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.
Being the man in the house, I just want something clean looking and spacious. Right now, we have too many things, especially in our dining area. Your dining area Hilary is something I have in my mind too. Simple and spacious where we can actually spend more time as a family together. Now, I think I can start making our dining area better.
I m obsessed with anything wooden and antique looking things. My house is painted in white too and all our furniture are made of wood. White paint can be decorated with a lot of different styles of display and furniture but sometimes you can be overwhelmed with the choices available in the market. I just stick with green and brown. I like earthy colors and I think it is more relaxing and I just do not like to over analyze things like decorating.
I agree with all the different kinds and styles of furniture and all sort of things you can put in your home. Sometimes too many can be complicated. All I want is a home where I can relax. So thanks to an article like this where I can get ideas without thinking too hard.
I like reading lifestyle and home decorating magazines for the reason that I am not too creative and stylish. I get a lot of amazing ideas from these magazines all the time but the problem is, all the furniture being featured are really expensive most of the time. Well, I cannot really blame it on the writers as the magazines just want to show amazing and quality products. But this article is different. It shows good and amazing products but in a much affordable range of price. Very much for normal people who cannot afford much like me.
This is so true! I love magazines l that showcase products that people can actually afford.
This gets to show that you do not need to break your bank just to have a decent and elegant looking house. The furniture and all that are mentioned are not pricey and some are even free and yet you managed to make an area looks so cozy like this.
If you are in our neighborhood and I see you throwing anything from your home. I would sprint going to your direction to offer my home to anything you will willingly throw. Your furniture and all the bits and pieces you got are all a steal. Must need to check out the nearest and cheapest furniture shop here in our town sometimes.
There is no doubt you can make even a piece of what they call “trash” into something useful and beautiful. Who said that you cannot find treasures in garbage area? hehe!
All you need is creativity and you can turn everything into something beautiful. 🙂 I just hope I have that gift too. Most of the time I’m just throwing everything especially when malls have sales and I want to see something new in my abode. 🙂
I love vintage! The wooden table and chairs, ceiling light, frames, sofa, your individual tiffany chairs and frames all worked together so beautifully! I also love the carpet and the tartan curtains. You really nailed it Hilary!
Wait, you said you only painted the wooden sofa gold? Wow, it looks stunning! We have not the same kind os sofa but something color red cushion too with wooden sides and bottom, I never really thought that gold would look good on red. I will tell my husband to copy this ASAP. Hehe!
Girl, I noticed the same thing with the sofa. Stunning even without changing the cushion.
I have the same cabinet like the red/maroon that you have right there but mine is white, it is very useful since we can out our teacups and other utensils in there. I was never a fan of wooden tables but in the picture, yours looks nice and the chairs are not too complicated, I think it is very kids safe. By the way, I have 2 toddlers and I am also worried that they can climb up on our glass table and somehow break it. I was told it is also an accident-prone type of table.This style gave me good ideas. Thanks!
I was hooked with the tartan curtains you got there. I am not really into tartans but you made a good buy with those and overall, all the pieces of furniture and frames worked out just perfectly with one another. I envy your sense of style, I wish I can choose good designs too and can make some changes with our dining area soon. This will be one of my inspirations.
Yes, with the white paint all over and the tartan colors really made the dining area to look beautifully. We always have like one color sheer curtains all over the house. This makes me think to do something different next time.