At Home: Family Room Updates

When I last shared photos of our family room, we were at the beginning stages of completing that room. We had renovated the space completely...to check it out at the very first before stage, go here.

Coming off the renovation, I was using many of the things I had already owned.  Budget is a major consideration.  So maybe rugs went down that weren't my ideal choices.  I think rooms evolve over time. As time has passed, I have been able to switch out the rugs or add in better pillows. Rooms are successful when they have great bones and solid pieces layered with lots of little details that make the space unique to you.  Kinda like a scrapbooking page.

This room gets the most use in the house.  The kids live up there so I wanted to keep it casual and friendly.

Before:

Rust rug was under the small dining table.  The bookcase and wall were not decorated.

I loved the counter area and had that great shelf, which I inherited from my mother-in-law.

Now: 

I changed out the rust rug to put down a tan one.  It has a totally different pattern than the large floral, but is the same color tone.  I really love geometric prints so I wanted to add them to several rooms.

This is the counter area now.  The shelf is layered with finds from Home Goods, Target and flea markets.  I love the Elephant Trunk flea market in New Milford, CT.  So many treasures to be found.  I also get a lot of my signs and other decorations from Big Lots.  They are many deals to be found.

The addition of the gallery wall just happened this month.  I wasn't sure what to put there for the longest time.  I have a ton of gallery walls that are more random and unstructured.  I wanted this one to be symmetrical and linear.  

Want to know a secret?  I made those ten prints using very inexpensive frames from Jo'anns and art prints from this book:

I bought this at Home Goods three years ago and loved the cover.  I decided to tear out my favorite flower prints and frame each one.  The book cost about $8.00 and each frame only cost $2.65 (I waited for the 40% sale).  Making your own art allows you to cater to your existing style and color palatte at a fraction of the cost.

I made sure to lay out all ten prints before hanging.  I wanted to be sure to even space out the ones that showcased one large floral and the ones that showed two skinny ones.  It helped me achieve a balance.  Kinda like scrapbooking.

Next up, I need to get a seat cushion for the bench.  I plan to make one of my own as soon as I decide on a fabric.  Then I think I will be satisfied with this area for a while.

I will be back next week to show how the other side of the room has changed too!