living room of a countryside house in volterra

Briefing

The living room is the only room which I haven't really finished furnishing and decorating yet. As I spend my summers there, we live mostly outside or in the ground-level kitchen, so the living room is still an afterthought. I will start to go there in the winter as well and want to finish it beautifully.

The room has an open staircase going down to the kitchen, bordered by a mid-height wall (not a railing), and door leading to the garden terrace. A window looks onto a beautiful landscape with the tosco-emilian Apenines in the distance.

Taste: The house has been renovated in a clean, minimal way respecting the original features and local traditions (terra cotta floor tiles, ceiling with visible wooden and steel beams, etc.). I like to mix modern elements with this more rustic environment, modernist pieces and salvaged or antique furniture, 17th or 18th century art with contemporary elements, etc... stark period contrasts are appreciated. In my urban apartment, I tend to gravitate towards essential, minimalist spaces, but in this context I may appreciate something a bit different.

Needs: The room is a go-through room, as one has to go through it to go from the big kitchen downstairs to the upper floor where the bedrooms are located. It needs to have a social space to sit and talk, relax, listen to music or read. I don't want a TV but I have a videoprojector that I use for movies. I plan to install a wood stove (which for technical reasons could go either along the wall with the terrasse door, towards the corner, or on the long wall facing the window).

The room has to accommodate sofas (I have one for now, but it can be replaced), books and vinyl records, and a 1968 Beolab 5000 stereo system that comes with big speakers and a turntable so it is basically a piece of furniture (picture uploaded).

I am a rather bookish person so I have lots of books (not there yet but I can potentially bring lots of them and cover entire walls if desirable from a design point of view).

Lighting: there is quite a lot of light coming in. I have placed three Artemide Melete wall sconces. I still have to choose a wall light to place on the wall of the staircase leading down to the kitchen.

What's already there: for the sake of using the room during the summer I have a Sotcksund sofa from Ikea (in ivory - but they don't do this color anymore), a 100x100cm coffee table I made from sawed off table feet and a new top, and a 240x300 sisal rug. All this can be used or discarded according to the needs of the project. I also have a cool 1960s Italian advertisement panel about 200cmx100cm that could be used in that room (all these items have pictures uploaded), and a transparent Kartell Bourgie lamp.

I can take more pictures between Nov 27 and Dec 7 as I will be on site.

My budget for finishing this room could be 2,000 to 3,000 EUR.

I am happy to provide more information and can do so in French, English or Italian.

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