Even though we are having unseasonably warm temperatures for this time of year in New Hampshire (highs in the 50's and only one night in the 10-day forecast to be below freezing- this is May weather for us:) it is still chilly outside and the trees are bare and the grass golden. The living room with its simple mantel and the room with its many tones of brown feels calm and cozy to me; a feeling I love in these quiet winter months. Walls are Benjamin Moore Ashwood OC-47 in eggshell. Ceiling is Benjamin Moore White Dove in Pearl. Trim is White Dove in Latex Satin Impervo. (all paint and stain information can be found on my sidebar) The living room from the entry. While I agree with the interior design adage that a room should always have a touch of black in it I, personally, am innately drawn to brown. I think the naturistic quality of brown grounds a space and since all my rooms have so much "nature" in them it always works well, besides being pleasing to my eye. The entry chest of drawers (circa 19th c.) is topped with 18th c. velum books and antique Chinese blue and white porcelains, vintage brass French Bouillotte-style lamp with a 70's brass and capiz shell lampshade (I'm obsessed with these lately:) and antique oil painting we found in Provence- "Aunt Minerva" -we name everything:) usually resides in the reading room. The 23-year old ivy topiary shares the brass tray table with a little ceramic brown and off-white garlic-shaped holder that was a love gift (when my family gives gifts for no reason we call them love gifts!) from my sister Patti she found at Red Onion in Baton Rouge. (If you live in the area it is a wonderful shop!) I had just filled the room with browns when it arrived in a package a couple of months ago- perfect timing! I love the color, texture and how it looks next to the leopard pillow. It's the little details, yes?! Thank you Patti... I usually have two soft-blue velvet pillows on each back corner of the sofa, but I changed those out to brown velvet this year for the winter months. I added another faux fur throw to this sofa, which the girls love :) I adore this brown silk lampshade on the antique Chinese green-glazed terracotta baluster made into a lamp. When the light is off the shade is the color of the dark trim that you see in this photo- a dark chocolate brown. You can see the brown velvet pillow in this photo. Antique: demi-john lamp, chinoiserie table, Santos, French gilt finial and Russian brass jardiniere. Leopard pillow on the left was made from a vintage muff. The pillow on the right was originally two individual vintage hand-warmers that I found at an antique shop. I sewed them back together and added a down-filled insert. Old silver-plated doves/pigeons...columbidae! Although "Mavis" is technically in the reading room, I thought she should be included in this post since she is donning the vintage leopard collar/headband (that was purchased with the muff pillow,) wearing it as a winter wrap:) hope you're having a wonderful weekend!