each:
I painted the gold on the stag head, and although it was quick to do, it really made the sculpture pop:
The monkey lamp is by Zara Home (I painted it, and I plan on re-doing the shade with tartan fabric), and can you believe I found this horse statue thrown out with the trash on the street??
This was an old (dark brown) and empty grandfather clock that someone was throwing out, so I nabbed it. With Manon’s help, we painted it red, then used black wax on the edges to give it an antiqued finish. The back panel has paper (featuring vintage European travel ads) decoupaged onto it. Decoupage (which is basically using a special glue to affix decorative paper onto a surface and make it water-resistant) is a great way to quickly change the look of furniture for very little effort or cost. To turn the empty clock into a lamp, I bought these rope lights and some Edison-style (but eco-friendly) bulbs for the inside.
We distressed, sanded, re-stained and added dark wax accents to the coffee table so that it would match the dining table, and then I stocked the bottom shelf with board games. We bought the table (for –yup, you guessed it– €20) from a woman who had the most beautiful cat I’d ever seen — a rescue. Mike and I carried it across the city to get it home, but it was worth it, because it turned out beautifully:
The woman who sold us this vintage brass bar cart (for €15) delivered it to us and we had a nice chat about the best villages in France. I love buying used because it’s eco-friendly, because a penny saved is a penny donated when we die (since we’re not having kids, 100% of what we die with is going to charities like Mercy for Animals), but also because I get to meet so many nice people!
In the end, I got close to the look I was going for, but not exactly… Since my dining room has a white ceiling, white doors, and white wainscoting, so I’m hesitant to paint the walls dark, since the contrast might look too intense, and the room still too light. But I’m very happy with how it turned out, and if you have any suggestions about things to change, or any DIY tips, please let me know below, in the comments discussion.
A lot of people are keen to do DIY projects themselves. I think there’s less DIY happening than a generation ago. I think we massively underestimate our capabilities. Contrary to what people might tell you, there is nothing in your house that you cannot legally do on a DIY basis if you are a competent person. Also, if you’re buying an apartment or a house, consider the worst house you can find on the best street you can afford. This works the best for those DIY loving individuals. Don’t forget to leave money in the budget to make structural repairs. You don’t want to end up with an empty house that’s all in a couple of year’s plan in the making before you can finally sit on a couch.
I just checked out LeBonCoin … looks like a good store for everything vintage. You’ll find unexpected things here!
If you’re on a budget, your best friend will always be a fresh coat of paint or wallpaper. I think youi should go ahead and paint the room dark green. If the white contrast is too much, just paint the trim and ceilings too!
That globe you have there reminds me of pirate movies. That’s so cool and it’s a nice addition to the room. Also, I love that it can be opened! I wonder where I can find one of those in a cheaper price. I’m thinking of putting ‘travel’ related things inside, such as an old-school small telescope or something. The kids would love that a lot. You don’t see a lot of those types of decors and furniture now. Everyone loves the modern and minimalistic look. All I see are black and white furnitures that won’t last a lifetime. Someone needs to bring back the trend of antique-like designs. Although it’s a classic and it doesn’t need to be a trend for people to use. Great ideas you’ve put together!
Whenever I need inspiration for furniture or home decoration, I always go to Urbanette for suggestions. It’s nice to see how the things bought from a certain website turn out.
Tartan fabric design is nice. But it’s hard to mix and match them with other furniture and designs. If I were to use tartan, I would probably just keep them as table runners or accents to sofas.
I adore Carpet Vista. They’re hand-made and very high quality. What more can you ask for? I’ve had mine for such a long time already and had it washed a lot too, but it still looks brand new. I highly recommend purchasing from them! Plus, it gets delivered right to your doorstep. Just choose the pattern that you like and you’re good to go. It’s like shopping but easier! No more walking around the malls canvassing for the perfect rug. They also have modern designs that are perfect for any house theme. They have like more than 30,000 designs to choose from. It’s like rug heaven! We have them in our living room, dining room, and master bedroom. You purchase them once and you’ll have those carpets forever. But of course you have to take care of them by not pouring bleach or anything like that.
I also love how they have every size that you might need. I agree that they look very high quality. Pretty luxurious actually.
The wall full of photographs were a nice addition to the room. It’s always nice to have memories that you can see almost every day to remind you of how beautiful life is.
I’ve been meaning to get curtains for ages! I just checked out Curtains2Go — nice website to shop for curtains. Looks like they offer a wide variety of curtains and patterns to choose from. Great quality too. Store-bought curtains can’t top that.
Do-it-yourself activities can be very noisy and cause a surprising number of complaints. Lots of people have jobs which need doing in their home, particularly if they have just moved in or are redecorating, but it’s important to note that this does not mean you may annoy neighbors at all hours of the day and night. I once had a neighbor that loved DIY and it was no music to our ears on how the hammering and drilling kept our kids awake instead of sleeping soundly on their afternoon naps. I’m a fan of DIY arts and crafts but not the type that includes heavy hammering and extreme sawing. Not to mention the fumes from the paint thinners… It’s an appalling nightmare.
Talk to your neighbors! You can always tell them to schedule their DIY’ing hours. If it’s a normal thing that they do, you should just ask them to at least be considerate.