Family Room: The Sequel

In movies, it's not often that the sequel is better than the original, but in the case of my family room, I think you'll agree that this post outshines the original.

I surprised myself the other day.  I said something I've never said before, and didn't think I would be able to say for years:

"Wow... I like the family room! I really like it!"

Last month I explained why I've never really liked my family room, and showed some 'before' pictures detailing things I wanted to change. You can read about it here.

Since then, you've seen the family room's new pretty pillows and summer mantel. Here, now, are the rest of the family room updates.

My top priority was to brighten the family room, and, by using a lot of white paint, white accessories and white fabric, I now have a room that looks much more airy and fresh.

The walls have been painted with Benjamin Moore's Ivory White in eggshell. It's a lovely, creamy, warm white.

Mr. StyleBurb and I have long 'debated' the size of the area carpet that used to be in this room. I felt that the carpet was too dark and too small - he thought it was fine....

I removed the carpet when I painted the walls and unfortunately, it is now 'lost' somewhere in the house, so I can't put it back (that's my story and I'm sticking to it).  But look how much larger the room seems without the too small rug- and I didn't spend a penny to make this change!

I'm loving the bare wood floors for the summer. I may put an area carpet back when fall comes, but for now, the floors are carpet-free and the room feels cooler- perfect for our hot, humid summers.

I bought a SureFit slipcover for the navy wing chair.  Before, the navy chair and green sofas looked uncoordinated.  Now, the new white pillows on the sofas and ivory slipcover on the wing chair make the furniture look pulled together.

I think that the slipcovered chair looks casual, relaxed and beachy- a great look for summer!

The single black wall sconce to the left of the sofa irritated me daily because of its anti symmetrical powers...

Here is the wall sconce in my high-tech paint booth.

... but was neutralized with a lick of Heirloom White spray paint.

Painting the wall sconce white makes it blend into the wall, while still providing much needed light.

I placed a framed print and a small table with two white pillar candles and a shell ball underneath the sconce which balances the dresser and lamp on the other end of the sofa. I already owned the shells, pillar candle holders and the framed print- they just needed some spray paint.

Again, I didn't spend a penny!

I lowered the large picture above the sofa by 4 inches so that it doesn't look like it's floating. I also tucked a basket of magazines (a la Pottery Barn) underneath the table.

Continuing with the beachy look, Mr. StyleBurb found a couple of pictures of our kids at the lake last summer. They look wonderful printed in black and white and framed.

The wooden frames are garage sale finds, also painted with Heirloom White spray paint.

To recap, this is what our family room looked like before...

... and after

I've still got my eyes open for a coffee table, but you're probably out of popcorn, so we'll have to wait for the next installment in my Family Room series.

Coming soon to a theater near you...

  I will be joining these link parties this week:

    

Summer Mantel, Had Me A Blast

(Bonus points if you know the reference of my post title!)

The mantel on my fieldstone fireplace got some summer lovin' last week.  I decided to keep the look very clean and simple looking.

Inspired by the white seashell fabric on my new pillow covers, I added a pair of sugar starfish, some new/newish white accessories and refreshed the mirror by painting it Heirloom White.

We already had the hurricane lanterns with the seagrass base. I bought them from Pier 1 Imports last year and noticed when I was there recently that they are still available.

I found the new- but old looking- chippy urn from Pottery Barn and filled it with a small shamrock plant.

The urn needed a little bit of height so I turned the covers from two books inside out and slipped them underneath. (Finally, I have a use for Tori Spelling's autobiography.... don't judge... I loved the original 90210 when I was younger!)

My dog, Harry has barked his opinion a number of times during my family room makeover.  You may recall that he complained about the BM 'Cable Knit' paint sample I was trying out until I painted it over.

Now, he seems to have a problem with the starfish- for some reason he keeps staring at them! Who does he think he is, Tommy Smythe?  This time, I don't care what Harry says, I like them and they're staying.

Painting the mirror white has really lightened the look!  Here is my mantel before its summer makeover.

And after.

The pillar candles that used to be on the mantel have been painted Heirloom White and grouped on a tray with the white shell ball.  I'll show you where this little arrangement calls home soon.


Click here to see pictures of my family room before the updates.

