Has A Place

Hey!!

So you all know that I have been going back and forth, and back again with the family room. I really am starting to find my niche in this room.

I am really debating on painting the armoire/huge red cabinet that I absolutely love but don't want to ruin it by painting it.

Here's the before:








Let me know what you think, should I paint it?  And what color dark or light?  I'm thinking dark but I also like light?

I'm having a war with myself right now, I need help!

Happy Almost Weekend!  I'm so glad it is finally here. Although I have a ton of work to do around my house I am still excited to not be WORKING.

I have been changing up the family room alot. I just can't seem to make it "work" for me. I spend alot of time in there so it always seems to change with my moods, interests, or just plain craziness.

I am finally honing in on a "style" I think the red has been throwing me off. I am not a red person, never have been, so why would I ever want a "red" room.

It's ironic because the reason the room has red accents in the first place is because of the antique TV cabinet I purchased on craigslist a few years ago. It's red.  So I have been trying to make it work for me for a long time.

I like to check out craig and his list every now and again to see what he has to offer. Just recently I came across this little beauty:

Here it is, after looking at these pictures I sigh. This time of year is exhausting. Not only do I decorate alot but the parties, gift giving, cooking, baking and I don't even have children yet!  But I love it, I wouldn't change it, I may change my mind when I have to put it all away again.

As a first year blogger I have to say we as Americans have some talent!  It's not easy taking things and making them beautiful or making a house into a home. And I have seen many many homes and I'm happy that others feel the same way as I do walking into their front doors...

Let the tour begin...

Front Porch:

Hi All, Thanks so much for the very sweet comments on my fall porch and master bedroom posts. I really enjoyed linking up to so many great blogs. I'm getting the hang of this blogging thing!

A few weeks ago now I started my family room update and I challenged myself to only spend $200 and update the entire room, to be more cohesive and inviting. I liked what I did, but I wasn't in love. I really spend alot of time in that room and I want to love it.  So I started researching some more and found a few things that I liked. A gallery wall, yea, they are crazy expensive if you have to purchase the frames, and can become massive and cluttered very quickly. I tried it. It was only about $50 for the whole wall but I felt it was too busy. Not my taste. I was starting to think "what is your taste exactly?"

Then, I decided to go looking for a large enough piece for the wall, I ended up with a very modern piece from Kirkland's. It was huge, about $50 as well. I took it home expecting it to grow on me. As I pondered, obsessed, and pondered, and obsessed, it wasn't growing on me. It was too harsh, not my style. So I took it back, and there I was back at square one again.

So now where do you start, I could surf the Internet, again and again looking for inspiration. Or I could just look within the room itself. I was going for a light and airy feel, with cohesion and coziness. As I was looking at this huge empty wall, I saw the pillow from pottery barn. It the pattern was organic and the bird natural.



A little tropical, but not so much. Lets see if I can find some images I can print myself and add to some frames I found on sale at sears. I picked up these 16x20 frames for about $13. And I printed some 11x14 sepia colored images I found online. I think it turned out good. They fit the wall perfectly and they are much lighter giving the room a more airy feel. I also decided the red lamps were a bit much and with the new organic/nature inspired images. I exchanged them for some wood "leaf" lamps to go along with the new redo.

What do you think?  Which option do you like the best?  Did I make the right choice?  Let me know!

Option #1


Option #2
 Option #3
 Option #4, What I have decided on.
In this last photo, you can see the lamps, They have square lamp shades. I think they work quite well.

Let me know what you think?  Have a great week!

I know its been a while, but I have been busy. This project was supposed to be quick, yea right!  If you know anything about me then you know I tend to obsess easily as well as demand perfection. I've been called a perfectionist a few times in my day!  I don't think there is anything wrong with perfection, however, I can interfere with daily function sometimes :)

So in my first post to you I told you that I hated my family room. I guess "hate" is a really strong word. It was more dysfunctional and not "perfection", you know, what I'm always looking to accomplish. I also told you that I could change it for about 200 dollars. Well 200 was a bit steep, I am at about 300 dollars, more like 275. But I think the extra was worth it in the end. I never knew how hard a "perfect pillow" search would be. Seriously, I feel like pillows were consuming my life <--- weird. Anyway, I took a ton, like a gaaaaaazzzzillion photos. Here they are:

You remember the before:

So it can be done!! I updated the family room to be a more cohesive style. I even splurged for the pottery barn pillows. However, I did end up spending around 250 and not 200. It was a bummer. But I just cant find good pillows anywhere. I hate it. I could have went into target and got something that I "liked" but why not go for something I LOVE! So I have been on the hunt for some new pillows. I have now come to hate throw pillows. They make or break a room, I think. And if they are wrong you spent a ton of money for nothing. From my research a good large couch pillow is about $30 retail. I guess you could make them yourself, but I really don't have time to do all that. Plus once you buy the fabric its yours. Pillows, you can try and take back if you don't like them. So in comes my pottery barn pic I showed in the last post.

But yea, those pillows weren't happening, like 450 for 5, yea right. over my dead body. So I went searching there website. They have:


I got two of each, my pillows from the couch should fit in them just fine. I do want to get down inserts so I will be on the lookout for those.  They were all $30 each with free shipping, and most of the pillows I have found are 30 or more. So I just decided to pick some that I would love. I think these will go great on the couch.

So here is the layout:


So there's the update so far. Just waiting on the pillows and making up my mind. Have a great rest of the week!