Family Room Tour

It may have taken 11 months to add the final touches, but the family room is finally finished and ready for the grand tour. Shall we? When we bought the house 3.5 years ago, the room was a horrific sponge painted & rose stenciled mess. After several revamps, the room has evolved into a calm, comfortable den where all 5 of us enjoy movies, music, games & books. 

A large fan hung from the beam in the vaulted ceiling. Last year we replaced the fixture with a twelve light chandelier from Ballard Designs. It floods the room with much needing light in the evening and despite its large scale, still remains airy thanks to its "wiry" composition. 

Over the summer we relocated the piano from the living room to the far corner of the family room. Atop the piano a pair of crystal lamps I purchased ions ago flank and frame two vignettes of family treasures.  On the left side, one of my favorite little blue & white ginger jars sits next to Belle's 3 month photo. While the right side holds a family March Madness basketball trophy, Bear's baptism photo & a small nest of 3 robins eggs; one for each of the littles. Above the piano I hung 5 Juliska bamboo salad plates to help bring the white accent color present over the couch & fireplace to this corner of the room.

Directly across from the piano is the computer armoire. I am a huge proponent of computer time that is both supervised and in a public space. So even though we have an official office, the computer is housed in the family room and completely visible from my command center in the kitchen (i.e.: behind the island).

 The actual unit itself is from Ikea about 5 years ago. I dressed it up a little with left over glass knobs (RH) from our kitchen facelift and placed my beloved Trojan horse on top. The bench is from my childhood home and is perhaps my favorite piece in the room. Without so much as a single tutorial and nothing more than a few envelope pillows under my belt, I managed to sew a pleated & piped slipcover completely unaided. The fact I made it, impressed me almost more than the fact I've given birth to 3 children….almost. But I do want to carry a picture of it on my phone and show it off to people just so they can marvel at the fact unskilled moi sewed it!

Our chenille, damask printed sectional fills the wall to the left of the computer station. I channeled a little YHL inspiration for the Ikea frame wall gallery. The 4x4 black & whites I had printed at Walgreens prior to the Instagram sensation. The prints are matted on pearlescent scrapbook paper. 

In the far corner of the room is the littles' PBK play table where they do puzzles or build legos. A large wire basket corrals magazines and catalogs until I manage to peruse their pages. The mirror above was a lucky HomeGoods find.

I little while back I blogged about needing to finalized a coffee table centerpiece. After a quick trip to the basement, I came back up with a tray full of goodies just waking to be repurposed. I took a leopard & fleur-de-lis tray and layered on a antique silver urn, hydrangeas in a leopard print footed vase, a candle under cloche, and a bamboo framed picture of Hubby's grandparents with all their great grandchildren. Behind the tray sits a distressed cream birdcage. Other than the much loved picture of Big YiaYia & Big Papou, the rest of the decorations have remained free of little hands.

Rounding out the seating area is a selection of blue & white pillows. On the couch toile Ikea pillows are tucked beneath monogrammed pillows in each corner, while a large 20x20 seersucker, DIY fretwork, & navy bolster pillows adorn the center. The leather club chairs sport crisp white pillows with a center seersucker and grosgrain ribbon appliqué. (Fretwork tutorial here and further pillow details here.)

I'll end the tour with the star of the room: our fireplace. Hands down "greige washing" this former eye sore has made all the difference. Removing the overbearing orange brick, not only altered the feel of the family room, but improved the flow from the kitchen pulling your eye right in. I am so glad I decided to jump in and experiment with painting it. (tutorial here)

And since it is mid Fall, one final shot of the room dressed in autumnal colors thanks to some pops of orange. Despite their bright hue, the pillows are growing on me.

And with that, I am officially down to one more item on the 2013 House Goals: The Dining Room. I've updated pictures of the space on the House Tour to reflect the new layout & skirted buffet table. I'm not loving the skirt and the drapes, but at least you all can see where I'm at in the process. It's always fun having you all along for the ride.

Linking Up to Blue & White party @ The Pink Pagoda

Thrifty Decor Chic November Before & After Party