See this happy little stinker? Mills is in her happy place surrounded by her best stuffed friends and a book.
That happy place is this elephant saddle filled with stuffed animals in the playroom. Can you find her in there? Both of my children feel right at home snuggled up in it with a book. For a long time, I only had the portrait of JR by the amazing Stella Ehrich hanging on the wall but I felt bad that Mills wasn't represented!
I'm not quite ready to commission Stella to paint Millie's portrait yet because I want wait until she is four, like JR was in his but, in the meantime, I'm excited to create a bit of a gallery wall in the room with these sweet additions!
The watercolors were a birthday gift from our wonderful nanny, Kaitlin and were painted by her friend, Kara Tinsley
You might still be asking yourself why we have an elephant saddle in our house? I love having pieces in my house that have a story and this one certainly does! The elephant saddle belonged to my father-in-law who received it as a gift after he completed a film in Africa. It sat in storage for a while and then my husband had it in his bachelor pad before we married. He had a glass top cut for it and used it as a bar but now it stands filled with stuffed animals as a snuggle spot for our children. Now that is coming full circle!
It feels soooo good to post this and have this project completed! It has been loads of fun and lots of stress but, in the end, I hope that you enjoyed following along with the progress and that the visitors to White Oaks Ranch will enjoy the living room!
You can click here to see the "before photos" and I hope you like what we did to freshen the place up!
Tucked into this window nook is a game table I bought at auction. I love that we can fold it up and get it out of the way or pull it out and start a puzzle for the weekend! I love the mix of old and new with the acrylic easel from Wisteria and the antique pressed print that my husband bought in Ireland.
Thank you all so much or your feedback on the green chair too! I have a feeling it is going to be everyone's favorite spot in the room! It found the perfect cozy corner and turned what was an unused space in the former layout into a wonderful reading nook. What do you think?
The picture hanging system goes around three walls of the room and seemed like the perfect way to hang my collection of equestrian pictures. Some are antique or vintage and others are new!
If you have been following along the last five weeks, you know that I wanted to upholster all of the walls in a black and white check but that plan was foiled when I realized that upholstered walls and the dust and critters that live at the ranch don't really mix. Oh well.....
Once I found this fantastic Karastan Carpet, I decided that the paint color that was already on the walls would suit the makeover just fine! Yay! One less thing I need to do and I figure that if we tire of this color in a while, we can try something new.
The furniture layout in this room was always a bit tricky. It felt crowded and there wasn't really enough seating for everyone. Our new dramatic English sofas covered in a Ralph Lauren pinstripe are welcoming but bold and, because they are a tad shorter than the old sofas, give us just as much seating but a lot more wiggle room when walking around!
In my original plan, I was going to cover two English wing chairs in Alessandra Branca's Alexander Tartan in Griege but I wasn't able to get them done in time. No worries! These fantastic Southampton Wing chairs from Prospect and Vine came to the rescue. I ordered them on-line and they arrived promptly! They don't sacrifice on style and I was able to get my hands on them so quickly and easily!
Stephanie Freeman and her team at Custom Drapery Designs did a great job. She built exactly what I needed for the drapes and then went the extra mile to help me install the roman shades from Lowes. I felt like the drapes needed a warm and natural element underneath since we didn't have time to add any trim or details.
I've filled the room with so many nicknacks from our travels like the Irish Beleek vases from our trip to Ireland last summer. It is hard to see in the photo but they have the most beautiful lustre.
One of our biggest problems in the room was accommodating our large family. We often gather as a big group and there wasn't ever enough seating. When I found this club fender I was so excited because it gives us more seating around the fireplace! I can't wait for holiday gatherings now that we have room to gather by the fire together.
One of my favorite additions to the room are these new andirons from 1st Dibs.
I simplified all of the piles on the mantle and added this dramatic large trophy cup from Bellacor which has such a great selection and satisfied my late-night on line shopping craving many evenings when preparing for this challenge! I needed to off-set all of the pairs and symmetry so I moved this antique silver Polo trophy to the side of the big dish.
I fell in love with these X Base benches from Lazzarro Leather. We needed a square ottoman and they only come in rectangles but I put two together which gives us even more flexibility when we have a big group in the room. We can separate them and use one for seating!
Our family loves to play games so I ordered a customized backgammon game from Mark and Graham for the ranch. I'm going to leave it out all of the time - inviting our guests to start a game. I love the engraved plaque and the way the black and white game board picks up on the checks in the drapes.
My husband retired his Polo Mallets a few years ago (thank God!) but they still make a nice decorative element in the room. For him, they are a reminder of some fun matches!
World Market has long been one of my favorite resources for affordable accent chairs like these black Square-Back Paige Dining Chairs. They come in a set of 2, perfect for flanking a large piece of furniture and if you are in the market for new chairs, your timing couldn't be better because they are offering 25% off all furniture with the code HUGESAVE. Justin and I found this darling pup on our most recent trip to Charleston in a booth at Fritz Porter Design Collective.
I filled the new piece of furniture with even more collected nicknacks, like these leather and silk horse tassels and a collection of arrowheads so large that most of it stays in the drawers - like a cabinet of curiosities!
