I am often asked questions about how to make a large family room feel more cozy and what to do with expansive blank walls to make a home feel homey. This obviously isn't a problem in my 1100 square foot cape, but my friend recently moved into a home with a large, over-the-garage bonus room. Not only was the 800 square foot family room ENORMOUS, it was not really functional for her family and she said that it often felt like a giant waste since no one really wanted to spend time up there!! Can anyone else relate to a large family room?? I have some tips for you~ How to not ... Read More
Family Room Basics and Wayfair Memorial Day Sale
Thank you Wayfair for sponsoring this post Surprise! Wayfair is having a big Memorial Day Sale!! I went through and picked out all my top favorite things. From outdoor furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs and so much more. As you know, a lot of the pieces in my own home are from Wayfair and I go to Wayfair first to shop for items for projects because it is one of the world's largest online destinations for the home with over 10 million products! So you can probably find what you are looking for! Plus, fast and free shipping over $49! I also did a design plan based off of our upstairs family ... Read More
Mini Sunroom Makeover with Electric Fireplace
I have done a lot of projects in this home that belongs to friends who live around the corner from us. They have a small cape like we do, but they have this nice bonus sunroom, which is a welcome and used space! It was just lacking in style and coziness. All it really needed was some new window treatments, ceiling fan and open up the floor space with a smaller built-in electric fireplace! Let's look at the sunroom before. If you know me, you know I was itching to get my hands on it. Especially since I knew that little changes would make such a difference! We would love an extra space like ... Read More
Changes to our Front Room-Fireplace Plan
I really hope this works out. Do you ever start a project with that sentence? Because we really love this idea that I saw and thought it would be perfect for our small front room. We are going to add a fireplace! An electric fireplace. With a full brick surround and wood mantle. Eeekkkk! I am so excited! When we moved into this home 3 years ago I looked into adding a fireplace and it was over 5,000 to do it. And not to mention we would have to add gas to our home to get a gas fireplace. Which would be nice, but not ready to fully commit to this house. So very excited to attempt this electric ... Read More
Five Must-Do’s to your Home for Summer!
Do you make seasonal changes to your home? Making seasonal changes does not mean bringing up a tote from the basement of seasonal decor. It actually could mean the opposite, especially in the summer. Taking things away. For me it does. I put away all the heavy throw blankets and the fuzzy wool pillows (that I LOVE so much). Spring is still chilly for us in Connecticut, so the real changes come about June. I have heard of people removing rugs in the summer for a more drastic change. Besides putting away the heavy throws and wool pillows I move things around, just changing art from one nail ... Read More
Pillows- What to search for and my new Pillow Favorites!
This post on my new pillows is sponsored by ebay I like to pack away the pillows and throw blankets that are really heavy and knitted for the Spring and Summer. That is basically the majority of the pillows we had in our upstairs family room. After putting away the covers I didn't replace them, I left it that way for about a month. I just didn't know what I wanted to do. I always say you need to start with inspiration. After ebay reached out to me to partner and share anything I wanted to....pillows came to my mind because they were on my list of things I was looking for. I really didn't ... Read More
Gallery Wall Tips and Votes are in for the Chair!
I asked for your input on this family room that I recently made over for my friends. We had an overwhelming response on Social Media about what chair to choose! I gave 4 options and the funny thing is the chair that got the most votes was one I added last minute because I loved the pattern and needed another option, not thinking it would be the winner. Since we were finishing the room my friend asked me to do a gallery wall up her stairs for family photos. First up let's take a look at the Staircase BEFORE the Gallery Wall.... Nothing much to it making it not feel ... Read More
Fireplace Makeover- and Styled with Decor from Target!
This Fireplace Makeover is so good. Very excited to share it! My good friends who live around the corner from us wanted me to pop over and give their Fireplace Mantel a refresh for Christmas. I was happy too- but they probably weren't expecting what it would lead to! I went to Target and just gave it a facelift, using Target finds and things they already had. After I was done I gave them a few extra tips- I always like to do that. Leave people with a little more to think about! I suggested they remove their wood blinds (they weren't really adding to the room, just taking away the view and the ... Read More
Friday Favorites- Starts with a Dark to Light Family Room Refresh
Anyone else had a hard time coming off of Christmas? We were in Utah and had so much fun. Then traveling back wiped us out. And we all got sick after...took a bit to get any energy and excitement back. I did get it back. BUT I had to work it. Reminded me how important our happiness is to our energy. And that happiness is essential to life, exactly why it might take some work on our part. For me just getting out of the house and buying a couple new plants and stopping at a favorite store for inspiration helped! Those two things got me excited about decorating our home and taking down all the ... Read More
Christmas Tree in our Small Family Room
I am excited to show you the Christmas tree tree's in our Front Room which we call the Family Room too because this is where we gather as a family to read, play and dance. And today is another stop on our Seasons of Home Series hosted by Ella Claire Inspired. I did some rearranging in this room for the Christmas Season and I have to say I love the change! Just moved pillows from one room to the other and wala! viola! tada! A new room! I keep saying this room reminds me of a giant sweater with all the yarn, felt, fur and texture. Just super cozy and warm- because in a 1950's house the ... Read More