One of the interesting things about decorating any space is how much pressure there can be to make big decisions about decorating as soon as you move in. When we left NYC and bought our house, the only things we could afford to do were things we had to do: re-drywalling the upstairs (the walls were […]

One of the interesting things about decorating any space is how much pressure there can be to make big decisions about decorating as soon as you move in. When we left NYC and bought our house, the only things we could afford to do were things we had to do: re-drywalling the upstairs (the walls were rotting from the inside out) and fencing off part of the yard (our then-neighbor’s dog was free-roaming and aggressive). Neither were the design-oriented decisions we wanted to make ? which is so common with very old houses like ours ? but they were the ones required at the time. A little over four years later, we’re finally at the point where we can afford to make a few design-based decisions that don’t have to do with solving a structural problem. Both Julia and I spend a huge chunk of time in our living room and for the past four years it’s been the coldest (and one of the darkest) rooms in our house. We painted it a deep dark green a while back, but it’s mostly been a hodge podge of mixed furniture and styles and, honestly, more of a dog play room than anything else. But now that we’re settled in and have a better feeling of what we&...