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Furniture and Decor Sources For Our New House
“Where’d you get that?” A question I am asked almost every time I post a photo of my home. And since we’re working on our house, that happens quite often. And I’m here to help, but even I can’t remember the name of every source in our home, so I updated this post with everything from paint and lighting to our stair runner. This project is different from anything else I’ve done because for the first time, I’ve added custom upholstery and window treatments to our home. It’s been a huge undertaking and commitment. We’re finishing up our family room and basement, and are about to start one of 4 bathrooms. This house feels like a forever home, so I am doing my best to choose fixtures and fabrics that are timeless. So here it is: the furniture and decor sources for our new house.
Furniture and Decor Sources For Our New House
It’s been a bit of a learning curve – finding sources and fabrics, and making some big (and sometimes costly) decisions that I need to commit to for a long time. But it’s really exciting, too. Thinking of furniture and decor that will grow with my girls. Choosing pieces that I won’t tire of that feel new and fresh, but also timeless.
I shared our renovation plans and timeline here.
The Family Room
I’m so excited about this room. It will have two sofas and an ottoman, a few chairs, and is where we’ll spend a lot of time as a family. I can picture us with our (three!) kids having movie nights and game nights. I wanted to make the room bright and cozy, so while the walls are white, I’m bringing in texture with different materials (wood, sisal, linen etc) and patterns (stripes, florals, ikat etc) and a lot of blue and white. You can see my plans for the room here.
The Dining Room
I’m still figuring out art and a potential sideboard, but wallpaper was just what this room needed. We’re so happy with how it turned out.
The Living Room
The “green room” felt like a pretty bold choice for me. If you know me at all, you know I love my white walls, but this house needed something else. And since this room will have a white sofa and chairs, the green feels pretty perfect.
Our Bedroom
There’s still some work to do in here. I’d love an upholstered bench for the foot of our bed. We’re changing the lighting out from what you see int his photo, and will be updating the french door hardware. I don’t have the fabric source for our curtains since they were custom, but they were made by Basia Frossard, so if you’re in Chicago, she can help.
Kate’s Room
Pro tip: always always hire someone with a portfolio and experience. The first wallpaper install was so botched and I had to pay for the work (she would not refund me), plus 2x the wallpaper, and paid someone else to remove and reinstall. It was not worth saving to hire the new person who had no idea what they were doing. I would share who did the new install if I could but for a number of reasons, mainly that it took him weeks and weeks to do this one room, I cannot. He’s spread so thin right now. If things change you’ll be the first to know. Just hire someone with experience!
I am so happy with how this room turned out and cannot wait to hang some art. But – just need to be 100% sure before I mess with these perfect walls.
Margot’s Room
My designer friend Kira David helped me with the fabric for this room and I’m so happy with the windows, chair, and bed. But – something has felt off. So I’ll be switching the rug for something softer (wool) and am going to wallpaper in a thin pink pinstripe. Moving things around might help, too. Stay tuned – more updates coming at some point.
Ordering Custom Window Treatments
I am working with Basia Frossard (not discounted/not in partnership with her). She’s making custom rods and white linen curtains for our bedroom and roman shades for Margot’s room. We usually just do Pottery Barn curtains but since this is a forever home, I wanted to do something really beautiful. My mother in law used Basia for her window treatments in her last home, and I loved the curtains in her bedroom, so I asked for the same ones. This was a huge investment, but you really can’t compare them to anything store bought. It felt right for this house.
We did have Hunter Douglas woven shades in our last home and I couldn’t have loved them more. So I’m excited to partner with HD again, this time on my office, Kate’s room, and our guest room. I chose the same shades we had in our old sunroom – it’s a bit darker and warmer than what was in the girls’ rooms, but lighter than what was in our bedroom.
Our stair runner
The stair runner in our old home was great, but if I could change it, it would have been softer and a bit less chunky. So I went to Home Carpet One in Lakeview (this is not in partnership with them) to look at samples. They pulled a few things that were similar to our old runner, and my decision was made almost instantly. I chose a wool that’s made to look like sisal. It’s pretty flat and looks a bit more elevated, is very soft, and it’s a lot more durable. I should note that we did not have any issues with our last runner, but since this is a long-term home, I wanted something that would be easy to clean, and that would hold up for a long time.
Choosing Sisal vs. Jute
I love the look of jute, but it sheds and we wanted to give sisal a try in this home. The jute in our old living room is so so soft, and the shedding around the house wasn’t bad, but it would get all over my pants when I’d sit on the floor. I love the rug enough that I didn’t mind, but Conor really wanted to try sisal, and he really didn’t see the point in custom window treatments, so we compromised and I’m loving our sisal rug.
The family room sisal isn’t rolled out yet, but the one in the sitting room is out and I love it. It’s not as soft as jute, but it’s not rough. I wouldn’t sit on it with bare knees, but would sit down on the ground. It doesn’t really shed and I love the look of it.
Choosing Floor Stain
We have red oak floors so going light wasn’t really an option. Sure, it can be done, but we didn’t want the floors to look pink, and since this is an old house, we were going for traditional vs Scandinavian. I love light floors. But the water popped Special Walnut (top right) made the most sense for this home. We love it.
Our white paint
We went with Benjamin Moore snowfall white for most of our home. It isn’t too stark or cool, and actually feels quite warm for white. I really prefer when rooms flow and white walls always look good.
Paint and wallpaper
I’ll probably wallpaper my office and the powder room, and we wallpapered Kate’s room, too.
Margot’s room is Farrow and Ball dimity. I was going for a creamy color in her room but settled on a soft, creamy pink since everything looked to beige.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something using my links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
Disclaimer: I am partnering with Annie Selke, Momeni, Hunter Douglas, (all gifted) and Circa (discounted) but am only choosing items I truly love for this home. With this sort of partnership, I have a list of deliverables that I’ll give the brand in exchange for product, so it’s a trade since I’m doing work. But I cannot stress the fact that I would never recommend something I do not love to you.
