SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

 We have a room addition on the back of our home.  One wall is the original exterior brick.  I love that feature.  When the contractor wanted to cover it with dry wall, I immediately nixed that idea.  The brick has a brown undertone so I painted the walls brown to blend with the brick.  (Benjamin Moore  HC 76  Davenport Tan)  We've always called this room the sun room because the remaining three walls are almost all windows.  I realize now that that was a misnomer, at least until the day our neighbors cut down a huge tree that shaded our property. (I'm sad that they cut down a perfectly healthy tree.)  Now each sunny morning I'm greeted by streams of dappled sunshine and I can truly call that room a sun room.  This was the room that Nate Berkus showcased when I was a guest on his NBC show many years ago.   It's  very special to me.  I was able to capture the new sunshine and shadows playing in that room and thought I'd share this new brightness with you on this chilly winter day.

It spans the length of the back of the house.  You can enter through french doors from the living room or the dining room.  This is the view  from the living room entrance.

LOOKING IN FROM LIVING ROOM

SUNLIT BAR CART

The sunlight even found my elephant.

ELEPHANT IN SUNSHINE

To the left of the bar cart is my mirrored top table and Chinese Chippendale chairs.

MIRRORED TABLE AND CHIPPENDALE CHAIRS

The combination of the reflections from the mirror and the sunlight is dramatic.

SHELLS AND SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS

I was happy to find this brown and white geometric fabric for the room.  I only sewed draperies for the two side walls.  There is no privacy issue with the windows that face the back yard.  I left them bare.  The fabric is inspired by Imperial Trellis by Kelly Wearstler. ( It's no longer available.)  I used the extra fabric to make pillows and new seat covers for the  Chippendale chairs.

GEOMETRIC DRAPERIES

This is one of two Pottery Barn banana leaf wing chairs in that room.  I'm a sucker for wing chairs.  I thought these woven chairs were a fun twist on traditional wing chairs.  The comfy down-filled coral pillows are from Design Legacy.  I love their unique fabrics.  I use them as back rests on the chairs.

POTTERY BARN WING CHAIR

Next to the wing chair is a walnut side table that holds a stack of books.

STACK OF BOOKS IN SUNLIGHT

The dappled sunshine continues on the mantel and brick.

DAPPLED SUNSHINE ON THE MANTEL

On the other side, the sunlight even spills over into the dining room.

SUNLIGHT SPILLING INTO THE DINING ROOM

If you enter from the dining room, you'll see our sitting area.  It's our tv watching side of the room.  Notice that I layered some mirrored coral prints over the drapery-less windows.

LOOKING IN FROM THE DINING ROOM

The sofa is also a Pottery Barn piece.  I  mixed the geometric patterned pillows in with some fun West Elm ones with garden benches.

POTTERY BARN SECTIONAL SOFA AND WEST ELM PILLOWS

 The wall sconce is from a Pittsburgh department store.  I only have two of them.  They were originally planters mounted on columns on the main floor of Horne's Department store.  I had them converted to wall sconces.  I wrote a post about them many years ago.  Here's the link to that post if you'd like to know more.  Link:  here.  If you look at that post you'll notice how the room has changed over the years.  

I also have a matching love seat in that room.  The large woven basket is from my store.  Yes, I keep stuff for myself always.   It mostly holds books and magazines and sometimes throws. 

MATCHING LOVE SEAT AND GEOMETRIC DRAPERIES

 I layered a hide rug under the ottoman.   We use the large leather ottoman as a coffee table.  When we have guests, it becomes extra seating. 

OTTOMAN AND HIDE RUG

I like to layer rugs.  The hide rug partially covers this Stark seagrass one.

HIDE AND SEAGRASS LAYERED RUGS.

Do you have a room that's bathed in dappled sunshine and shadows?