Before we moved into our new home this room was being used as a home office. If you read my blog you know, I love my husband but he is not the tidiest person ever. Thus, there was NO WAY I was going to let his messy cluttered desk be the first thing you see when you walk through our front door. Sure we could have put French doors on this room but what I loved about our new house was how open our floor plan is and I didn't want to stunt the flow of our new airy design.
I have always wanted a "parlor" or bar room and it wasn't hard to get Dallas on board with my idea of making this room our own personal saloon. When we bought this property, this particular room was simple with plain beige walls that felt unimaginative. My idea was to dress this space up in classy contemporary duds that felt both manly yet soft and feminine to keep with the tide of the house.
Here are our before pictures of this room:
I wanted this room to be the best of both worlds, spotlighting each of our personalities, individually and as a couple. I used six principal pieces from our previous home to launch my creative style in the right direction. I wanted to play with textures in this room. I repurposed our old Pottery Barn Bar and Bar Sign, along with our Homegoods metal Strager "S" and linen chair. I pulled our old gray linen living room curtain into this room as well. They seemed to compliment the metals I was gravitating towards. (Budget hack: I took my two curtains and had a seamstress cut them into four. Saved me a ton!) Although none of these pieces worked together in the past, in this moment, it was the construction of this room that pulled all of my misfit furnishings together.
Our contractor Gus of The Levi Group helped me design an elegant room with intricate molding and sleek glossy white walls. I told him "Before I put any furniture in here, I want this room to be beautiful on its own." Gus heard me loud and clear. I remember walking into our construction zone to roll out my new Homegoods rug as the finishing touches were being painted. I stopped dead in my tracks and said out loud, "God I can't wait to have a smoked Manhattan in this room!"
Another hurdle I needed to overcome in this room was the lack of light. I had to have our contractor bring in an electrician to install wiring overhead and through the walls for sconces.
I REALLY wanted to use my old Pottery Barn wine glass chandelier that I saved from our old house but rod iron wasn't the right metal and Pottery doesn't make that fixture anymore. I looked high and low for another manufacture that might carry the same design but I kept coming up empty. Then someone suggested I refinish the piece myself. Now, let me just say I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into, but I did document this experiment if anyone is interested in refinishing one yourself. (Video below)
Once the room was complete and furniture was placed it was time for the details. Our old "Bar" sign was constructed of silver metal and once we hung the centerpiece for the room I realized it needed to be gold. I had some leftover paint from refinishing our chandelier and our aupair Elena (Who has a design degree) offered to help paint the gold brush strokes through the once silver words. I found a silver and bronze cocktail tray from the Hearth and Hand collection at Target along with a bronze hammered corner barrel to displace wine on. I filled an empty vase with old champagne corks and ordered a bourbon smoker from William Sonoma.
The room was almost complete. However, it was missing something I couldn't put my finger on and one day, while I was scrolling through Instagram, an ad came up for a "Press For Champagne" sign. Damn it Instagram, it's like you were reading my mind! (Or listening to my conversations, which we know you do.) I clicked the link and the moment I read the words "it really rings" I was all in! TAKE MY MONEY!
With the missing piece in place, I walked behind the bar and made myself the best smoked Manhattan I had ever tasted. It tasted like success. I kicked back in my big linen chair and savored every sip.
