Well, we did it! The family room makeover happened and I can’t wait to show you the before and after.
If you’ve been following along our journey here at the new house, we started renovating rooms shortly after moving in.
We moved just before the holidays and are painting rooms on the main floor to lighten it up.
The prior homeowners decorated with lots of dark heavy faux finishes that were very well done, but a little dark for our taste.
So we’ve been doing a lot of painting!
First, I painted the sunroom.
Then we renovated, primed, and painted the entire dining room.
And now, we wrapped up the family room.
IT LOOKS SO GOOD!!!!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it is AMAZING what a few cans of paint can do.
This room went from feeling very dark and dingy to a lighter, brighter space we actually want to hang out in.
And taking down the cabinet in the kitchen helped move this renovation along.
Wait until you see how good it looks now!!!
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Before the Family Room Makeover
Although the walls had a dark heavy faux finish on them, they weren’t all that bad.
They did a Venetian plaster on the walls and ceiling.
And even faux finished the trim.
The problem with it was the room felt very closed in.
In fact, the huge windows were covered with these gorgeous plantation blinds.
But we removed them shortly after moving in because they weren’t staying open and we wanted to see the exterior gardens from inside the house.
The former homeowners had lots of beautiful artwork that I’m sure they wanted to protect from all the natural light spilling into the home.
But we don’t have that, so we want to open it all up, brighten things up and bring the outdoors in.
Because the gardens here are seriously amazing.
Have you seen them yet? If not, CLICK HERE.
What is a Family Room?
The family room is a casual, all-purpose room where the family gathers and spends time.
And it’s a space that is a haven for family activities such as reading, watching television, or playing games.
Living Room vs Family Room: Which Is It?
Have you ever considered what the difference is between the two rooms in some ways, they are pretty much the same.
I know back in the day the living room was and probably still is a more formal, proper living space that is reserved more for guests than every day living with the family.
Living rooms were places where special items like statues and furniture that were special and required extra care were maintained.
However, in today’s world, many of us don’t decorate that way anymore and instead treat these spaces much more casually.
In our old house, we did not have a formal living room and a family room, and truthfully, we didn’t miss it.
We only had one living room. You can see it HERE.
We just kept our home very casual with things the kids couldn’t do too much damage too.
But now that my kids are older and we moved?
I’m still not about stuffy living spaces where people can sit, but I do love have both a living room and a family room.
How do you use your living room vs. family room?
Let me know in the comments.
How We Updated the Family Room
We are renovating the family room in two phases: 1) painting the walls, ceiling, and trim, and 2) painting the built-in cabinet.
For now, we wanted to lighted up the whole room, step back and see how it looks.
So we fixed the walls from regular wear and tear, primed and painted the room.
Oh and we also removed the big circle mirror that sat above the archway to the kitchen.
I knew this room would look good with a coat of paint, but I didn’t know how much.
Gah!
After the Family Room Makeover
So again, this is only after part 1 of the makeover.
Please don’t comment below that you think the built-in should be painted too, because I know it needs to be painted and it’s on the list for winter 2023 with the kitchen cabinets.
We can only do so much in a short period of time and have a LONG list of things we want to do here.
So we are prioritizing the projects.
If we get to it sooner, we will but for now, I can live with this while I start working on other projects, like the gardens outside.
Anyway, can you believe how much better it looks all painted????
I mean, shut the front door, right???
Chris added some moldings around where the kitchen cabinets used to be so we could make that look OK for now without damaging the walls.
To do it right, we’d have to remove that whole cabinet unit and we did not want to get into it right now if we could make it look good for the time being.
We are still working on this piece of the room to make it look a little more finished and eventually want to add stone veneer to this whole wall in both the kitchen and the family room.
Wouldn’t that look beautiful?
I’m also on the hunt for wall sconces that flank the arched opening.
But I’m not sure what I want to do yet because I’m still shopping around.
The Family Room Coffee Table
Do you guys recognize the coffee table?
I shared it with you a few weeks ago in my Friday Favorites.
It’s really beautiful and looks so good in my family room because it picks up the grays and adds a lot of texture to the room.
CLICK HERE to get the details on the table.
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Thank you so much for following along.
Enjoy a beautiful day! xo