Clean, fresh and bright!

Did you figure out my post title's song reference?

For those of you who are too young to remember, or not as obsessed with musicals as me, the song is from Grease and the opening number is called Summer Nights. (Raise your speaker volume... it's worth your 3½ minutes!)

I'm linking up to http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

  

and Emily's Anything Goes Link Party! at Decor Chick

Family Room Update: Pretty Pillows

Have you ever noticed that the things you aren't very good at are often ones you don't like?

That's not always true.... I have proof!

I love to sing!  However, I rarely know the correct lyrics to all the songs I sing, and judging by the cut-eye looks I get when I do sing, I know that I'm not particularly tuneful. Actually, that was a comment on my second grade report card: "Yvonne is an enthusiastic participant during music class, though she is not often in tune". Didn't stop me. I'm still singing!

And I'm still sewing. I've said before that I'm not much of a seamstress (fact, not false modesty), but I love to sew. I can only manage straight lines, but you might be surprised at what you can create by sewing straight! (or, straightish, as the case may be)

Last weekend I had the joy of making new pillows for my family room, which is undergoing a little freshening up. I'm trying to bring light, bright and white into this room.  I already knew I wanted white fabric for some pillow covers when I visited my favorite Home Decor fabric store.

It ate away at my heart a little to have to leave such gorgeous fabrics at the store.

This white, heavy weight cotton appealed to me and inspired more ideas for how to decorate the family room.

Checking to make sure it looks good with the pillows I already have...

 We have a winner!

I made envelope-style pillow covers, which require only basic math, a little measuring, a quick press with the iron and straight sewing- no zippers or buttons required. There are tutorials all over blogland on how to make this style of cover, but I found Kim's (Restoration House) tutorial very helpful.

Tip: Some of my pillows were extra plump and I found that by adding three or four extra inches to the fold over flap I was able to get crisper corners.

Front of the pillow

Back of the pillow

Tip: It wasn't easy to find inexpensive down pillow inserts, so I checked the clearance section at HomeSense and found down-filled pillows for only $10 a piece. I replaced the store bought covers with my own.

The new pillows have really lightened the look of the green corduroy sofas. 

 Lots of comfy pillows.

The black wall sconce to the left of the sofa has been painted white.  New white accents co-ordinate well with the white pillows.

I also found a fantastic dragonfly print, so I bought one yard and made a 6th pillow cover.  I think this pillow is my new favorite!

I felt like Martha Stewart as I whipped up pillow after pillow! I might even try out the zig-zag stitch on my sewing machine!

Thanks for visiting!





 

Picking The Perfect Paint: Is There An App For That?

Job number one in my quest to freshen the family room was choosing the perfect wall color. Since the furniture is staying, I went looking for a color that might be a little more exciting than the current shade- which is white. Plain old white...  paper white... no hints of grey...  no undertones of blue, green or pink- just White.

You might think that since I have the full paint fan decks from three major paint companies, choosing the perfect paint color would be simple...  not so much.

These are the paint fan decks that fit in the picture. I have others.

After much comparison, indecision and deliberation, I chose three potential colors:

Sherwin Williams 'Buff' -SW 7653,
Sherwin Williams 'Creme' -SW 7556 &
Benjamin Moore 'Cable Knit'- CC-306  (which I had color-matched at Sherwin Williams).

I'm sure these paint colors are beautiful in the right location. Every paint 'reads' differently depending on the light, time of day and in relation to the other items in the room.

In my family room these colors told their own sad story:

Buff looked like pee,
Creme looked like lemon sorbet &
Cable Knit... NO. Our dog would stare at the spot on the wall where I had painted Cable Knit, and then he would bark. I don't think that's a good sign. He continued to bark at the sample until I painted over it.

I returned to Sherwin Williams to buy a color-matched sample of Ralph Lauren's 'Writer's Parchment'. My neighbor painted her basement this color and I love it.  However, in my family room, Writer's Parchment looked quite green. Again, No.

Sherwin Williams paint samples in fantastic one quart size.

The paint samples at Sherwin Williams are great. You can buy one quart of paint for between $6 and $7! Plus, the screw cap is such a smart idea- it is much cleaner to work with than standard pry off caps.

