Shelly’s Design Dilemma
Shelly’s family room is bursting with potential. Here’s her letter:
The house was built in the 50’s and the previous owner did some serious remodeling – knocking down walls, etc. Now, the house has a great open feel. Everything opens onto each other – the “formal” living room opens onto family room (the main focus for the mood board) which opens to the kitchen. The dining table and chairs must stay but the rest of the seating area furniture can go unless you can make it work.When it comes to our style, we’re casual with a touch of modern. I like to be comfortable; I grew up in Florida, so the colors of the ocean will always be appealing to me. As for the wall color, it can stay or go- whatever you think (nothing bold and bright please). I am typically afraid to use color on any large areas (as you can see with all of the brown and cream in my two rooms) and prefer to keep colorful pops of color to the accessories. Thank you!!! -Shelly
This space is primed for a major makeover. Here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
1. Since Shelly likes a neutral base, we’d love to keep her existing cream sectional along with her tan wall tone and layer in some more warm sandy tones and a few deep chocolate furniture pieces for some rich dimension and tons of function. We’ll also bring in a few pops of teal (Shelly mentioned that she loved beachy tones) along with some juicy coral hues in the accessories to wake things up and add instant style and interest.
2. Shelly’s amazing expansive windows and the view of her backyard pool inspired us to bring in a lighter and breezier chandelier (on sale!) for above that great glass dining set in the eating area.
3. Replacing Shelly’s current TV stand with a gorgeous wall unit (on clearance for $1200 off!) will add tons of function to that entire wall while taking the focus off the big flatscreen (she can bring in gorgeous accessories in teal and coral for the shelves on either side).
4. And speaking of teal and coral accessories, we’d love a bunch of these sculptural vases on the media cabinet shelves to add a dash of color to the neutral space (they look just as fab without flowers as they do when they’re full of blooms).
5. Replacing Shelly’s existing white industrial fan with a crisp & current light-fan combo (on clearance!) will instantly update the family room while keeping things cool and shedding more light. And we love that the fan blades will subtly tie in with our woven coffee table that will be placed right below it.
6. Some breezy curtains are just what we need to draw attention to the best feature in the room- those gorgeous expansive glass doors and window that overlook the backyard pool. Hanging one super long curtain rod (JC Penney makes extra long rod extensions) across that entire bank of windows and doors and then adding four of these textured but neutral curtain panels (one on each side of the windows and one between each of the windows and doors) will make that wall look like one big pane of glass- and turn it into the focal point that it deserves to be!
7. These punchy teal, tan and coral pillows will tie the entire color scheme together and break up the large sectional to create a cozy and casual place to relax.
8. This soft blue and tan 8 x 10 wool rug will ground the seating area while adding a little pattern and contrast to the wood floors for maximum impact.
9. This woven square coffee table will fit perfectly in front of the sectional and add layered and casual style with interest to spare.
10. Here are some more punchy blue accessories (both under $20) that we’d love to see on the mantel in the dining area for a pop of color and some sinewy height. And speaking of the mantel, we really like the existing sunburst mirror and think it might look even better if it’s rehung a bit lower so it’s centered between the mantel and the ceiling. Bellisimo!
11. This chic patterned slipper chair (for just $299) can slip right into the corner where the old floral armchair previously sat. And this lovely white carved wood side table can be placed to the right of the chair (which can be angled in towards the coffee table) to add even more texture and pattern to the space while complementing the casual and easygoing vibe.
12. This round woven 8 x 8 jute rug (just $174!) will look amazing under the glass dining table while adding more of that airy and beachy vibe beneath that capiz shell chandelier. We also love how the texture ties in with the woven coffee table on the other side of the room and even roughly mimics the pattern on the slipper chair. This room is all about subtle details that come together for maximum impact.
13. Here are some coral vases that will add a few more splashes of our other accent color in the room to tie in with the gorgeous pillows on the sofa (another coral pillow would look great on the slipper chair by the way). We’d love to see the vase on the right as the centerpiece on that lovely glass dining table while the other two vases find a place to live on the media cabinet across the room for some cheerful cohesion in the entire space.
So there you have it. A family room full of casual and welcoming style. We can’t wait to see what you guys think- especially you Shelly! And if anyone else out there is in need of a custom makeover of their very own, click here for some decorating advice on the double.
Note: Our mood boards are now posted at least 48 hours after they’re sent to the client (so they have a chance to purchase everything before it sells out).
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Comments
nice coffee table choice! Really like how it relates to the rug for the dining area. Awesome job.
