Fun Family Room Ideas!

So here in Texas we don't have basements, 
instead homes are built with upstairs game/ family rooms. 

So for rour upstairs game/family room, we wanted a cozy space for our family of seven. I decided early on that this was mostly going to be a kid/teen room, so I really didn't want to spend much money on decor - or even add much decor. But I wanted a place where we can all hang out watching movies together, or a comfortable space that my kids could hangout with their friends. 

So my husband Justin and I got to work and started planing! First, I drew up what kind of board and batten I wanted, then he started doing the measurements and bought the supplies. He also added a shelf lip to board and batten wall so that any picture frames wouldn't fall off. Then he built custom photo frames from scratch,  using chair rail molding at Lowes, and took the pics of everyone in our family. Taking the photos was the fun part as we smashed our faces onto the glass! 

(We wanted silly photos to show off our kid's personalities!) 

Now for the room layout, furniture and decor. The Ikea sectional faces a large wall with a tv on it and console table that is directly under the TV and the table holds the Xbox - because of that this room is the hot spot with the kids! The pillows also came from Ikea, with the exception of the bicycle pillow which came from Target. The table decor is wire apothecary jars that I already had.  And I bought a basket at At Home to place the decor in. The throw blankets I already has as well. 

This photo was taken a few days later when I went to Costco and bought these beautiful fresh flowers. The clock from Stein Mart. 
(In case you didn't know, Stein Mart has a great home decor section!)

Now I'm going to share my inspiration photo from taken from Ikea.
I found it on Pinterest a few years ago. 

My room space is much smaller than this Ikea photo, and I needed to keep walk way open to get to the bedrooms, so my family room has way less furniture and decor.

Hope that gives you a little inspiration on your next family room!

Living Room Update!

So after five years it was time to replace our living room sofa, two chairs, and rug. The chairs were stained and ripped - (I have five kiddos after all), and the sofa had water stains from constant cleaning from a one year old that loves to draw all-over EVERYTHING! 😉 I still love the stylish look of my old living room. The elegant linen nailhead sofa and two linen tufted wingback chairs were stunning. However, it just wasn't working for our family of seven. 

Sometimes as a designer, you have to be practical. In fact, that's the number one rule when working with clients. You have to make the space you're designing functional. Any space has to be able to meet the needs for what it's meant for. A gorgeous perfectly designed room will not work if the client can't use it properly. 

These new stone colored sofas totally fit  into my budget and gave me seating for almost my entire family. Plus, the fabric is more durable with small children. And did I mention how much more space we have by taking out the left chair? 

The coffee table is the same- we just turned it 90 degrees. We are going to paint it white and distressed in a couple weeks. And the rug, I love the rug, it pulls the room together. The pattern and gray color pallet gives the room a fresh updated look!

Small and simple changes can make a huge difference! But the biggest difference is how I feel. The new room feels more inviting for my family and friends. 

And that's when you know you make the right decorating choices! :)

A Texas Style Teen Bedroom!

My daughter is a true Texas teen- she loves cowboy boots, country music, saying y'all, and rustic decor! So it was only natural that she wanted her bedroom to have a some southern flair!

The biggest challenge was keeping to a strict budget! I only had a few hundred dollars to transfer this gal's room! So, believe it or not we took a stab at Goodwill for a dresser- and we found the perfect black one complete with mirror - and for only $75.00! It needed a little TLC -so we touched it up with some paint. Then we went to Hobby Lobby for all the rustic decor. They had everything we needed - the wall signs, the letter K, the tray and boxes. We also got the puffs from there and used fishing line to hang them from he ceiling. The black Parson chair and gray throw I already had, and we bought the ya'll pillow at Hobby Lobby as well. 

I wanted bedding to fit the style of the room, yet easy on the budget. We found all the pieces at At Home. In my opinion it's not worth spending at ton of money on a teenagers bedding-espically a girl. Because what I have found over time is the bedding easily gets stained with make up, writing utensils or food. I did add layers of types of bedding (comforter, and two quilts) to make the bed look fuller. 

My daughter's favorite part of the room is the silk sunflowers we got at Michaels. She says she wants sunflowers at her wedding someday. 

 She loves the room and I love it too! And the best part we stayed in budget!

Pops of Color in the Living Room!

So I'm so excited to show you a client's beautiful home I've been working on! This room has all the stylish trends going on including: aqua, navy and gray-some of the hot colors for 2017!

 We started with a gray and white color pallet- then added the the navy, coal and aqua as the accent colors with accessories.

My client had bought the Ikea Ektorp sofas two years ago with white slip covers- but they just didn't stay clean with five kids and a dog. She constantly found herself washing them every other week. So we updated them with brand new the gray covers- they're turned great! They're so classy and they stay clean!

The pillows needed have pops of colors to accent the darker couches- so navy, white and coral became an ideal combination. Texture also played a role in what pillows were chosen because we wanted to convey interest and depth. The pillows came from Etsy and Pottery Barn.

For the coffee table decor we started by making a trip to At Home (formerly know as Garden Ridge). The lantern was the first thing picked, and then the rest of the decor fell into place! The aqua vase and picture frame also came from At Home. The unique decorator books were purchased on ColorMille. 

With five children, she also needed a durable, washable coffee table. So this one from Wayfair did the trick!

This custom made "this is our happy place" sign from The Rustic Sparrow Shop. It has such a beautiful message and really pulls this space together. It also creates such an uplifting presence in the room.

Next up is decorating the fireplace mantle- and there are already big plans in the works for it! I can't wait to share!

The Cozy Corner

The master bedroom just became much cozier!

This corner in the master bedroom was just too bare! I decided to liven it up to by adding some texture and a punch of color. I used the fuzzy turquoise throw and geometric patterned pillow to add interest to the linen tufted armchair.

Because I love metallics - I could not resist getting this silver accent table. Now it's perfect for nestling up with a good book on chilly fall nights!