I now had four quarts of various shades of 'cream' and felt no closer to finding my elusive perfect paint color than when I started.

I tried Martha Stewart's 'Glass of Milk'....

Martha Stewart paint sample in approx one cup size.

... couldn't even tell the difference. On the plus side, if I ever need to tell someone the color that my family room used to be, now I have a color name!

The sample of Martha Stewart paint cost $5 for less than 1 cup. That's not a great value compared to Sherwin Williams, but I was in Home Depot and it was convenient and I was desperate.

Once again, I consulted my paint chips and this time chose Benjamin Moore's 'Ivory White'  CC-130.

Bingo!!!

Benjamin Moore paint sample in 2 oz size.

This color is the perfect creamy white for my family room. It has just a smidgen of yellow, but definitely doesn't look like pee, sorbet or ghostly apparitions.

At about $5 for only 2 oz, the Benjamin Moore paint sample pot offers the least value. In these days of advanced computer color matching, I know I won't buy samples at Benjamin Moore in the future.

I had the color matched at Sherwin Williams and bought their premium paint for $20 less per gallon than the equivalent at Benjamin Moore. Up until now, I have always used Benjamin Moore paint, and while I think they offer an excellent product, their paint is quite pricey.  I am curious to see if Sherwin Williams paint is as durable as Benjamin Moore's.

So, that is the story of how I ended up with a paint sample collection like this:

Color me crazy for needing 6 samples to get the perfect shade of cream!

I'm so happy I found the 'Perfect Paint' for the family room.  Now it's painting time.  I hope I have the right kind of rollers!

Family Room: Let The Fun Begin

Our family room is the one room in our house I've never really liked, which isn't great because next to the kitchen, it is the most used room in the house.

My ideal family room would look something like this:

image from Pottery Barn

I have collected our family room furniture gradually and piece by piece; which is probably similar to the way many families have furnished their homes.  But, my style and preferences have changed over the years. As well, I have made a few unfortunate decorating decisions, and the result is that the room doesn't feel 'pulled together'.

As tempting as it would be to sell everything on Craigslist and start fresh, not only is that not in the budget, it's also not necessary because the furniture is in good shape. (I think the green corduroy on the sofas must be made of kryptonite it's so durable!)  

Instead, my plan is to identify the areas in the family room that irritate me the most and then make some changes- all on a teeny, tiny budget.

The family room has a fairly awkward floor plan. The room is about 11 ft x 17 ft. There is a doorway that leads to the kitchen and another doorway that goes to the hall. We have a north facing window that doesn't let in a large amount of natural light, so the room tends to be dark.

We need to arrange the furniture so that five people can watch t.v. at once.  I really like the sofas, and I would like to add some more pillows to be extra comfy and to lighten the overall look.

Next, I think the area carpet is too dark and too small for the look I'm hoping for. The big problem is that my husband thinks it's fine.  He's in 'Decorating Denial'.

I would love to throw caution to the wind and buy a light area carpet, but that would be very impractical since the dog hasn't learned how to tip-toe around the carpet when he has muddy paws.

I blame pregnancy hormones for my decision to hire an electrician to install one single wall sconce on the wall to the left of the sofa.  I went through an anti-symmetry phase about 10 years ago- it's something I truly regret.

I'm working on some ideas to balance the areas to the left and right of the sofa.

The family room has a floor to ceiling corner field-stone fireplace which completely overpowers the room. I think there should be a law against corner fireplaces.  On the positive side, though, a real wood fire is very enjoyable on cold winter nights.

The blue wing chair is in excellent condition. We originally had two wing chairs, but I sold one.... it was a casualty of my anti-symmetry phase.  The chair would look fine in the room if it was a different color, but right now it looks out of place.

I'm going to pull together a more attractive mantel display. I think I'll look for some white accessories... possibly a small green plant. I'll also repaint to further freshen up the room.

We like to sprawl and relax in the family room, have snacks, watch t.v., play board games or use the wii. I think a coffee table of some sort would be very convenient; somewhere we can set down a bowl of popcorn and drinks.

I have wanted to update the family room for a long time now, so I'm really excited to get started!

Job one in the mini-makeover is painting. I'll keep you posted on the other changes as they happen.

Wish me luck!