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I’ve made a lot of changes to our living room and dining room recently, adding in a lot of maroons, creams, and browns, and I have to say, I’m really loving this current look, it feels perfect for this time of year. I took a ton of pictures with my camera and wanted to give you a full tour of the rooms today.
My most recent change was that I added this wood bookshelf to the top of my butcher block table to create a hutch-look.
Before this shelf I had hanging up two Picture Ledges, seen [HERE]. I actually loved the way the picture ledges looked, but then one day I got this idea to add the bookshelf, and I wasn’t able to stop thinking about it, so I just had to follow through with the idea.
I’m not sure if the bookshelf looks any better than the picture ledges did, but I’m always a fan of change around here and I do like the look of it. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll go back to the ledges…..or something entirely different.
This bookshelf is just something we had in our basement, not being used. No one knows where it originally came from, perhaps my husband’s work office. Who knows! But I feel like everyone has a little bookshelf like this, and if not, they are easy to come by at stores like Walmart or even thrift stores.
I added this bookshelf to the top of our butcher block table that we scored from an uncle. It’s a cool old butcher block that I believed was once used in a restaurant. I keep a collection of white picnic baskets (that hold storage items) on the shelf below.
I have this cool butcher block table, but I think this idea could be done with any type of console, table, or long dresser. Just add a small bookshelf to the top of it to instantly create a hutch.
I thought about painting the bookshelf, but I love the warmth the wood added to this space. I also liked how my white dishes really pop with the wood background.
I kept the decor on the bookshelf really simple, but I’m sure I’ll be adding more to it with time. The shelves will be fun to decorate for Christmas too. I’m sure it will get filled up with nutcrackers. We have such a huge nutcracker collection.
I recently dyed my curtains the maroon/wine color and I think the color looks so pretty with the rest of the room. See my Blog Post about the Dyed Curtains [HERE].
The color palette I’m using here is Maroon, Cream, White, and Brown, with a little blue mixed in and some green from the plants. Overall, I feel like this color palette is so earthy, warm, and soothing.
After I added the bookshelf, I hung some art around it to fill up the walls. I went with pictures and art we already had that had a neutral or sepia tone color to them. I also used larger frames opposed to a bunch of smaller ones. Large frames feel less busy.
There is a lot of furniture in this space, so it’s already pretty busy. But I think keeping it all within the same color palette helps to make the room feel cozy, rather than busy or too cluttered.
Our sectional couch cover was also dyed in a maroon color. I dyed the couch cover first and then dyed the curtains to match. See my dyed couch blog post [HERE].
I love using RIT fabric dye, maybe even as much as I love paint. I paint a lot of our decor, such as the chandelier, the chairs, and even the floors. (The floors are actually gel-stained).
We’ll move on to the living room side in just a bit, but I was having a lot of fun taking pictures with my camera and thought these next couple of pictures, looking out from the sunroom (aka my son’s room) looked pretty.
feeling artsy.
I also hung some maroon curtains in the kitchen. There is a lot of blue and brown in our kitchen too so the flow from room to room feels really cohesive.
It was amazing how much these curtains changed the look of our home. They add some sophistication, which feels so different from how I typically decorate.
In fact, I kinda feel like my decorating has grown up a bit, maybe it’s just me getting older, Ha! And perhaps my decorating is getting older too. Is this a thing?
Here is a view from the dining room looking across the room to the living room. Which is all just one big open space.
I was almost tempted to paint my fireplace (again) but thankfully that idea passed on by after I re-decorated the mantel. Sometimes I get an idea that pesters me until I do it, (like the bookshelf) and other times these ideas are fleeting, like painting the fireplace. LOL!
I decorated our mantel for Thanksgiving and shared about it [HERE]. It all started with some moss-covered sticks I found in our wood pile and then that escalated to what you see here.
A few things on the mantel have been switched around since I shared it, like that wire pumpkin that’s now on the bookshelf, it was part of the mantel until it fell down out of nowhere.
I’m always sharing this cozy little corner here in our living room, it’s my favorite spot in our home to hang out and relax and also, apparently, to take pictures of.
I wrote a blog post all about this corner of our home and shared 40 different looks it has seen over the years. See that post [HERE]. However, I feel like I could add a few more pictures to that post since I shared it.
Another area I share a lot are these two white bookshelves that kinda separate the living room and dining room.
In fact, not long ago I blogged about how I added the curtains to these bookshelves. See that post [HERE].
These bookshelves get switched up a lot, but sometimes it’s just because they are kind of a catch-all in our home and so I give them a new look when they start to feel too cluttered.
Now that I think about it, there’s a lot of bookshelves in these rooms. Four to be exact, plus the corner hutches are kind of shelves too. Shelves are just a great way to display home decor; both functional and decorative.
The two corner hutches are in our dining room so I have lots of shelves to play around on and to place my favorite dishes and treasures.
I have two wicker chairs sitting in front of the corner hutches. These wicker chairs have been painted a lot in the past, but I like them this dark brown, so I doubt I will ever paint them again. (famous last words).
Same goes for the dining chairs, I’ve painted them black, green, blue, and brown. But I think this brown will last for a long time too.
You can read more about my painted dining chairs [HERE].
Just a couple more pictures and I will wrap this very long blog post up. I didn’t intend for this blog post to be so long, but I just wanted to share all of the details with you.
Planking our front door, on one side I have a stack of wicker trunks and on the other side I have hung a horse pictures and an accordion wall rack.
And for the last picture, I have some plants in front of the dining room window. These windows face south so we get a lot of light shine in on our living and dining rooms and my plants all seem to thrive here.
So What do you think of my dining room and living room? Any Questions or Comments? Please let me know below or email them to me at thewickerhouse@yahoo.com or come find me on Facebook and/or Instagram
And remember, you are welcome to PIN any of the Images from my blog on PINTEREST. Find a Pin It button by hovering over any of the pictures.
If you like the type of decor that I share, then be sure to check out my SHOP MY FAVORITES Page. I keep it updated with all of the fun Coastal, Cottage, and Farmhouse Decor that I come across on a daily basis. I personally want EVERYTHING that I have listed there.
You can also Check out my Amazon Page HERE. It too is full of all sorts of favorites.
Thanks for stopping by,
Emily
