A New Redesign

A little while ago I helped a client work on redesigning her traditional family room. The budget was small ($300) and we mostly focused on a few tweaks and rearranging the furniture to open up the space more. She has two small kids and a large extended family that likes to come and hang out too.

Here is the before (I know it’s a terrible picture, but it was taken on my phone on a cloudy day - but you get the idea):

The loveseat was blocking the awesome stone fireplace which we wanted to make the focal point of the room. The tv is on the opposite wall and therefore everything was angled to face it. We switched things around so that you can still easily view the screen, but it also flowed better in the space. Plus, it was really dark in the room (even on a sunny day) with dark couches, dark rug, dark curtains, dark pillows, etc. and we wanted to brighten it up and make it feel more inviting.

Here is the after:

The breakdown:

• bought a new lighter rug on Overstock
• new throw pillows
• new art ( the big piece over the couch and we hung a family portrait in a frame she already had and then spray painted it green to give a little more color)
• new lighter curtains (we used curtains she already owned, but wasn’t using!)
• painted it a nice taupe to give the walls more depth
• painted the mantle so that it complemented the fireplace better
• brought in a rocking chair from her living room to fill in a “naked” corner
• bought a throw blanket and floor lamp
• rearranged the floorplan to make it more open and flow better - they opted to leave out a coffee table since they loved having all the free space for the baby to play, and now just use the ottoman (and move it around) as a coffee table