The Living Room
The Living Room is almost finished. We still have carpets to gather from Seattle, carpets we bought in Damascus way back a long time ago, stored by my gracious sister Sparkle, under the guest room bed, lo, these many years. I grumble and complain as I unpack boxes, putting things away, but the carrot is always dangling before my eyes – figuring out how to use old friends in a new environment, a challenge that can keep me busy for a long time.
Just as with paint, sometimes you have to try something out in a space for a while to see if it ‘wants’ to be there.
In America, we never think of objects as having feelings. The world is full of people who understand the ‘fung shui’ of things, that putting things in some places is better than putting them in other places, that energy has a flow. I don’t believe in it like a religious belief, but I have come to accept that sometimes you have an idea about something going someplace, and then it just doesn’t feel right, and to trust those feelings. So I have stuck a few things in places where I think they belong in this room – and I thought long and hard about where these things would go. I will live with it for a while and if something is where it shouldn’t be, it just won’t feel right.
Light has to be taken into account, and bringing light into dark spaces, and protecting vulnerable textiles from too much damaging light.
For me, conversation is important, so I want people to be able to sit closely enough to be able to share their innermost thought, but far enough away from one another to feel comfortable and relaxed, not crowded or invaded.
We have extra chairs, so the number of people who can comfortably sit in here is expandable:
We created a small study area, with a good light, where we can look things up, or read something that requires concentration:
I wish I had more shelf top space in my kitchen for all my baskets, but I don’t, so the bookshelves and cupboards will have to do for now:
The room beyond is the dining room, but I don’t think we will ever use it as a dining room, so I am trying to think through how it may be used . . . it might be a play room for grandchildren . . . 🙂
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LooL your living room could be a mini museum of the Middle East 😀 you are almost settled in!
I know a number of people who have turned their dining rooms into kids rooms–for their kids or grandkids.
LLOOLL, Danderma, you literally made me laugh out loud . . . and you are right; the LR is more Middle East oriented and the family room more Europe oriented, but all in all, it’s all a mix.
Momcat – I’m going to have to think about it. Right now, no one spends any time in the LR or DR, it’s all in the family room.
A whole corner with shelves dedicated to portraits… I take my hat off to you 🙂
LOL, Bu Yousef, they’re everywhere, they’re everywhere! My poor family gets exasperated with me and my need to photograph and document, but . . . my sisters share my addiction, and I can see it springing forth in some of the shoots of the next generation. 🙂