If today isn’t the perfect day to welcome you into my living room I don’t know what is. It’s cold and rainy outside but warm and cosy in here. So please come on in, have a seat, and get comfortable because that is what my living room is for — to welcome people into so that by the time they leave they’re a real friend. My living room is my most eclectic room. One day I’ll have a large, plush, neutral rug, but for now this room is my boho guilty pleasure. The living room is all about textiles, no matter their colour or pattern there must be a mix of textures and patterns. It adds a sense of warmth, comfort, and hospitality. Uniform = sterile, but a hodgepodge of textures and variations in tones makes a space feel genuinely lived in and loved in. This room is my living room. It’s where I live and share love. I love mixing neutrals and I adore mixing textures and so this moment in my living room is one of my favourites. The rough grey texture of the couch is the perfect backdrop for the soft white cable knit pillow to canoodle with the smooth cocoa brown leather cushion. The darker colour of the leather also nicely pulls out the dark walnut wood of the lamp. Speaking of the lamp… Remember that blog post I talked about a lamp I made in school? No? You can read (or re-read) it here. This lamp happens to be Karl’s project. It emits light from zigzag slits on either side and a square opening in the top of the concrete. It is a very ambient lamp that is both sculptural and functional. Additionally, it was an excellent lesson in the properties of wood alongside the properties of concrete. As the wood expanded in the heat of summer (the lamps were constructed in the winter) it put pressure on the concrete, which is a naturally porous and brittle material at the small scale, and consequently the concrete has cracked and chipped. Use this as a warning not to undertake concrete projects (or even wood projects for that matter) without understanding the inherent properties. This is the very reason we were assigned a project like this. Wood expands and contracts, concrete is brittle and cracks. Isn’t it amazing though that once we understand these qualities we can overcome them and create massive and strong structures out of both wood and concrete? We simply allow wood to move, grow, and shrink. We intentionally build wooden structures not too tightly. Concrete becomes exponentially stronger when you add in rebar — the treads on it give the concrete something to grab on to which prevents it from crumbling under pressure. I’m sure this is more information about wood and concrete than you came here for but I say all this as an example that everything could be seen as flawed if you look at it for what it isn’t. On the scale of a table lamp, if not understood quite correctly concrete can easily get cracks and break, but if used correctly, if placed in a scenario that allows it to thrive you can build entire buildings. Skyscrapers couldn’t be built without concrete, and wooden buildings withstand earthquakes better than any other. So the next time you you fail at something you see as a small task remind yourself that you can stand tall and strong, even when the earth shakes. Give yourself the space to grow and shrink and shift with the seasons and be sure you have something to grab on to when you’re under pressure. Just a life lesson or two from wood and concrete. Also, maybe you are a lamp, to shine a light. On the subject of light, the living room really is the place for soft lighting. The warm glow of a candle should always adorn your living room at night. Scented candles not only add ambient light but also entice your other senses. Beachy candles are placed around the room in summer, crisp apple scents for fall, pine tree or winterberry for Christmas, and something floral for the spring. It’s the easiest way to change your home with the seasons without redecorating one bit. The books that sit on the coffee tables are another easy thing to change up with the seasons. You can replace the books with books or magazines about travel and backyard fun for summer, thanksgiving history books or collegiate fall scenes for autumn, Christmas books in winter… you get the idea. The books on my coffee table are there simply because they are too large to fit on my bookcase. They also happen to be good books to flip through and so make great coffee table books. On top of the books I like to keep my current favourite magazine. This current mag isn’t very seasonal but come Christmas I promise it will be. *Wink.* Another part of the living room that can easily be changed is the art on the walls. Being in love with an artist means there is always more art than there is wall space and so to combat this I hung four hooks evenly spaced. It’s simple to swap out any piece on the wall and keep an ever changing gallery. I get to play gallery curator however often I please. I could potentially even hang seasonal things here. The possibilities are endless. It may be the part of the living room I am most proud and content with. Need another super easy DIY for the living room? Transform an old (or thrifted, or cheap) button down shirt into a pillow cover. It is as easy as sewing a square the size of your pillow insert. Sew it with the buttons done up and then simply unbutton the shirt, insert the pillow, button it back up again. I personally love the look of the buttons on the front, if it has a pocket, even better! but if you prefer the solid or clean look just cheat the buttons to the back. Easy as that!
Living rooms should be functional but they should also be fashionable. Keep personal touches throughout and don’t forget to make it heaven for all the senses. Make it clean and beautiful. Make it smell divine. Make sure it’s cozy with elements that are soft to the touch contrasted by smooth and coarser textures. Play some great tunes and eat a cookie, then you’ve got all 5 senses going. Remember this is the room for living, it should make you feel alive. Thanks for coming in to my home. I hope we’re really friends now. Truly. Tasia.
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AuthorTasia Craig recently graduated from Dalhousie's School of Architecture with a Bachelor of Environmental Design Studies and now hopes to showcase her design work on her very first blog. She is currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Archives
June 2017
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