The Reading Room - Ideas and Inspiration

April 10, 2013

Despite not living there yet, and the fact that I've only ever been inside the new house once (true story)...I've already given most of the rooms names. I think that's pretty normal.

The space that I've been thinking about lately is what I've been calling the reading room. It's on the first floor, and is the first room off of the kitchen when going into the rest of the house. It's a bit of a fancy room, with an original to the house tin ceiling as well as a corner fireplace that was added by the old owners.

Being a Queen Anne, the new house sort of asks for a more traditional and formal decorating style than our current house, especially in rooms like the reading room. Traditional and formal don't have to be boring, though, right? Traditional Home happens to be one of my favourite shelter magazines, so I don't think so!

My main source of inspiration for the room comes from these two images...

horse in wintercoco plates
Please click on the image for the source.

I'm picturing dark walls, dark wood, white trim, and classic furniture.

Which lead to me making this haphazard moodboard...

The Reading Room Moodboard

1. Since the room is going to have a lot of white sort of "built in" with the ceiling, fireplace, trim and doors, Benjamin Moore's Temptation would give it the cozy feel I'm looking for.
2. I can't remember what sort of light is currently in the room, but if it's not something original to the house I plan on putting up an antique pan light that my parent's brought us from their house when they came to visit this summer. It's similar to this one (restored by JC of My 1923 Four Square), except it has just three lights instead of four.
3. With all the heaviness going on with the dark walls, I thought a bit of floral would be a happy juxtaposition. It would also inject a bit of colour into an otherwise fairly monotone room. This mint green pillow from Etsy is really cute, although I'd probably try my hand at making my own pillow cover.
4. This fabric (Hyde Park from Tonic Living) is another choice for pillows.
5. I have a wingback chair that was Mike's grandparent's and I plan to use it in this room. It's currently pink, and in desperate need of being reupholstered since the cat may or may not have had an accident or several on it (gross). I like the idea of getting it done in something classic like a grey herringbone. This is an oversized herringbone from Colefax & Fowler and while I looooove it, it's unbelievably out of my price range.
6. This is the Amy Hamilton print I bought for the gallery wall I'm envisioning for this room. I'd like to find frames in antique bronze or gold to tie in with the antique light.
7. Awhile back, Mike's aunt gave us an old Victorian settee and I think it would go great in this room. I want to take off the red velvet that it's sporting right now and replace it with this gunmetal velvet from Tonic Living.
8. The table pictured is just to represent the dark wood that I'd like to have in the room. In reality, that element will come from a side table, the wood of the settee, the legs of the wingback chair, and the vintage secretary desk that another one of Mike's aunts gave us. While I do like this coffee table (found here), I don't think the room is wide enough to accommodate one.
9. Like I mentioned above, this room has a fireplace that was added by the old owners. It's a white corner unit, and I can't remember whether it's electric or propane. Either way, it's awesome.

Update: I didn't include any mention of the floors because they are currently carpeted. I'm remembering pink, but that could be something I dreamt (nightmared?) about. Anyway, I'm hoping the house's original hardwood is underneath it, but we won't be looking into revealing that for a long time to come.

The reading room could easily become one of my favourite rooms in the new house. In addition to the tin ceiling, it has a stained glass window, huge baseboards, and two antique doors - complete with hardware - leading from it. Hooray for architectural character!

So there you have it. Are you planning any rooms that you might not be tackling for an indeterminate length of time?



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Comments (22)

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You know how I feel about dark walls. THE MORE THE BETTER! I like traditional with a twist--perhaps a funny piece of art on the walls or a funky sculpture that makes people go "huh?".
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1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
I've only ever painted one room dark before, and it was our current living room and it ended up being an awful shade of army green. Paired with the dark wood trim, it was like I was getting ready for jungle warfare. Not cool. Hoping to do better in the next house!
oh man that house sounds like it has so much character. I cant wait to see pics!! TIN ceilings? gahhh I am jealous of the awesome oldness you get
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1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
The tin ceiling definitely makes me swoon. It's the only room with it, though. The rest of tin ceiling wallpaper
Tammi@1914house's avatar

Tammi@1914house · 613 weeks ago

I like where this room is heading! You have a great eye - very classic. A wingback in herringbone might make me drool.
3 replies · active 613 weeks ago
I think I might have to take it all the way to Collingwood to get it done in a fabric that I like. The choices in Barrie seem to be so unbelievably dated.
A wingback in herringbone sounds phenomenal. Next to a leather chesterfield, I'm not sure I could ever leave a room like that.
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We need a new couch (our current one is forest green cord), and I am dying for dark leather. A tufted back would make me swoon.
Original tin ceilings? That sounds amazing. I love a good dark room (just too chicken to really go that far myself yet), and love the elements you've pulled together 'haphazardly' — makes for a good jumping off point!

Can't wait til you can share pictures of the new place, I'm certainly curious ;)
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1 reply · active 607 weeks ago
Ach, I'm sorry for taking 1 million years to reply to this. It got caught by the spam monsters for some reason.

The room is currently painted a dark blue, so I think I will leave painting the walls until the very end. We'll see how I can live with dark!
So envious of your tin ceiling! Sounds gorgeous Ashley. I love what you've put together. Agree with the comment that something modern or unexpected would be fun in that room...just to keep it young and fresh But traditional is my fave style so I say go for it. Looking forward to seeing photos when you finally get to move in :)
1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
Hopefully the prints I've bought for the gallery wall will liven things up a little, but I guess we'll see when I actually get to put it all together!
Erika @ OCC's avatar

Erika @ OCC · 613 weeks ago

Ahhh I LOVE this room already! Pink carpet aside, I seriously think this is going to look incredible. Want to build/design me a reading room too? ;)
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1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
How about the other way around Ms. Designer Extraordinaire!? Your skills far surpass mine, haha.
I love this! The colours are fantastic and I can totally envision the entire room now (without pink carpet of course- haha). Perfectly done traditional. I love the idea of a herringbone wing back!!
1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
Stupid carpet!! I loathe it. The new house has it EVERYWHERE except for the laundry room and the bathroom.

Yep, there's carpet in the kitchen.
I'm a sucker for dark, traditional rooms. My favorite spaces have dark walls, leather furniture, BOOKS GALORE, and just a really masculine feel. I can't wait to see how this space turns out once you're in.
I love your plans! They sound absolutely gorgeous! It's going to look amazing!
1 reply · active 613 weeks ago
Thanks, I hope so!
Can't wait to see the new place, there aren't nearly enough victorians represented in blogland. Fabric wise - the stately kitsch blog has a wing chair in the most amazing gray suiting fabric, with just a few colorful strands going through it - beautiful . . .
1 reply · active 612 weeks ago
That fabric DOES sound beautiful. And you're right, I can only think of a handful of Victorians that are well represented in blog land.
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