When it comes to decorating our home, I move at the pace of an ambitious snail.
Completing a room in our home takes years mostly due to the lack of resources and our tight budget. And that's the reason my parisienne salon, which was renovated six years ago, still needs quite a bit of attention.
Every piece of furniture in our home is vintage or antique. It is not my practice to shop at Pier One or some furniture mart to furnish our home. I am too frugal to buy new furniture, and it would not coalesce with my romantic style. Besides, my 113 year old home would feel quite awkward if she had to hold loads of newly mass-produced furniture.
(However, Ikea rocks and if I lived closer to one, I am sure little Ikea pieces would make the cut in my furniture selections here and there, especially Amelia's room and the kitchen.)
Since I rely on flea market, antique store, yard/estate sale finds, furnishing a room completely can take years, and it requires a patient, resolute mind.
The true age of the chandelier in our livingroom is still up for question~antique or reproduction???
a stack of my favorite home decorating books
This glam vintage telephone, which I recently picked up at a local yard sale, actually still works.
a goofus glass vase, in unique colors of rasberry and silver is accented with plumes, dried hydrangeas, and bleached peacock feathers
I always pick up a handful of feathers whenever I find them, I just can't ever have enough fluffly plumes.
So here are my goals for "completing" my parisienne salon:
*Replace the obtrusive TV with a small flat screen and scrap the atrocious TV cabinet. The television is only used 45 minutes a day when Amelia gets to watch one special show, usually in French.)
*Make new floor length gold silk curtains for all five windows -YIKES, that won't be cheap!
*Roll up the large brown rug and store it away in the attic (We bought it to give Amelia a comfortable place to play when she was a baby.)
*Make the double window a better focal point with new curtains and create a more symmetrical design by hanging similar sized objects/pictures on either side of the window.
*Enhance the existing color palette of aged gold, brown, and rasberry or dusty pink (depending on the season) by adding more coordinating accessories.
I hope you enjoyed your visit. I'm hoping by sharing these ideas with you, I will stay focused and complete this room! I'd love to know any ideas you would have for this space.
images by à la parisienne