Family Room Design help

blair6211

I moved into my new home a couple of months ago but haven't touched the family room in terms of redecorating.  I need some major help painting & decorating!  The carpets and couch are staying but everything else needs to be changed.  I attached some pics- anyone have any design ideas?? 

musictchr25

I think you need to take advantage of the fireplace in this space.  While it looks as though the room is somewhat separated by the framing between the fireplace and the rest of the room, you need to incorporate the fireplace into your space.  Putting a conversation table and two chairs or a small chaise in front of the fireplace with a nice lamp would be a nice touch.  Also, you can add some wooden shelving to the left side of the fireplace that matches the mantle, that way you have additional storage and a way to show off more of your pictures instead of having so many on the mantle.  Adding some height to the mantle too with candlesticks, and even a mirror will help reduce the clutter and add visual interest.  

I know that you want to keep the couch, but I honestly think it's too large for the space.  The fact that it is longer than the room is wide is an issue, and is cutting the room in half by being placed in the center of the space.  It does, however, look like it is a sectional, so if you could remove one or two of the pieces in the middle to make it a little less wide, I would do that. It would fit much better in your space and not divide up the room as much, and you wouldn't have to buy additional chairs because you could still use those extra pieces in the room.  

I would only keep the television on that wall if you remove the extra pieces from the sectional. If you don't remove the sectional pieces, you should try to put the couch against a wall so that the space is opened more.  The issue with this is where to put your television. I'm not sure how of the dimensions of your space, but that may end up being an issue with being seated too far from the television.  If you want to keep the television on that wall, I would center it between the framing by the fireplace and the window, and find some taller matching storage pieces to go on each side to frame it.  And I like the little console table that it is placed on, but to help make it look cleaner, I would mount the television to the wall and use a cable hiding system to run the wires down to the component boxes on the console.  

For behind the couch, if you keep it in the middle of the room, I would find a long but skinny table that you can put directly behind it to hold a lamp and some decorative accents.  Also, remove the bar-top table that you have and put in a desk and a bookshelf for a work area, unless you already have an office that you use.  If you don't need a desk in that area, buy some storage furniture to put all of your kids' toys in, that way they are out of sight when you want them to be, but can still be accessed by your children.  

Don't be afraid to put a rug down over a rug, too.  Adding in a heavy rug will help anchor the room and reduce the amount of beige that is currently there. Plus, with having young children, a beige or light colored carpet is usually not a good thing, so it will help to protect the more used areas as well.  I would go with a light scroll-like on a darker red rug, but make sure that it's a heavy and structured rug, because lighter ones, like a flatweave, will move around too much and bunch up when placed on a plush wall-to-wall carpet. 

In terms of color, I would paint the walls a gray-blue color, and match your finishes and accent with with browns and reds.  It looks as though your style is a little more traditional, so keep the patterns simple with scrolls and light embroidery, but keep away from florals, as that will date your space.  Move your curtain rods up to the ceiling, as this will help the ceilings look taller.  For artwork, grab some plain white canvases from the craft store, and prime them red or green, then get your kids to paint over them in any design they want using the gray-blue wall color.  This is an easy way to get your kids involved and show off a little bit of their artwork - the plus side being that doesn't stand out too much because the colors match the space. 

I hope that this is helpful! Feel free to contact me if you need any clarification, or if you want ideas on specific furniture or paint colors!

AutumnRennie

Paint the fireplace white to brighten and open up the interior.  I would add A LOT of open storage for the little ones' toys and equipment.  I have a motley of ideas on my Indoor Learning Environments Pinterest Board that might give you some inspiration as well.  Good luck with the renovation!