Blue on Center: family room

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Family Room Reveal

So let's talk about the family room today.

This room has been a challenge. It was one of the, if not "the", most damaged room in the house. The floor boards were buckled. There was a hole in the ceiling from the leaking patio above it. It had three layers of wallpaper. Critters had obviously been inhabiting this space. And it has this light fixture (audible gasp).

Yep. That's the diamond in the rough we bought. I even cringe when I look back at these photos. What were we thinking?

We were able to salvage most of the flooring in the room by removing the most damaged boards.

We opened up the ceiling and area around the window to clear all the funk out.

This room has been used for several purposes so far. We used this room as our bedroom when we first moved into the house because our room wasn't finished yet. It became the girls' playroom for awhile. Then it became a room that we tossed stuff in because we didn't know where to put it. Eventually, we thought this would make a good tv/hangout room and began the sectional debate and a search for the perfect sectional for us.

After several nervous breakdowns, I eventually decided on a charcoal velvet sectional with pullout sleeper to use for guests, since this room doubles as a guestroom. I started putting together a moodboard for the room to get an idea of the space. I wanted a bright, cozy with great texture and a gallery wall.

After ordering the sectional, I had the standard 4-6 weeks to paint the room before it arrived. But did I? Of course not. I waited until the store called to tell me that the couch was coming the next day to begin painting. This wouldn't have been a big deal if I was just painting the walls, but I had to paint walls, ceiling and prime and paint the woodwork as well. I stayed up until 4 am painting and the couch was here by 8 am. I am so thankful the walls were dry when they pulled that big ol' couch into the room.

We ended up using our too-small living room rug in there because it looked good with the sectional. We had a small vintage coffee table in there for a couple weeks but it felt too cluttered and moved it out. This week my new pillow arrived and I like the added pattern and color.

Here's what it looks like today:

We store blankets in this covered basket.

Also yet to be done in this room is putting actual photos and art into blank frames, spray paint the blue lamps, and perhaps adding another pillow or two. I think I may also refinish this old table as well.

We love hanging out in this room and being able to comfortably have guests over too! We spend most of our evenings in here watching a movie or listening to music. It's my favorite hangout spot.

Thanks for visiting!

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Little Things

I love all the comments from the recent paint tutorial I posted. It seems that a lot of you are in the painting process too. I'd love to see your befores & afters!

I've spent the past couple nights searching for pillows for the family room and living room. I love to mix and match colors, textures and patterns, but don't want the room to feel chaotic. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Family Room:

The living room is a little more challenging. It's a fairly formal space with a fireplace, built ins, cove ceiling and lots of natural woodwork. Also challenging is the mustard-hued sofa that I thought it was a good idea to order about nine years ago. I love the sofa, but it's nearly impossible to find pillows to go with it. I want the decor to feel relaxed and a bit funky to counteract all the traditional features going on in there. Here's what I am thinking:

I know. It's a lot of pillows, lots of pattern. I am still trying to narrow it down. The wall color in there is Benjamin Moore's Horizon Gray and the patterned rug is from Ebay.

I ordered one pillow so far from Etsy and it just arrived today!

I love how little things can really change a room. I'm excited to narrow down the pillow search! Any favorites?

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Pondering

I think what I enjoy most about decorating is pondering where things should go and how they should look. Lately, I've been pondering the family room. We will be using the back bedroom on the first floor as a tv room/family room. I ordered the sectional for that space a couple of weeks ago and it should be coming soon. I still haven't painted the room, but here's what I've come up with so far:

I'd like to have some funky plant in the room and would love to have my fiddle leaf fig in there, but I just can't convince it to stay alive. I have two of these plants now and they are struggling between life and death. Apparently, I do not have a knack with indoor plants. I am on the verge of writing them off as too needy and ungrateful.

Does that Persian rug look familiar? I bought it for the sunroom, but I really like how it looks with the charcoal color of the couch. I'm sure this rug will get moved around to lots of different rooms in the house from time to time. I love it so. I have an armoire for the tv and movies and I think I may paint it or strip it. It's a bit too red for the rest of the stuff going on here. Also, I plan on reviving a thrift shop coffee table using this tutorial:

via

So many projects….

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The Search for a Sectional

What's cool about a new home is figuring out the way rooms can function best for you and/or your family.

Our living room is long and narrow and there was really no good place for a television. That is, except for over the fireplace, but I didn't want to put a tv there.

So we decided to use one of the bedrooms on the first floor as a tv room. We don't have any seating in that room other than some rather uncomfortable (but cheap! and pretty!) chairs from Marshalls and some beanbag chairs for the girls. We've been eyeing sectionals for a couple of months, but we want a sectional that has a pullout sleeper so that the room can double as a guest room. I've found that sectionals with sleepers are few and far between.

Here's what I found so far.

Candidate #1: Axis II from Crate & Barrel

Candidate #2: Collins from La-Z-Boy

Here's the thing. I love, love the feel and color of the fabric of the Axis. The sales rep said that it's their best selling sofa and my research online has shown lots and lots of happy customers. I liked the dimensions and fabric on the floor model, which made it easy for me to see what it would look like in our home. BUT the cushions on the back of the couch are loose, which means that I will spend my time every day picking them off the floor and arranging them back on the sofa after their girls throw them off. Also, I've seen photos of people who have had the couch for a couple of years and indeed, the seat cushions and back cushions look pretty slouchy. A bit too much slouch for my taste.

The Collins isn't as comfortable to sink into as the Axis, but that's likely because the cushions aren't as relaxed. I like that the back cushions are attached to the couch, but not too tightly. The mattress comes in either a memory foam or air cushion option (both are the same price) and the mattress is more comfortable than the Axis. La-Z-Boy had lots of fabric options to choose from, but none of them felt as velvety-awesome as the Axis. Also, the floor model shown is just the sofa, which makes it hard to visualize what the couch would look like as a sectional in a non-corduroy fabric of a different color.

I was able to find one review on the Collins from Melissa at The Inspired Room. The fabric she ordered it in is no longer available, unfortunately.

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The Axis is stocked in the fabric I want and would arrive in a week after I order it. The Collins would take 8-10 weeks for delivery. I really want to move ahead and make a decision, but both cost a healthy chunk of change and I want to get this right so I'm going to keep looking for other comparisons. I saw this online, but don't know where I could see it in person.