Family Room Reveal Day Is Here!

Wow! I feel like it took forever to get to a place where I felt like I could share my family room photos with you all and I am so happy to be revealing it today!

When we purchased this house 2 years ago, it was in dated disrepair, and we still have quite a bit to go, but, oh, the progress we’ve made so far! Let’s take a gander at a few of the before pictures.

WARNING: It might be a bit scary!

Dark, dated, pink carpet, peach trim, 20 year old builder’s original paint, dark window coverings and fixtures. We knew we had a lot to do to bring our home up to date, but we saw the diamond in the rough and had hope for what it could be!

We started with ripping out the carpet and installing hardwoods our first year here. You can read the details of how we were able to save thousands on our hardwood install here. It was a big job, but one of the most beautiful results we’ve ever seen in our DIY adventures!

Next, we had to paint everything – and I mean everything. Ceilings, trim, walls, and each and every wood paneled window and door. All of the trim was originally painted with oil paint and we had to deal with how to cover that peach dentil moulding. It was going to be tedious to try to go with latex, so we chose to stick with oil for ease – and for our sanity!

For now, we chose the same color scheme for our entire downstairs. We went with Sherman Williams Crushed Ice.

It’s a beautiful, muted gray that is on the whiter side. It almost morphs with the seasons and as the daylight changes. I love how it brightens my room!

Our budget was running low, so we needed to be frugal when it came time to furnish our Den. With our boys still being a bit on the rough side, we went with Ikea’s Ektorp sofa and loveseat.

We purchased the Ektorp sofas with the white slip covers, but also purchased an extra set of the Nordvalla gray to switch out with the change of seasons.

The rug is Ikea as well. It’s called Gaser in dark gray. I honestly wanted a low pile type of burlap rug, but we are a family of compromise and this was my husband’s request. There are days that I wish we had something lighter and then there are the days that I love the gushiness of the rug under my feet.

We’ve had the sofas for about a year and a half and they have held up unbelievably well! Especially with Rowdy and Raucous boys!

We love the gray look with our couch, but with the coming of Spring, I couldn’t wait to switch out the color to usher in that brightness.

The fireplace is still a work in progress. I have started the project by painting the brick with a self mixed gray.

My goal is to paint the mantle white and add shiplap above up to the dentil moulding. I’d also love to see the brick framed in with white below the mantel. I’ll save that reveal for a later date.

For tutorials on the hand painted window and the Ballard’s Knock off Topiaries,

click the highlighted links.

This chest is a treasured family heirloom that is truly one of my favorite pieces in my house. I found the surveyor’s stick at our local dump and it’s perched nicely in the corner.

Here’s a tute of my Faux Succulent Garden.

In the front corner, I placed our plantation desk that came from my husband’s family.

I have it styled nicely with my DIY wall art.

These set of boxes from Ikea fill a corner nicely. The printed box was found under my mother’s stairs ~ an old shirt box with vintage newpaper print. I love it!

My favorite junkin’ finds – my $5 German Wall clock – a total steal!

My heart sings each time it chimes.

This is an old army box that we found at an estate sale.

It used to hold my birch logs when we had our faux fireplace in our old house.

Another future project is to remove this door to an unused half bath and open the wall on the opposite side to create a second closet in our Master Bedroom.