Finally! I’m finally posting another room in my House Tour.
What was suppose to be a once-a-week or even twice-a-week tour hasn’t been toured in 5 weeks. Ack! Sorry ’bout that.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…
House Tour: Family Room
I took all these today, pretty much as-is. I did spend a few frantic minutes shoving all the extra crap out of the way. If you look closely in the kitchen or on the stairs you can see that we are quite the slobs around here. 😉
Do I need a disclaimer for all the stuff? I feel like a broken record about my house. I moved in less than a year ago. I can’t decorate every room top to bottom plus loads of renovations (moulding, etc) in a day. This is my journey. It’s a process peeps.
Having said that, the huge banner across the room my kids made for me for Mother’s Day. The balloons were for Ben’s 34th birthday on May 4th. The moulding was recently hung and looks kinda sloppy because I haven’t finished painting it.
I have blogged ad nauseum about the Family Room, so instead of linking to every single post I’ve ever made about the topic, you can see them all here. Let’s just start with some good ol’ before and afters, shall we?
The entry way looks especially yellow in these photos. Trust me, it is not. It’s a very pale buttery yellow.
I am just bursting at the seams with so many ideas for this house. I can’t wait to tackle each and every project. But for now, I’ve decided to finish the dining room before tackling any other room.
Yes, we still have the ugly desk and the lamp that doesn’t match. And how can I incorporate a hideous dog cage into my decor? Maybe I should buy a cute dog bed and move the cage to the laundry room. Hmmm, that’s an idea…
You can see the 2nd rail I added for my Dremel video {suppose to be} debut. I love having a 2nd rail there. I think it’s really cute having little fake plants hanging from the cabinet. It gives it some life.
Wanna know an insider secret? The yellow bread box on the counter is a project I’ve been working on for A YEAR. Yes, a year. I’m still not done. But one day, I’ll bust out the Silhouette, cut some vinyl, and finish the dag-gum project and tell you guys all about it. It’s really quite pathetic, I know. I could have started and finished the project in less than 3 hours tops, but I just keep putting it off.
Also, my Father in Law said my wreath looked like a huge powdered donut. I really like the wreath, but now I can’t help but see a donut every time I look at it, and that makes me sad, because I really really liked it.
No, Ben is not barfing. He’s loading the dishwasher. Yes, Ben loads the dishwasher; and he unloads it. Be very jealous.
I was going to make a list here of everything I’ve done to the family room since we moved in last August, but then I realized that more than half my posts have been about the Family Room, and that was just going to take me way too long to aggregate them all, so here’s my archives if you want to go re-read my entire blog.
I will point out though that last week I hung an obscene amount of moulding. I framed out 5 windows and added chair rail to the entire dining room. I used the leftover chair rail in the family room, hence the reason there’s only 2 pieces of chair rail on my walls (10 points if you even noticed that little detail).
I finished painting all the new trim in the dining room, but the poor family room is now sitting half painted.
So, are you just dying to see the before and after’s side-by-side; or should I say one on top of the other?
I knew it. I’m dying to see them too.
Here you go!
There you have it. The 4th room of the house tour. I’ll try to do the kitchen next. After that, I may start blending rooms together into one post. I haven’t done much of anything to the entire upstairs so there really aren’t any before and after’s to show. Only horrible befores.
Here’s a quick list off the top of my head of what we want to to in the Family Room:
* curtains and rod on all 4 windows
* new door to backyard
* moulding around entire fireplace
* new desk, chair, and lamp
* hang TV on wall
* chair rail and boxes under chair rail
* staircase overhaul
* doors on bookshelves
* trim out bookshelves with moulding so they look like built-ins
* dark hand scraped wood flooring (or engeneered hardwood) throughout entire downstairs
* new seating arrangement (move brown sectional to game room upstairs)
* 2 nice chairs by window (get rid of big chair and ottoman posing as a chair)
I’m sure I can think of about 25 more things to add to that list, but I’ll stop there. 😉
Here are the other rooms toured so far:
Piano Room
Office
Dining Room
Emily says
So, I have to admit, I wasn’t (am not?) in love with the grey walls. But, they have toned down the yellow in the tiles SO much! I mean, the tiles look almost orange in the before pictures, and as I am looking at them, I am thinking, “Oh gosh, that isn’t going to look good with the grey paint” but then the grey paint is just so soothing. I really like how it looks in your house. 🙂
Piper says
Yay- you brought back the house tour! I totally related to you when you said you felt sad about being told your wreath looked like a giant powdered doughnut. I made one last year and tightly packed the papers together and it came out resembling tripe. Yes, as in the rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle. *cringe* (See for yourself: http://www.piperisthankful.com/2010/12/im-thankful-i-finally-finished-coffee.html) At first that really bothered me. But now I’m back to absolutely loving it. They add nice texture to the room. 🙂
Amanda says
it’s looking good! We’re in the middle of doing our living room and dinning room! it’s coming along and i can’t wait to post before and after pictures! yours is looking great!
Lisa says
Have you thought about putting a dog bed in a nightstand? I have seen it on Decorating Cents on HGTV. Use a nightstand that has a single drawer and is open at the bottom. They put the dog bed in the bottom part of the nightstand and put curtains on the front. It was adorable. Or you can just buy a rattan dog crate, although they are expensive!
Kathy says
I love how it’s all coming along. It’s amazing how much you have accomplished in less than a year. You’re on a roll. Great job.
angie @ The Cellar Door Stories says
love your tour! and ok, now that you mention it…..it does remind me a little of a powdered donut. but guess what? i looooooove powdered donuts, so it’s all good!
Kiana Markham says
Hi, I love how your house is coming along!
You asked “And how can I incorporate a hideous dog cage into my decor?”
I saw the perfect solution for you at http://www.Ana-White.com. Not sure if you heard about her, but I know that you would love the site.
here is the dog kennel / end table solution for you dog cage problem.
http://www.ana-white.com/2010/10/large-wood-pet-kennel-end-table
Upscale Downhome says
Your wreath is really cute but I did laugh out loud when your father in law said it looked like a doughnut because that is something my boys would say to me. I’ll be all proud of a project and then they say something to make it silly. I understand your house being a project because we are all in the same boat. Looking good so far!
Chris B says
I can’t believe all you have done in one year. It looks great! I have always liked your wreath but now that you think it looks like a donut, I like it more. mmmm donut.
Vivienne @ The V Spot says
I happen to love powdered donuts.
Haley says
You should put an old milk bottle, if you can find something similar, with a couple glasses under the wreath the next time your father in-law visits as a joke!
Nadia says
Just happened by your blog and love the grey walls. Can you tell me what color it is?
Holly says
I just found your blog today. I LOVE the wreath and I DO NOT think it looks like a doughnut. At all. I also feel your pain about choosing paint colors. I’m painting my bedroom grey and I have 5 colors on the wall so far. Three of them look blue! Your family room looks fabulous now – I love the moulding you added around the windows. I wouldn’t have thought of that.
misty says
Hey i love the color you used in livingroom. Would you please tell me. Ive got mine painted a dark gray and I hate it I wanted a lighter one to feel open and airy and this gray I have is too ummm cozy I guess you could say lol. So I’d love to do the color you have if you dont mind me asking. :}