Our family room is suffering from the brown blahs. I am on a mission to change that little by little this year. We spend at least 65% of our time at home in this room and it is BORING.
The dark brown Rhys media suite from Pottery Barn dominates one wall. On the opposite wall there is a tan sectional. A dark wood coffee table and an end table are the other pieces of furniture in the room, along with a this leather club chair & ottoman. The floor is a beige wall-to-wall carpet called Sugar Cookie and the walls are Liveable Green from Sherwin Williams.
See what I mean? B-O-R-I-N-G! I'm drowning in earth tones!
Because this room is so central to our home and our life in it, we never really took the time to "design" it or think through any of the purchases we were making. Sounds counter intuitive I know but we just needed furniture! We moved in and needed a couch so we bought one. We needed an entertainment center for the TV so we bought one. Little by little, without any forethought or planning, we effectively furnished the room. I think a lot of people fall into this trap.
Then one day I stepped back and realized how bland it all is. It's a comfortable and functional space but it has zero color and and is pretty dark overall. Two windows flank the fireplace. Until a few months ago they were dressed with...you guessed it BROWN curtains (what the hell was wrong with me?!) Apologies for the terrible photos but I never took a before pic and this was the only image I could dig up that sort of shows the curtains.
They needed to go! I wanted something much lighter with a bit of color. I fell in love with this pair on Etsy but was not feeling the price for 84", unlined pole pocket drapes. The ceiling in the family room is 10' so I needed at least 108" drapes. I recognized the fabric from one of my favorite textile resources, Premier Prints so I placed the order.
If you've never made curtains before, you should absolutely give it a try. You need minimal sewing skills to make pole top, unlined curtains. You literally need to hem 3 sides and fold over and sew the top to make a pocket. That's it. The most important part is the measuring and cutting but with a graphic pattern like this chevron, you can just follow the lines (ie. cut along the triangle tip). I went the extra step and lined them but that's really not necessary.
So here they are! It's amazing how they instantly made the room feel airier and brighter. It's also amazing how the BLUE chevron stripes immediately looked green when I hung them in a green room. Weird how that happens. Now I want to paint the room :(
Because this room is so central to our home and our life in it, we never really took the time to "design" it or think through any of the purchases we were making. Sounds counter intuitive I know but we just needed furniture! We moved in and needed a couch so we bought one. We needed an entertainment center for the TV so we bought one. Little by little, without any forethought or planning, we effectively furnished the room. I think a lot of people fall into this trap.
Then one day I stepped back and realized how bland it all is. It's a comfortable and functional space but it has zero color and and is pretty dark overall. Two windows flank the fireplace. Until a few months ago they were dressed with...you guessed it BROWN curtains (what the hell was wrong with me?!) Apologies for the terrible photos but I never took a before pic and this was the only image I could dig up that sort of shows the curtains.
They needed to go! I wanted something much lighter with a bit of color. I fell in love with this pair on Etsy but was not feeling the price for 84", unlined pole pocket drapes. The ceiling in the family room is 10' so I needed at least 108" drapes. I recognized the fabric from one of my favorite textile resources, Premier Prints so I placed the order.
If you've never made curtains before, you should absolutely give it a try. You need minimal sewing skills to make pole top, unlined curtains. You literally need to hem 3 sides and fold over and sew the top to make a pocket. That's it. The most important part is the measuring and cutting but with a graphic pattern like this chevron, you can just follow the lines (ie. cut along the triangle tip). I went the extra step and lined them but that's really not necessary.
So here they are! It's amazing how they instantly made the room feel airier and brighter. It's also amazing how the BLUE chevron stripes immediately looked green when I hung them in a green room. Weird how that happens. Now I want to paint the room :(
I swear they're blue!
It's one small step to "de-browning" the room. Coffee tables/end tables need to go next, probably in favor of a lighter and softer ottoman as Knox gets more mobile. And the bookshelf towers that are part of the Rhys media suite might as well have a sign on them that say "climb me" so I think we'll need to re-think a solution for that wall as well. I'm REALLY trying to not make the same mistakes as last time - piece mealing the room together one thing at a time but rather taking the time to think through how everything will work and look together.
One quick fix I might tackle...that big mirror over the fireplace. Stay or go? I've considered gold leafing & glazing it for a bit of sparkle OR just spray painting it (white?). Thoughts?
One quick fix I might tackle...that big mirror over the fireplace. Stay or go? I've considered gold leafing & glazing it for a bit of sparkle OR just spray painting it (white?). Thoughts?
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