Our family room

On Friday, the first day of December we installed the 13-ft. window rod in our family room.  It took forever to arrive, and forever for the Fisherman to finally find a time from his extra busy schedule to install it.  But all is done now, and I cannot be any happier than I already are with how everything is looking around here.  

I knew I wanted to allow the eye to flow naturally through this room when I entered it, and I knew that, to achieve this purpose, the panels needed to be similar to those I had in our new sitting area...

The only problem was, I hadn’t bought enough of them, and the solution for the moment was to take down those panels I had in the dining room and use them here instead…

It was hard to do this, because I was really happy with how the dining room looked, but I’m so glad I did this… we barely use the dining room these days, and instead live here in this open space, which comprises our family room, kitchen, and small sitting area.

I love that all the panels from the family room to those windows closest to the kitchen are now the same… this gives the eye a place to settle, relaxing one’s gaze rather than causing it to jump around the room. This also helps direct the flow of the room…

I'd have to agree that a vignette can play a surprisingly important role in a room, but I don’t want to pile things on every single surface of my home and create vignettes that can only make things looking too cluttered...

Adding a mirror to a room is a great way to open up a space that may feel small or dark. Mirrored surfaces reflect light, and that reflection creates the illusion of more depth. This means a brighter space that feels larger! 

...I so love how this space looks now.... simple, yet sophisticated, and certainly better than what it looked before.  

It is an amazing feeling to see white, bare walls and just the essential few things on furniture and such. A while back before we moved here, I’d bought a huge piece of art for that vast wall over the mantle, but it will not be put up; at least not for now anyway.  We simply love that whiteness and vastness of emptied white walls.

I originally had wanted an all neutral palette for our home this time.  Only whites, grays, and blacks, and my dream was to replace our old sofas for white, but we decided to keep what we already had, and I'm glad we did.  I really like the contrast here.  So, the camel sofas stay.

They look great paired down with the white and black patterned pillows and metallic accessories.

And what can I say about those old window blinds I decided to take down? I had always disliked those blinds.  All blinds as a matter of fact.  They hindered all that sunshine and light that now streams in so gloriously free and wonderfully beautiful.  I'll never use blinds again in this house!

I think the key to create a successful flow in an open room is to look at the big picture, and regard the connected spaces together, not as separate entities. 

I'm truly happy with how this room has turned out. Painting the walls white had certainly made a huge difference in the overall atmosphere of the entire house too... It is hard to believe this is the same room of just a month ago when our renters were living here...   

I have always believed than anyone can have a beautiful home. It doesn’t have to be an expensive or extraordinary one.  In fact, most of our furniture and things in our house have come from second hand shops, including most all of our area rugs and mirrors... It is up to us to make a difference!

I'm participating in:

ONE ROOM CHALLENGE