I just bought the wall unit you show in this mood board and we love it. It is exactly like the one Pottery Barn has and it is much cheaper. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a unit.
You can see it in our home at http://www.hearthstonehouse.net
under design
LOVE the mood board! Can’t wait to see the after pics.
I just voted, looks like you are catching up a little! Good luck!
Love it! These are the exact colors I’ve been trying to incorporate in my home, I feel like it was made specifically for me :)
I have a bit of a strange question for you:
I too am a fan of jute or natural woven rugs. However, my husband and I are thinking of starting a family soon and while we were on the subject of baby-proofing, we started discussing our jute rugs. Do you think they’ll be bad for small toddlers/children? I mean, they do collect a bit more dust and things, and often shed if it’s a loose weave, plus it can’t feel good to crawl on those things. What do you think? Should we plan on replacing our jute rugs for something a little more baby-friendly once we have kids?
Hey Chelsea,
Good question! We also wondered about that when we noticed that we have a thing for natural fiber rugs (they’re slowly taking over our house). We decided that if we ever have wee ones hanging out in a room with one (like the den for example) we would just throw down a big snuggly blanket for them to play on (most babies play on a blanket or a play pad or something like that anyway, so it feels like it might be a natural progression). I think if you vacuum and shake them out often enough you’ll keep things just as clean as a wool or cotton rug. Hope it helps!
xoxo,
Sherry
I love this mood board! I too am going for the neutral look with pops of brighter color and depth with furnishings….I pink puffy heart love this one! :) Cannot wait to see the after pictures! And thanks for the heads up on the media unit…what a steal!
Shelly – I would love to know where the dining room table and chairs are from. I’m looking for something similar for our kitchen.
Hi Colleen,
We got the table and chairs from Crate and Barrell. The table comes in dark brown or black in three sizes – essentially small, medium and large. We LOVED the table from the start and debated on the chairs as they were a bit more expensive than we wanted to spend. However, they are very well made and very comfortable so it was totally worth it! Happy shopping :)
Love this mood board! Especially the wool rug and the curtains.
Its hard to tell from the pictures, but I wonder if the sectional could be turned 180 degrees to take advantage of the great backyard views, make the room feel more open as well as give a better view of the fireplace…it might make it difficult to fit the TV in, though.
Ha! I have to comment on Chelsea and Sherry’s discussion on jute rugs and babies. I have a 22 month old daughter so I can speak with a little bit of experience. I think the idea of throwing down a blanket will work great – for the first 6-8 months or so until the baby starts crawling all over the place. Then they will definitely NOT stay on the blanket! So crawl around on your hands and knees yourselves to see if you think it’s comfortable or not. Then you decide. I love the look, but don’t have any myself as I like to sit on the floor and like a nice cushy rug, so don’t have any fiber rugs. Just thought I’d throw in a mother’s perspective. Oh, and I am not a nightowl – I am not posting at 1:00 in the morning! I live on the west coast and it’s only 10:02 PM – just wanted to clarify! :=)
Love your mood board!!
Where your inspiration come from to create a master piece like this??
Hey Barbara,
Good question! A lot of times our inspiration comes from pieces our clients already have that will stay in the room (like that great mirror above the fireplace, the room itself (the fireplace and all that glass really makes for a ton of raw potential) and the things that our clients indicate in their letter (for example, Shelly mentioned that she likes pops of color in the accessories so we decided to bring in some fun splashes of coral and teal). Hope it helps! So glad you guys are diggin’ our latest mood board!
xo,
Sherry
Thank you for such a wonderful mood board! I’ve already been to West Elm to check out a few of the pieces in real life and I LOVE the chair from Target; it’s already on order!
Thanks again! I’ll send some photos as soon as I can.
If anyone’s interested in a cheaper version of the pillows suggested, JCPenney has similar pillows for WAY cheaper and in similar colors as well. We have a few of the orange ones and they’re of nice quality. Only downside is that the covers aren’t removable, but for $15 we’re happy with them.
I love, love this room! Great colors Sherry! Quick question – do you think a similar look could be pulled off if the couch was a chocolate brown leather or would that mess up the color scheme?
Thanks!
Hey Tiffani,
A rich brown leather sofa would definitely work with this scheme. I say go for it! Just be sure to keep the curtains and the rug and the other accents (the walls, etc) lighter in comparison so the overall effect is still airy and breezy looking. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I have the capiz chandelier and the ceiling fan in my home and love them both! You’ll definitely enjoy them, Shelly – can’t wait to see the after pictures!