Finally. It's Done!

The last time we redid our family room was when Brock was baptized. That was 16 years ago. We had my brother put up a chair rail and crown molding and painted it two tones: white on top, peach on the bottom.

We ordered blinds that matched the paint and then bought carpet that tied it all together. It was supposed to be a medium to medium-dark shade.

Well. When they rolled out the new carpet we had just purchased it was super light and kind of pink.

Gasp!

But we lived with it for 16 years until I was ready to rip the carpet out and live on cement. It was beyond cleaning. It had outlived its usefulness. (See below.)

Finally, Boyd and I had some funds to redo this room.


In April of 2010 we asked my brother to rip out the fireplace and tear out the wall and see just what was behind the fireplace.


We discovered two things in the opening behind the fireplace.

First of all, there was just one wall, I repeat, one wall that had insulation.

It was no wonder that all winter long we would feel a cold, northerly wind blowing in from the bottom of the fireplace.


And second: the opening was not centered in the middle of the wall. It was off-center about 18 inches and was very noticeable.

That kind of shot our plan to pieces. We were going to have this nicely centered nook in our family room that we could fit an entertainment center in, thereby giving us more room in the actual living space of our tiny family room.

We called a friend who is an interior decorator for advice. He told us what he thought would look nice.

We couldn't decide what to do that would work for us.

After we got the walls taped and mudded, we put a hold on the room.

We stopped all of our progress during the summer.


One day I had a flash of inspiration. The man who helped design our kitchen cabinets might know what to do.

We called him and sure enough,he had the best ideas!

We decided to incorporate his idea to custom build an entertainment center and use some tricky plans to center it in the room.

While we waited 8 weeks for it to be built, we mulled over and over what color to paint the family room.

One night I was watching a movie called "Dear John". The woman in the show had this blue family room that was so striking.

I asked Boyd what he thought about blue.

He thought it sounded cool.

We searched and searched for the right color and thought we had found it.

I painted the entire room and when it was finished, it didn't look good.

It was the wrong color of blue. It didn't match the paint that was going down the hall.

We were just sick.

We went on the search again and found a color that had a lot of green mixed into the blue.

Hesitantly I painted the walls and it was.....perfect!!!

We loved it!


Next, the entertainment center came. It took all day to be installed.

But, oh, what a lovely piece of furniture it is.

Jon installed new lights and then we were ready for carpet.


We picked a nice neutral carpet that warmed up the room. Unfortunately, when we had the entire room complete, or so we thought, we looked at the blinds and realized they didn't work.

They were a bright white, which just didn't match the warm tones in the room.

Again we stewed and fretted and one day I had a thought to try a cherry-colored blind to match the cabinets and entertainment center.

We called Budget Blinds and the salesman came out and suggested that the best window coverings for a french door would be shutters.

Hmmm.

That had never crossed our mind.

We ordered shutters and had to wait 4 weeks for them to be made.

In the meantime, Boyd went to TJ Maxx, Ross, Kohl's and Hobby Lobby to find home decorating items.

He found some fantastic pieces.

Finally on Monday, we got our shutters.

Beautiful!

Our room is now complete.


It took 10 months from start to finish but the wait was well worth it. I still do a double take when I walk into my room. I can't believe how warm and friendly it is.

Thanks Boyd for facilitating such a fantastic home makeover!

What do YOU think?