Corners of My Home: The Lounge Room

I promised to show you "the corners of my home" and today I'm going to welcome you into my favourite corner of the house - the lounge room.

We live in a 1920's Californian bungalow, which has many beautiful original features, including beamed ceilings, paned glass and - my favourite - a lovely north-facing bay window.
Somehow the lounge is perfect in all seasons: in summer it's a cool retreat from the heat of the day, but in winter it's cosy and warm, with a gas fire and plenty of snuggly cushions and throws.

I've painted the room a restful shade of duck-egg blue...

The lounge suite is practical and comfy, but stylish. It's a little bit retro, but bought brand new for a steal from Target furniture. Of course it's Scotchguarded to protect its beauty from our native savages who insist on eating food in the lounge, despite The Rules. I bought the lounge suite myself with my earnings a few years back, and love it as much now as I did when it was first delivered.

Here's what the lounge used to look like, before I DIY'd it, when it was a murky shade of green, and contained our bulky old rolled-arm couches (you can see it was a while ago by how young Miss fab is in the picture):

Much nicer now, isn't it?

The old TV pine cabinet got the "white paint treatment", same as the old pine chest (which serves as a coffee table and houses our Christmas decorations). I roughed up the edges of both with sandpaper, to give them a distressed look - and to help disguise wear and tear.

A simple white cubby shelf unit from the Warehouse sits behind the door and houses books and lanterns. I'm not really one for too many nicknacks - less is more IMHO. The nick nacks I keep out are ones that have meaning for us, including a kava bowl from Fiji which sits on the white chest and holds shells we've collected from beaches all over the world.

It's lovely to sit in the bay window reading, with the sun streaming in.
At night we pull the curtains, light the fire and snuggle up to watch something together.

Like I said, my lounge room is my favourite room in the house. When the kids were little, we used to call it "the grownups room" and it was a lovely retreat from the chaos of kids' noise and mess. Still is.

I like to keep flowers on my mantelpiece, and candles which I light often, "just because". Whatever mess is inflicting the rest of the house, this room is kept neat and tidy, a retreat for the soul, a haven. People walk through the door and the impression they get is "peace".
Which is why it's my favourite room, no contest.

If you want to show me the corners of your home, I'm starting a new hashtag on Instagram: #cornersofmyhomenz. Use the hashtag to share the corners of YOUR home with us...

ONE ROOM AT A TIME: MUM DIY Corners of my Home: Entrance & Hallway
The Kitchen-Dining DIY Makeover
Bedroom DIY: A Room to Grow With
Bedroom Swapsies for a Whole new House
Bathroom DIY Makeover
Quirky Toilet DIY Makeover
Laundry DIY & More Decluttering