Looking for Inspiration for A "Someday Room"

From time to time I decide I want to make changes in my home. I am sure you can all relate to that, can’t you? I usually start with a dream plan and go from there. I might go forward with the plan or it might have to wait for awhile. I still hold onto the dream and enjoy the process of the planning and the hunting until it can come to fruition.

I recently did this with my family room. This is the room where we as a family all hang out and watch TV and relax. I joke about how the sofa should be a bed because someone is always laying on it.

I thought it might be fun to share some of my inspiration photos with you. These are images I have in a file that I add too whenever I find something that might work in my, “Someday Room.”

My family room is not overly large but it is just the right size for our home. When we had the home built we added three ft. to its width to accommodate three growing boys that like to lie on the floor to watch TV.

The room measures 17ft.wide by 20ft deep. The end wall has a brick wall half way up with a large white mantle at the end of the room. On the left side of the room is a French slider measuring 8ft. On the right there is one door leading out to the garage. Opposite the fireplace is the opening to the kitchen which has a breakfast bar on the left. On the right is a wall.

First I am starting with the layout of the room in order to figure out what type and how many pieces of furniture I will need.

My idea is to have two sofa’s facing each other as pictured in the following images………
I love the idea of a day bed to separate the room with the two sofas facing each other. What do you all think about that idea vs. two chairs?
   This is how I would love my sofas to sit in the room. I think of all the pictures in my inspiration file this is my favorite. I know the ottoman used as a coffee table has been done forever,but I do love this oversized rectangle ottoman.

 

I like the idea of two chairs facing the fireplace I would want these to be able to swivel for easy conversations.

Another day bed I just really like this idea and the look in the room.

 

All of these pictures have sofas facing each other and a daybed or two chairs at the end of the configuration. I love this look. Do any of you have two sofas facing each other in a room? Does it work well for your family?

In the next couple of post I am going to go into the details of the room and the ideas for:
room arrangement
architectural elements
colors
sofa
rug
chairs
tables
lighting

I hope you come back for more of my plans for my,"Someday Family room!"

“Enjoy the Process” Of :

Making plans and exploring your dreams!

Kathysue

SUMMER MANTLE IN WHITE

This summer when I went to change my mantle I did something a little differently. In the past I have always added blue and white to add coolness for the summer months, as seen in the picture below:

 

 

For the other looks my mantle takes on throughout the year you can go here if you would like to see more.

This summer I decided to do something a little different by adding some watermelon pink to the mantle.

First I took away all the accessories to have a blank surface. This mantle is 17ft long with only 3ft 9in. of wall space above it. It is a bit hard to decorate. I have found for my own personal taste I like fewer but larger items on the mantle.

I gathered together the items I thought I wanted to use to create a color story.

 I thought I would add a bit of the watermelon pink since that color is also in the room. It all looked as if it would work when I gathered the pieces together.

 This is just a picture of the pieces gathered this is not how I placed them!!

After trying and trying to live with the pink for one day, It was just too much going on for my eye. I felt that my eye jolted from one piece to the other and that is NOT the look I was going for.

I proceeded to take all the pink away and then it finally started looking like the peaceful serene mantle I was trying to decorate.

My all white mantle! Simple, Yes, Calming Yes!! Just what I wanted. It is a light and airy feel and it works well in the room. Here are some close-ups of the pieces I used on the mantle.

I love the bubble balls, they remind me of the bubbles in the ocean surf. The picture on the wall is of a small sailboat in the distance. I only wish I could be on that little sail boat. You can catch a glimpse of a star fish and a mercury glass votive that glows so pretty in the evening and it also picks up the finish on the picture frame.

This is a close-up of the picture.

This is the picture on the left side of the mantle.

The left side of the mantle.

This is my antique overmantle. It is from the late 1890’s and it is mahogany. We added moulding at the base to make it look as if it is integral with the mantle piece. I had to have white so we painted it to match the white of all the woodwork throughout the house. It is Kelly Moore's Swiss Coffee, a warm white.

So there you have it, my summer mantle in white!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

Making fresh,new changes for the summer months!

Kathysue

Thrifty finds In Black and White

I had fun doing a post on thrifting so I thought I would do one on the black and white treasures that I have found. Black and white are a staple in my decorating arsenal so when I find something in either one of these colors I am drawn to it. The first item I found was from Goodwill or GW’s website and I actually bid on it. They run it just like e-bay but you have to be careful because their shipping cost are really pretty high so it has to be worth it to you to bid on something.

These came in a pair and you know how unusual it is to find glass items in good condition in pairs. These are actually the deepest darkest purple but they totally read as black. They look amazing with pink flowers in them or just plain white roses. These now reside in my kitchen glass front cupboard.

The sugar and creamer were actually a gift from my dear friend Deb of Confessions Of A Plate Addict. I found the matching covered dish that I use for Equal on one of my thrifting escapades. I love the little white balls and the embossed grape pattern. These sit by my coffee pot and they add a freshness to that area.

I found this at GW’s, it is a cute pressed glass basket that I put little hand towels for my guest.

I have a pair of these found at an garage sale. I think they are 1940’s vintage because of the shape.

I found these gorgeous Wedgwood dishes at GW’s. I must admit I did a happy dance and started piling them in my little basket. I got eight plates, nine soup bowls, eight dessert plates,six salad plates. They were all $1.99 each. I could not believe it. I used these for my Thanksgiving table last year and they are in my cupboard for every day use along with my other white dishes. This is when treasure hunting pays off!!!

These last two white items I had in my previous post on thrifting but since they are white I thought I would add them to this post. When you go thrifting what colors are you drawn too? 

“Enjoy the Process” Of':

Finding treasures at bargain prices in your favorite colors!

Kathysue