It's been exciting times in our living room lately. I have been slowly adding furniture, mostly from our favourite auction house. So many lovely pieces at such fantastic prices compared to what they would cost new, and they are far nicer than new too, in my opinion.
The only items we've bought new are soft furnishings, such as our tartan wingback chairs below. I just can't handle the thought of someone else lounging all over fabric that I now sit on. I've always wanted a touch of tartan in our home after seeing the Queen's tartan carpet at her Scottish estate, plus my family name is Macdonald so tartan runs in my blood.
We already had our sofas in this picture, and most of the other
furniture was bought at auction: the coffee table, animal print bowl (I
stole another of Ralph Lauren's ideas in that he often has a zebra or
animal print touch) and the metal sideboard in the background. Oh, and
the lamp and horse on the sideboard. It's been so much fun going
along each week and seeing what else I can find to build our 'Ralph Lauren on a
budget' look.
In the other corner of our living room is the dining area with our vintage/antique table and chairs. This room will be painted next week and the plans are dramatic. The walls (and some of the ceilings) will be done in a dark matte finish navy-grey. We will then hang off-white linen curtains. And we want to mass all our artwork on one wall, from ceiling to floor. In my mind it's going to look so cool; hopefully the end result will please me just as much. I will share photos as soon as this room is complete - I can't wait!
And Daphne and Chloe are showing how dogs are definitely not allowed on the furniture here... They have progressed hugely since I last wrote about them. I don't need to worry about Daphne running away anymore and they both follow me fine without a leash. Apart from Daphne still being a bit scared of men, they are very happy girls who love their new life.
Daphne is quite the little minx, stealing slippers, socks, and a mohair rug from the bedroom that I saw her dragging down the hall and into her bed under my writing desk. You also have to watch out for her lightening fast tongue stealing cat food, pieces of cheese and even the whipped cream off the top of my after-lunch coffee yesterday. It was on the coffee table and I left the room for sixty seconds. When I came back there was only a coffee, no whipped cream.
You can't turn your back for a minute with that Daphne, and she couldn't deny it with speckles of white cream dotted all over her muzzle. I'm only thankful she didn't knock the cup over, and yes, I tipped it out and made myself a new one. She eats all sorts of terrible things when walking in our paddock so I didn't fancy sharing a drink with her.
I'm sure you have equally as naughty pets at your place. Please share your funniest story; I need to know that mine aren't the worst! I mean, how guilty do those faces look?
Wishing you a wonderful week :)
~Fiona~
PS. I am almost finished my next book Thirty More Chic Days, promise! I'm sorting and editing all the chapters at the moment and am pleased to have been enjoying re-reading them as I go. Even as someone who has published several books (including Lithuanian and Russian translations), I still worry that my writing is a pile of doo-doo sometimes!
~~
I just love your home tours, Fiona. Your living room looks wonderful. Aren't auctions the best places? More upscale than thrift shops but more reasonable in cost than retail (better quality, too, unless you can afford to shop top of the line).
ReplyDeleteI laughed right out loud at Daphne's antics. I sometimes make myself a cup of instant cappuccino & like whipped cream on it. I admit to using the aerosol cans because of convenience. My old cat can hear me even *thinking* about it & is suddenly right there underfoot when I have the can out. I always give him a generous "squirt" on a saucer (he's 17 & arthritic & I figure he deserves treats for no other reason than that).
Last week my guy was out & I was having dinner by myself & I took my plate (on a pretty tray!) into the TV room so I could catch up on a series I'm binge-watching. I was having roast breast of chicken & had sliced it half so if I decided to not eat the whole thing, I could just tuck the 2nd half away for the next day. I set the tray on the foot stool, then realized I'd forgotten my tea. Got up & went into the kitchen & came back -- like you -- no longer than a minute later. My young cat was at the window bird-watching & the old guy -- who had been asleep on the sofa -- had disappeared.
I started to eat my dinner & suddenly thought, wait a minute -- didn't I have TWO pieces of chicken a minute ago? Then I could hear NOM NOM NOM from under the sofa, and sure enough, my old cat was under there gnawing away on the missing half. He stared right back at me as though to say, "hey, you left; how was I supposed to know you were coming back for it?"
I figured he had a point, sort of. I pulled it out & cut it up -- his teeth aren't all that great anymore either -- & put it on a saucer for him & he ate it as though wondering why I hadn't done that for him in the first darned place. LOL!
Can you hear me chuckling away at your comment, Susanne? Such a funny story! And my cream came from a can too, it made it extra-like a Starbucks drink :) I'm sure mine would LOVE cream on a saucer, but of course Daphne has it straight from the cup...
Delete7 years ago, a wee black pomeranian-papillon puppy called Pixie, came to live. She was my daughters. Pixie's main aim in life was quite simply, to get rid of me so that she could have daughter all to herself. She was so-o-o naughty for me!! Ankle nipping, running around and around me in circles to trip me up, and getting up to all sorts of mischief, then running off to hide behind her mum, to whom she was sweetness and light. She loved to run past me at break-neck speed, and grab some paper out of my handbag & run away with it. Laughing. Then quickly rip it to shreds. The day I saw her run past me with $100 was the day that my handbag started being put up high. She and her mum live elsewhere now. I still miss Little Miss Pixie like crazy.
