Keeping Room Refresh

A few months ago I decided to move our kitchen table out to our screened-in porch in order to create a keeping room off of the kitchen. Chris and I rarely ate at the kitchen table and instead at the kitchen island since it’s just the two of us. Or if it was nice weather we would have our meals on our little bistro table on the porch. Having this keeping room be a comfortable place to have a cup of coffee and to play with the dog while the other person cooks was the right use for this space. It has become our new favorite spot.

I orginally shopped our home just to get a feel for the space and what size furniture I needed to order for this area. It has three doorways; one going to our mudroom, another to the kitchen and the third going to the laundry room. Here’s a look at what furniture I put in the space to get a feel for it. The chairs were from our sitting room and the table has moved all around our house.

After hours and hours of research I decided to find swivel gliders. That way if you need to turn and talk to the person next to you you can. Plus there is just something so comforting about gliding and rocking.

I also knew I wanted skirted swivels so you couldn’t see the gliding mechanism underneath. As much as I wanted a printed fabric I decided to opt for a neutral because we already have pattern with the roman shades and the rug. I figured a neutral with the ability to add in patterns with lumbar pillows was the way to go. I also worried about these windows fading out any printed fabric.

Enter the swivel glider from Delta. Yes it’s mainly popular for nurseries, but I was willing to give it a go based on the reviews. After getting them in the space I knew I wanted to add a little personal touch to them. So I added trim tape around the skirt of the swivels giving them a little personality and refinement. I’ll do a seperate blog all about that DIY. Stay tuned for that.

I also ordered my dream pillows. They were made by Christina who owns Parker Home Designs here in South Carolina. I have loved this “Lottie” fabric from Ballard Designs for forever and I knew she was the perfect person to make them for us. Also, when you can find the opportunity to shop small business it’s a no brainer. I’m in love with them! They are 12 x 20 with a 14 x 22 insert.

I kept our rug from Loloi is the same because it’s great for high traffic areas such as this and I love the color tone for this space. It really grounds the space. I also loved the contrast against the chair fabric which is an oatmeal off-white.

I wanted to bring in a vintage item to the keeping room, so I took to my usual spots and found the perfect vintage wood table for in between our chairs. It was the perfect wood tone to play off our wood flooring in the kitchen. It has great character to the legs and was just the size I needed. It was also only $25 so also a no brainer.

Last Saturday I was telling Chris that I hadn’t purchased anything from Target since February of this year which is crazy right?! It’s about a 35 minute drive so it does make it easier to not just pop in and drop $200. I definitely jinxed myself though. That night we went to dinner after the football game and the only place left open after dinner was Target. So I meandered around the home area and saw an ottoman that wasn’t even unpackaged all the way. I pulled Chris over and said doesn’t that look like the same fabric as our chairs? And at 20% off I couldn’t pass it up. It was the only one there so Chris said if it doesn’t work you can always return it, but if you don’t get it, it might be gone next time so get it while you can. You don’t have to tell me twice.

Sure enough we got home and it’s almost exactly the same oatmeal fabric as our chairs. To play off of the black accent on the legs I decided to bring in my trustly buffet lamp that I wish they continued to make from Target. It’s so classy and adds just a little modern edge to any space.

Because I’m my mother’s daughter and always see every detail, I wanted to dress up our sconces on either side of the windows with some mini lampshades. To tie in the moss green in our pillows I added just a little bit of velvet ribbon around the shades to give them extra interest. You can easily do this to any lampshade. Just a little bit of hot glue and a steady hand and you’re in business.

All in I came in under $900 for this whole refresh and I’m happy about that. Considering I was looking at swivels for $2,000 each. I like to include pricing to my blogs when it comes to a project just to give some perspective on how you can make a space look designed without paying a huge amount to do so. Yes it takes time and creativitiy, but to me it’s so worth it. Personalizing a space and making it uniquely yours by bringing in custom pieces and vintage pieces will make it not look a Target add or department store. It’s collectively yours.