Wildwood Happy Home Tour: Office, Library, & Living Room with Red Velvet Sofa
My favorite room in the house! This is my home office, library, and sitting room where I nap, read, and have some peace and quiet!
In this post, I’m going to show you:
- Before and Now photos and videos
- Explain what we’ve already done
- Explain what I still want to do
- And then show you some design inspiration photos
Let’s start with some BEFORE photos from the day we moved into our new home.
Before Home Library Room Tour
It may be a little difficult to see what’s going on here…
There are two entrances into this space on one of the long walls. You can get to this home office through the entryway at the front of the house or through the dining room at the back of the house.
The fireplace is on the opposite long wall with one window to the left of it. And then there are two windows, one on each of the shorter walls facing each other.
You can probably see what’s going on a little better in the video…
Check it out here…
After Home Office Room Tour
The video also shows what my home office space looks like now. And I walk you through some things I’d still like to do to it…
There are many!
And in case you didn’t get a chance to watch the video, here are some pics of this space now…
What’s Going On in This Space?
This living room / home office / library is still a work in progress. It’s cozy enough at the moment and completely functional, but there are still quite a few things I’d like to do to it before it’s “done”.
So far we’ve…
- Added my gorgeous red velvet sofa from Wheeler’s Furniture, a local store. The manufacturer is Robin Bruce and the style Madeline. You can find the same exact sofa here but only in a few colors.
- Installed double 6-panel pine doors on the entrance into the dining room. So now there are matching doors on both entrances.
- Installed paneled shutters on the windows. The distressed gold 1 1/4″ cabinet knobs are from build.com. (We use build.com for lots of renovation materials and products!)
- Installed wall track shelving for my home library bookshelves. You can watch the video here.
- Bought, borrowed, or moved several pieces of furniture and rugs into the space to “finish” it. The fringed rug is from Pier1. I’m “storing” the Victorian chairs for my sis-in-law. My desk was originally the island in the kitchen. Etc.
What’s Yet To Come?
If you watched the video, you know there are still quite a few things I’d like to do in here.
My top 5 renovation projects for this room are:
- Ditch the popcorn ceiling for a smooth service.
- Remove all the trim and install big, thick baseboards, maybe crown moulding, and maybe some trimmed out boxes on the walls to match the fireplace. (See some inspo photos below…)
- Paint, paint, paint!
- Built-in bookcases.
- And finally DECORATE! I’ve got a good start on the decor and furniture, but it’s not quite there yet.
Home Office / Library Inspiration
Moody but Colorful Paint Colors
I’ve always been drawn to light, sunny spaces. But for this particular room, I want to go for something a little more moody.
There’s enough sun during the day in my home office that I don’t think a darker vibe will affect my mood while I work.
In fact, I think a moodier room will enhance my creativity a bit. We will see!
The following photos have deep, cozy wall colors that make you want to sink in and stay for a while with a really good book and hot drink….
Or write that next great novel!
Trim, Crown Moulding, & Wainscoting
I love beautiful trimwork. It’s the thing I love most about old houses I think.
So it’s a bit disappointing that even though our house was modeled after an old Colonial Williamsburg style house plan, not all the details followed suit!
Read: it was built in the 1970s and the trim and popcorn ceilings let ya know it!
It’s not terrible trim. It’s just normal. Normal for new construction. And if there’s something that drives me battier than batty, it’s NORMAL. 🙂
SO. In my dream world, where I spend a lot of time, I rip out ALL of the trim in the entire house and replace it with salvaged, huge, old chippy trim.
Sigh.
Not gonna happen. But one room at a time, I hope to make a few changes.
What is Wainscoting?
Let’s talk about wainscoting for a minute.
What the heck is it?
I always thought it meant a middle chair rail running around the room and then whatever was below that as far as paneling, trimwork, beadboard, etc.
And I was partially right. It’s all that plus basically any kind of extra trimwork / paneling / boards you put on the walls.
In our house, there is some extra wainscoting in the dining room, which feeds into my library. And of course the fireplace in here is covered with special trimmings.
So I’d like to add some trimmed boxes, larger moulding, taller baseboards, etc. in this room.
Side note: moulding vs. molding—moulding is the British spelling of molding, which is the American spelling. Both correct!
I’m also loving the look of some of that trim painted the same color as the walls as you can see in some of the inspiration photos above and below.
Here are some others that have me uber inspired for this fancy upgrade…
The Photo That Started It All…
And finally…
Here’s the photo that inspired this entire room.
Now you’re probably saying something like, “But that room doesn’t have vibey dark colors or tons of big, awesome trim…”
I know, I know. I’m a walking contradiction!
What this room does have is the “overall vibe”. Ya know what I mean? It’s also what inspired the red velvet sofa.
It’s the general look I’m going for. A bit fancy with some rustic old charm to bring everything down for a cozier feel. Whimsical (see the chandelier) but grounded (see the coffee table).
It embodies all my hopes for this space!
Last (I Promise!) But Not Least…
And finally, really finally, here is another design inspiration photo I’ve had pinned for ages. I think this might be what I try first in this room as far as colors go.
I’m in love with French Gray from Farrow & Ball. The dark trim is Mahogany, also Farrow & Ball.
Isn’t the whole thing just gorgeous and so dramatic?!
I’m also testing out Railings on the trim. I’ve got a little video coming up soon with the test colors. You can let me know what you think!
I’ve seen similar rooms with dark trim in a couple of movies recently. And I’m just in love!
The End
As you can see, I’ve put A LOT of thought into my home office / library / living room!
And I can’t wait to put the action behind it!
Thanks for sticking with me to the end, and be sure to come back to check on our progress!
You can check out some of our other room tours here. I’m slowly getting them posted… room by room!
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