But before we step in, allow me to show you the way this room used to look a while back.
A little FYI:- The plaid couch and rug are now in the front room.
- The maroon chair and side table have been giving away.
- The tiered basket shelf and wine-colored cork shelf thingy on the wall are in the laundry room.
- The white curtains are in the attic... unsure what to do with them at this point.
- And thanks be to God, the paint color (that did NOT fess up to its peachy side until painted on the wall!!) is now gone.
But it's just that I had to wait four years to fix my painting faux paus, since other house projects took priority over redoing a wall we just did. It was a L.O.N.G. four years.
Truth be told, this room has been the bane of my Home Decorating Existence from Day One. It felt like no matter what I did, that odd fireplace, surrounded by wood paneled walls refused to be tamed into something appealing.
And trust me, I tried a little bit of everything...outside of spending additional money, that is.
Here's the OLD room from another perspective. (There are two doorways...one on either side of the entertainment center. This doorway leads to the kitchen....we have a circular first floor.)
Take note of the entertainment center. You'll soon see that it had a run in with some powertools. and lost.Anyway. Enough of the old view... little by little, we're making headway on the New Look. Ta- Da!
Though there are still things we want to eventually do, this works just fine for me!
Especially when my oldest niece came to visit, not knowing we had done anything to the room, her first reaction when walking in was "Wow! It feels so cozy!"
Did her hear her?? "Cozy". Mmmm, my favorite word.
Here's another perspective:
Complete with princess attire strewn on the cushions, right next to my laptop where I usually blog (only with the ottoman pushed over to my socked feet!) :)And yes, I so realize that we hung that beast of a picture frame up too high. But I haven't figured out how to best utilize that big ol' blank wall. (you know, without spending $$$).
And yet another perspective:
You can see the two paint colors we chose...the darker one is the accent wall.And those black towers...yeah, they hold CDs. But being that Alana likes to take them all out, I had to turn them around. in attempts to make her forget the fun little breakable things she so loves to dismantle.
The tall chimney cabinet (a yardsale buy!) holds all our DVDs, keeping them out of reach from little hands. But Raegan just pulls the chair over and climbs on up. Should I applaud the intuitive genius? :/
(Note: There are things you can buy to attach furniture to the wall, so children can't pull them down on top of their heads. Every piece of furniture in our home is braced against the wall just in case that intuitive genius goes a little astray.)
And another perspective:
of my trusty treadmill and the sweet design my husband set up so I can do other things while mindlessly walking. I'm so spoiled. ;)The treadmill is probably one of fifteen (?) total house items that we've bought from an actual retail store. Most of those items being frames from Costco. Really, it doesn't take spending loads of money to create a place you actually love being in.
It's all about patient pursuit of hidden treasures. found in the racks of Goodwill. Salvation Army. and yardsales.
Recognize those shelves? Yup. I hear the sound of a buzzsaw dismembering an entertainment center that was too big for this room anyway. I love the way that those tall shelves help to balance an otherwise obnoxious wall.And lets pretend that you were here for more than 10 minutes (which I'd hope you would be), this is what the room would really look like.
Only possibly worse. :) What can I say? We like to play.And this is where my little Lani would be perched.
Directly in front of the TV. either bopping to the music or messing up the TV screen, if the girls happened to be watching a DVD.She's one of the reasons (or so I say) that I'm saving up money to buy Jet a flatscreen TV for Christmas. Yes, he knows. I kind of needed to ask him his thoughts before trying to stockpile money he knew I was attempting to make. ;)
Outside of the treadmill (which was my every-occasion-known-to-man-gift for yearsss) we never do big presents. But for some reason, not too long ago, I thought about how I'd love to get him a flat screen.
He NEVER gets anything for himself. Really.
So I've been selling unused possessions on Craigslist for the last month... to use for Christmas money. I'd obviously have to sell a LOT in order to be able to have extra money left over to use on such an extravagant gift for Jet.
But *shrug* we'll see. If nothing else, I'll have enough money to get him something else. ;)
Anyway...were you here, surrounded by the toy-covered family room floor...this is what my family would inevitably be doing...after I asked them to clear a path in the middle of the floor. Again.
No, it's not some new form of kickboxing or Chinese torture where crazy 2 year-old gets hung upside down. though I'm sure it's a tempting form of discipline.They're actually playing The Nutcracker CD and dancing. ;) Our nightly ritual these
But apparently Alana is ready to move on to the kitchen, fearlessly leading the way...
Mowgli-style (think Jungle Book).She's "crawling" like that because, at the time of the picture (a week ago?), she wasn't walking, but SO wanted to put her feet to use. like the Big Girls.
Shall we follow her into the kitchen? I'm getting kind of hungry anyway. ;)
Sorry my time hanging with you in the Family Room has been a little chaotic. My two littlest are sick and my brain is wrapped up in snot-wiping and persuasively presenting naptime as a fun alternative to being to being with the older sisters.
Apparently, I need to work on my persuasive skills.
