Help blending 1920’s and 1970’s style.

4 years ago

We are closing on a house in July. It was built 1928 and seems to have had a major renovation sometime in the 70’s. I’m just looking for some simple ideas to make the living room more cohesive.

We are told there is hardwood in good condition under the carpet. We won’t be removing the wood accent wall but want to do something with it. Gel stain? White wash? Paint? We want to paint the walls a light blue/green. What do I do with two completely different windows? Shades only on the 70’s window? Our couch will probably have to go under that window. My favorite design style is eclectic so I don’t mind the mishmash but I want the room to make sense, still.

Thank you!

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Comments (5)

l pinkmountain
4 years ago
At least the window tops align. I'd do floor length drapes on both, with either sheers or blinds for privacy. Floor length drapes will make both windows look similar, particularly if you have furniture against the windows.

Is that a door to the outside? If so, long term I'd want something more in tune with 1029 with some frosted glass to let in more light. Paint the paneling, maybe even the same color as the other wall. That way it might fade into the background more. I wouldn't want to highlight it. At my husband's old house, the master bedroom had awful mismatched dark paneling. They painted it all the same color, and with the furniture in there, it really does fade into the background and you don't notice the pattern that much.
Lori Reeb
Original Author
4 years ago
I pinkmountain it is the front door and yes, a new one would be nice, hopefully one day it will be in the budget. I agree with the drapes but if the couch is against the wall that’s not ideal. We don’t have dimensions of the room yet but hopefully it won’t have to be there. And you have a good point about painting the wood wall. We wanted to do the other walls 3/4 blue/green and then white the rest of the way. But that wouldn’t work on the wood wall. What would you suggest with that in mind?
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Lori Reeb
Original Author
4 years ago
Just had a thought. Would it be crazy to take down the wood and re-install it horizontally?
l pinkmountain
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Do you want it as an accent wall? If so, leave as is. If not, either paint or rip off. I would not go to the trouble of ripping it off and re-installing. The boards would probably be wrecked. You can have furniture slightly away from walls to allow for drapes to hang. Less is more with decorating. Either live with the wall and learn to love the chevron, or bite the bullet and take it down right now, before you get all moved in. Depending on how it is attached and what it is attached to, it might not be that difficult to take off. But if it is plaster, I'd leave well enough alone if it's glued or something like that, if money was tight. Save your money for a nicer front door. I lived in a 1929 plaster walled house. I loved the walls for muffling sound, but they were a bi-you-know-what to fix. Patching not so bad, but we had to tear out the plaster wall around our tub, OMG, not only plaster but something akin to chicken wire that it was adhered to in the good ol' days plus lathe behind that. Great solid walls, as long as you don't need to do major alterations! On the other hand, it might be just nailed or screwed on or something in which case you could probably patch rather easily.
User
4 years ago
Get rid of the wood and don't reinstall it. Then you can beef up the trim on that window to better align with the age of the house...

Help blending 1920’s and 1970’s style.

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Help blending 1920’s and 1970’s style.

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l pinkmountain

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