FAMILY ROOM MAKEOVER AT WAYNE & SUZY'S

I’ve been doing room makeovers, updating and refreshing spaces for years. When I created my own website and blog last year I started documenting and sharing the details of my home updates, decor, design and DIY projects. In November, my sister in law Suzy asked me to help refresh her home. In 30 minutes we had a plan to makeover three rooms before Christmas! The rooms updated were the main floor bathroom, the master bathroom and the family room. Check out my blogs on the bathroom updates (main floor bathroom HERE and master bathroom HERE ).

The bathroom updates are impressive but my absolute favorite transformation in their home (so far) is the family room (scroll to end of blog post for all the before/after pictures!) We transformed and updated the room into a magazine worthy space. The best part is many of the updates are MEANINGFUL! For instance, we took a heirloom dining room table (that was destined for storage) and turned it into a coffee table. We created a statement mirror wall using an antique mirror that once hung in Suzy’s grandmothers home. Better late than never and today I’m finally sharing all the details on the family room makeover at Wayne & Suzy’s and how we updated, refreshed and completely transformed the room into a light, airy and meaningful space.

Rug

When updating, refreshing or redoing a room I always suggest finding one piece you love that inspires you and design the room around it. For the family room that piece is this rug. I LOVE this rug and I have to give Suzy 100% of the credit here. She found this rug on Pinterest and instantly knew it was THE one for her family room update. She was able to use her super sleuth skills to figure out the brand name, style name and color. My only assistance was helping her choose the correct size for her space (we went with the largest available 8.10×12). The rug is 100% wool, is medium pile and looks and feels very high quality. It’s a Millstadt area rug from Boutiquerugs.com HERE. The cost was under $500 and for the size and quality of this 100% wool rug she got a GREAT deal. This rug completely ties this entire room together. It’s perfect. Good job Suzy! The rug is the foundation piece that the rest of the room was designed around.

Chairs

The leather Barkalounger chairs were more of a splurge BUT JUST LOOK AT THEM! They are gorgeous and unbelievably comfortable with three way recliner, foot extension and nail head trim. These chairs make the room look so rich. Another great find by Suzy! She scored these leather Barkaloungers at ilovefabs for 70% off retail! I’ve shared with many of my followers who live in Louisville to check out this store! My home is full of many great deals found there that I’ve purchased 50-75% off retail. The Barklaloungers are the discontinued version of the Ashbrooke chairs that currently retail for $1600 EACH and she walked away with these two high quality leather chairs for under $900 for both! Score!

DIY dining table made into coffee table

This coffee table was a dining room table! Thanks to my BIL Wayne, he DIY’d it to create the perfect piece for the center of the room. The solid oak pedestal dining table was an heirloom from Suzy’s mother’s home. Unfortunately, the table does not match the aesthetic or décor of their kitchen (the table is honey oak and their kitchen is expresso dark brown). Therefore, this special table was on its way to storage. Suzy had the idea to remove the leaf, cut down the pedestal and turn the dining table into a coffee table for the family room! GENIOUS! The honey oak table turned into coffee table is a perfect solution for a beautiful heirloom piece for the room. Instead of the table going into storage to be forgotten, Wayne was able to cut down the pedestal and turn it into a necessary and functional (and meaningful) coffee table that Suzy uses every single day and thinks of her mother when she does. So special!

Wall paint

To make it easy on Wayne and Suzy I narrowed down their wall paint colors to three great options (all that would work well in their space so NO wrong decisions when choosing a favorite). All three colors were complimentary to their room and give them the end result they desired. The color options I provided them were all light and neutral (BM Ivory White, BM White Dove and SW Alabaster).

PRO TIP: When choosing wall color paint colors always consider the existing floor color (they have honey oak wood floors), trim color (theirs is white), the amount of natural light in the room (they have some windows and the room faces north) and existing decor staying in the space. These ALL matter when selecting a paint color to paint a wall!

I provided Wayne & Suzy with their three color choices by giving them 12 x 12 Samplize samples (I highly recommend using these…read the blog about them HERE
They were able to see the large color samples in different light, different times of day in different areas of the room to decide which color they liked best for their room. After one week studying the Samplize paint samples they decided to paint the room walls Benjamin Moore Ivory White. It’s a creamy warm white with a subtle yellow undertone (paint undertone will make or break the room). It’s a timeless and elegant color and works beautifully in their space. As you can see in the picture below the yellow undertone of the white paint they chose is complimentary to the decor and furniture color in the room. .

Focal point

Every room needs a focal point. Before the makeover the existing fireplace was overshadowed by the room layout and oversized furniture. To make the fireplace a focal point we re-arranged the room to highlight the fireplace instead of overshadow it. The existing fireplace has a beautiful wood mantle with rich marble so it needed to be noticed! By mounting the TV above the fireplace and re-arranging furniture to face the TV/fireplace we made it the focal point of the room.

Clean out the clutter

Another way we updated their space was to remove several oversized pieces of furniture that was making the room cramped and crowded which made the room feel way smaller than it actually is. The room is quite large but with a sofa, 2 chairs, armoire, piano, chest of drawers, huge dining room table and 6 dining room chairs it was so cramped! We took out a large corner armoire (they sold it and put the $ into the room update), the oversized dining table and chairs (moved to the kitchen where they match much better). Also got rid of an accent chair and an oversized tufted ottoman (used in other parts of the house).

Statement mirror art

Suzy has an antique ornamental mirror that she got from her mother. She remembers this mirror hanging in her grandmother’s home and it is now a treasured family heirloom. I absolutely love what we did with it! Wayne, Suzy and I all went out to all the 2nd hand stores in Louisville and purchase gold mirrors in different shapes and sizes. Once we had several mirrors (we also used a couple picture frames for filler pieces) we put them on the ground until we had a pattern and layout that we all liked. Then hung them on the wall as statement mirror art. Mirrors are GREAT pieces to decorate with as they reflect a lot of light and create an open and light feel to a room. Can you tell which mirror is the heirloom?

Reuse, repurpse and recycle

One of my favorite parts of updating a space is figuring out ways to reuse, repurpose and recycle items in the home for decor. This is also a great way to keep the cost of a makeover down. Of course, a few new pieces are nice and necessary but reusing what you already have can save lots of money! The majority of the decor we used in the family room makeover was existing decor. Some of the new pieces purchased are: chairs (ILOVEFABS.com), rug (boutiquerugs.com), throw pillows (Amazon and Big Lots), mango wood bowl runner on fireplace mantle (Kirklands), mesh fireplace screen in antique gold (Amazon), table plants (Home Goods), gold side sofa tables (Home Goods).