The Spare Room

Typically one might award the title "spare room" to a small room at the back of the house used to store boxes of junk or the occasional house guest. In my home, the spare room is at the very front of the house, the very first room you see upon arrival.

We've tried calling it the den, or the family room, but neither term sticks. It's a second living room, a smaller version than the one that sits just on the other side of the wall. (The larger living room has the TV and therefore, the power.)

Don't misunderstand my frustrations; too much space is a delightful problem to have. It's just that because this room is such a focal point, and right off the kitchen, I've spent more time fixating on it than any other room in the house. 

I gave some thought to making it a formal dining room, but when I offered this suggestion to Devin, he said it would be a waste of a room. And he's right. Our last two dwellings had formal dining rooms that were almost never used for dining, if at all.

So at present, the room is an island of misfit furniture. Two armchairs, two bar stools of different heights (swiped from work after a shoot), and three tables, including a media console.

But it won't be so confused forever. I have a plan. A motif I'm calling "modern lodge." Feel free to borrow that phrase for your own design inspiration. Go ahead, try it. It seems like a thing, right?

We bought the house because it felt like a cozy camp. It just needs a smattering of modernity because I am, if nothing else, a hip and modern woman on top of the trends. Shut up yes I am.



The black and white rug was the first purchase towards this goal. An easy $99 dropped at Ikea. It only took a week for Seamus to stomp all over it with dirty paws. It was possibly intentional and certainly unappreciated. But the rug stays. For now.

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve for this lodge proj, including painting the fireplace. By the way, that taupe strip of wall above the brick was originally bright turqoise on our arrival. I took care of it using some leftover paint from the guest bedroom. It goes on record as the only project that took exactly as long as I estimated to complete. No more, no less. It was very refreshing.

I doubt I'll be able to say the same for everything else on the horizon.