Our Family Room

Finally some house pictures for all of you who've been waiting oh so patiently! I've decided to start with my family room because it is the most 'finished', even though there's much work left to be done. I'm adding in my design rational for those of you seeking tips, too.

When we moved in there were vertical blinds on the doors leading outside. I can imagine nothing worse. So I replaced them with inexpensive ready-mades from Ikea in a yellow and white ticking, $30. I love that they come so long so that I could hang them all the way to the ceiling. It really adds height and light. They're hung on even cheaper white metal rods from Wal-Mart (Gasp! - I know. So unlike me! -Dave's words), about $13. I love these basic rods so much that every new curtain in my home is hung on them. I like using white in my house b/c they're hardly noticed and very simple. Rods shouldn't necessarily stand out. I wanted something different for the adjacent window treatment. No more fabric, I had enough in the room already. I am in a hate-wood-blinds-stage. I had those 2-inchers on every window, and not only did not all of them open, some were yellowed and I just don't like looking through the slats . For for the main living areas I replaced them with fabulous cellular shades. They insulate, stack up discreetly, and filter in lots of light even when I want privacy.

Back to the window. I wanted something architectural, and missed the colonial shutters from back East, so I decided to bring them indoors. I found these beauties on a shopping trip with Rachael and knew they were exactly what I had in mind! And at $22 a piece, they were a steal. They were pretty battered, so all I did was put a fresh coat of black spray paint on and sanded a little. My husband, armed with a drill and 8 screws, had them up in 3 minutes. Ahhh, no sewing so far...

I've had these decorative shelves hidden under my bed for a few years now. A shame isn't it? They never had a proper home, until now. I used a lot of black accents in my last home, paired with richer tans and red, so this house I wanted to brighten up. Inspired by the floods of natural light and white/gray/taupe details already in the home, I painted the walls the perfect taupe (you all remember that, I'm sure ;)) and am choosing to use white as my accent/base throughout. So these shelves are perfect! I'm still working on what to put on them, but this is ok for now.

Ideally I'd love to put a sectional in here, but my sofas are too nice (and budget too small) to justify such a thing. I'd love to move this ottoman to the living room, but kids have too much fun with it, and it adds much needed color and whimsy. Maybe later.

I love this magnet board. I vowed I would keep my fridge paper-free in this house, and this is one way of me sticking to it. I'm still deciding on how to finish it. Stain it? Paint it? White, yellow, red? I'm painting the chandelier for my kitchen (you'll see it another day), I think red. So that rules out red. White is too boring. Yellow is looking pretty good to me. Sorry you're seeing my Christmas cards, but I love them and am having a hard time putting them away.

As a future project I have visions of Dave building me a shelving unit for the tv space. I want it to be low, of course, and be able to put cushions on top for extra seating. Then I want baskets underneath to store toys. Just because we play a lot here doesn't mean I have to look at blocks and cars every evening while relaxing. Of course there'll be space left for a tv on top and I'd like shelves and a door for equipment. I think I want it stained a dark, rich brown.

This side of the room needs some attention, but I'm not sure what I'd like to do with it yet. So it'll look this way for a while longer. I'd rather have an empty wall than something just to fill space. I don't like the color of this but haven't figured out a good solution for that yet.

I'll be posting my house bit by bit, so there'll be more later. Let me know if you have a brilliant idea I haven't thought of!