styleNorth

Mike came home yesterday to a brand new living room. Well, not new exactly, just re-imagined. Ever since the dog ate the orange flokati I’ve been stewing about the state of the room even though I look back at the last iteration and think it looks perfectly lovely.

But something was nagging at me; without the orange rug, the orange drapes and orange lampshade just didn’t feel integral anymore. So I turfed them, switched them out with other drapes and lamps we had elsewhere. Yes, it may be time for a decorating intervention . . .

In my own defense I’ll say that not a single thing was purchased for this switcheroo; I worked only with things we had on hand. The basket weave-pattern draperies are suddenly trendy even though we’ve had them for a few years. They’ve hung in nearly every room of our house and just keep moving around as the decor shifts. The vintage, bamboo-relief lamps were originally in the dining room, then they went to the den and now here they are in the living room.

I clearly have a low boredom threshold when it comes to home decor. Ultimately, I blame shelter porn and my own ego. My number one consideration is always, “is it magazine worthy?” And with our last design solution I concluded that no, the space was not ready for its close up.

And now? Well, maybe the style editors won’t be beating a path to our door but I’m actually really happy with the way the place looks, especially for the summer. Without those hot hues the room feels cooler, calmer, more collected. There’s still some colour thanks to the mirror and the magazine organizers in the bookshelf but the dominant scheme is black, white and grey with brass and chrome accents.

I know designers are always preaching about the power of threes but Mike and I are hooked on symmetry — there are pairs of just about everything and I find the balance copasetic, if perhaps, a little stiff.

The first decorating blogs I got hooked on were The Peak of Chic and Style Court, both of which favour understated elegance with big hits of chinoiserie. Suddenly it feels like I’m drinking my morning coffee in a room from one of those blogs. Cheers.