ReplyDeleteHaha, Pixie and the $100 note! I'd hide my bag too :) What a cutie.
DeleteYour living room looks lovely Fiona. We have two golden retrievers and two cats that are all rescue dogs. They all get on really well together. One afternoon our small cat, Polly, brought a live mouse into our living room. She was very proud of herself. The mouse started running up a curtain. My husband shook the curtain and the mouse fell back to the floor then ran under the other curtain. Our large dog, Simba, ran across the room, picked the mouse up in his mouth and ran outside with it. My husband followed him and had to prise Simba's mouth open. The mouse jumped out and ran away. A very lucky escape! Karen, Spain
ReplyDeleteLucky mouse, Karen! Nina cat has brought field mice in before but luckily for them she isn't interested in eating them.
DeleteI love the way your home is coming together. It's beautiful! I have a great dog story from this past Sunday. We had afew friends over for dinner, and while my husband was heating up the grill outside one of our dogs jumped the fence and we all went out to try to coax her back into the yard while she happily ran like crazy through the field and creek behind our house. While we were off doing that, our other dog snuck back into the house and proceeded to eat an entire plate of smoked sausage that we had put out as an hors d'oeuvres. I know they didn't plan it together, but somehow they both managed to pull one over on us and each accomplish their favorite things - running free and eating!
ReplyDeleteSo funny, Marcia! I'm sure they do turn about when it comes to distract the humans/steal smoked sausage :)
DeleteYour living room is coming along very nicely. I love the tartan chairs.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cindy!
DeleteCan’t wait to see your dining room “after” I am confident it will be amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's being painted as I type!!
DeleteI'm anxious to see your new painted room Fiona, it sounds like it will be very dramatic! I like your taste in decor.
ReplyDeleteDog antics:
I was preparing a birthday party for my daughter and we had set up the long living room table with food, things like an enormous pizza, and vegetables with onion dip. We have a mini black/tan dachshund that thinks she is the queen of the family (she is). I came out of the kitchen to find her on the table, standing IN the pizza, while furiously eating the onion dip - her long nose completely covered with it. I just stood there in shock, firstly because she was up there, and second because onions are toxic to dogs. She didn't care though because as soon as she saw me she started eating even faster, "Oh oh, there's mom. I better eat as much as I can before she grabs me." Of all the food on the table, she had to go straight for the only one that is toxic to dogs ... sigh. She was fine though, that rascal.
D.
Oh D, that is funny. Daphne does that too, eats faster if she sees you and she's not meant to have it. Also when we go down the road, if I call her back it makes her run faster :)
DeleteHehe, standing in the pizza lapping up onion dip...
Hi, Fiona, I left a comment but it hasn't appeared. Perhaps it didn't get accepted, but strange I thought. I love how you have decorated, it's very stylish and yet comfortable. I can't remember what else I said in my original comments, but I know I mentioned the books of Ben Pentreath, as he's a style I love - modern English country is perhaps how I can best describe it.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have problems with my own blog but I'm trying to get it sorted out - spam I can't delete and hosting problems, too.
Margaret P
Hi Margaret, that is strange, I check the Spam and there are no lost comments there. Thank you for persevering and I hope you get your own blog kinks straightened out without too much hassle. I love English country style so I will look up Ben's books, yay!
DeleteI like the idea of an "art wall", and in fact have one in progress in my home. I call it my "scrapbook wall", as it not only has drawings and watercolors, but laminated postcards, plaques, and other things that express who we are. It's not full yet, but it's coming along swimmingly.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds gorgeous, Mimi. I would love an 'inspiration wall' with similar in my office!
DeleteI love your decor so much and cannot wait to see your dining room walls painted in that delicious deep color. It is going to be so pretty and frame your beautiful view nicely.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephanie, I can't wait for the painting to be finished and the curtains to be put up too! Photos will be forthcoming :)
DeletePS We had an 'art' wall way back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and loved it. What goes around, comes around! But an art wall will never be out of fashion. Try the pictures out on the floor first, or cut paper the same size as the pictures and see how they look Blue-tacked to the wall before you commit yourself to hammering in picture hooks.
ReplyDeleteMargaret P
You are a trendsetter, Margaret :) Yes, I planned to do a plan first. It will be nervewracking hammering that first nail into our newly painted wall.
DeleteThe dining area will be ab fab!
ReplyDeleteThe small table at the end of the sofa would be great between the tartan chairs (short end towards you (taking the picture), long ends along the sides of the chairs), just the thing to put you cup of tea down on.
Don't even know where to begin re dog antics : ) .
Marie-Hélène
I love that idea for the small table, Marie-Hélène. Ideally I'd love a tall-ish, round table for between the wing chairs. Nothing at the auction as yet!
DeleteAre there too many dog antics to mention???
DeleteThere are. Never a dull moment!
DeleteMarie-Hélène
Love a touch of tartan on those chairs and I really love that round coffee table .... the shelf on the bottom is what I really love and they are so hard to find too .
ReplyDeleteReally glad to read the "girls" are settling in so well and just look at those guilty faces up on the couch! LOL
My Pekingese Coco is not so good at the moment ... she Hates me as she had her "dental work/clean" yesterday and that girl is NOT HAPPY!!! LOL
Poor Coco, I hope she is feeling better by now. I love the bottom shelf too! Just why haven't I placed a curated selection of glossy picture books there yet?
Delete