Lake Cottage Family Room Redesign

Not only did I get to work with a fabulous client in helping her select paint colors for her entire lake condo (see post HERE), I also had the privilege of working with her on creating an inspiration board for her new family room.

Since we had already selected Benjamin Moore's Camouflage Gray for the walls to flow with the colors in the rest of the home, I selected furnishings that would also tie in with the nature-inspired lake cottage look of the home.

Below is the room's current look with the previous owner's furnishings.

The client wanted the room to be a hang-out space, where the kids could play video games and the family could spend some quality time together. I came up with two different, yet similar, options for the layout of the furnishings to make the room serve this purpose.

OPTION 1:

OPTION 2:

 

The following are the furnishing/accessories I chose to help this room become more of a family room and less of a rec room.

1. Window Treatments: I suggested using floor to ceiling white drapes to make the windows more of  a focal point. Mounting a long curtain rod over the top of all three windows and hanging 4 white curtain panels would help achieve this. To add texture and carry the wood tones up to the window, I suggested replacing the blinds with bamboo roller shades. These can be purchased at places like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Bed, Bath & Beyond, etc. The white drapes in the inspiration board are the Merete Curtains from Ikea (they are sold in pairs for $24.99).

2. Chandelier: To replace the pool table chandelier, I chose an antiqued copper chandelier with a shade to give the room some of that ‘vintage charm’ the client liked. This chandelier was from Overstock.com (also available on Ebay) and is called the Indoor 4-Light Antique Copper Chandelier ($101.99 + $2.95 shipping!).

3. Art:  Creating a grouping of photographs together on a wall (as shown on the inspiration board) gives the art more impact and helps it make a statement.The sepia toned images pictured above are from art.com and the square frames with wide white mats are from Ikea.

 Source: Decor Pad

4. Console Lamps: To bring more lighting into the room, 2 matching lamps could be added to a console table that sits behind the couch. I chose 2 simple glass lamps with white drum shades. To add a pop of  color, some green ribbon could be hot-glued onto the outer edges of the shades. These particular lamps can be found at Overstock.com and are called Indoor 1-Light Glass Exquisite Table Lamps (set of two for $164.99).

5. Console Table: Not only would a console table behind the couch create a place to put extra lighting, it would also serve as another piece for storage. The Xola Console Table (in Cappuccino) from Target.com ($159.09) has 2 drawers and a shelf.  Baskets or pretty bins could be added to the shelf to serve as storage for blankets, books, magazines, etc.

6. Wall Color: Camouflage by Benjamin Moore

7. Sectional Sofa: The sectional sofa will allow for ample seating. Since it is such a large piece, I wanted to keep it a light, neutral color, but don’t worry, it’s got a washable slip cover!! Sectional sofas can be pricey, but the Ektorp Corner Sofa (pictured in Svanby Beige color) sells for $899 at Ikea. JCPenney also sells a comparable sectional that is a bit larger, but it is more than double the price at $2,233.

8. Media Stand: The Apothecary-Style Double Door Media Stand pictured on the inspiration board is from Overstock.com ($271.35 +$2.95 shipping). I chose this because it resembles an antique piece of furniture. A perfect example of why it pays to shop around…I found the exact same Apothecary Media Stand at JCPenney for $500, while it’s only $271 at Overstock!!

9. Area Rug: I wanted to find a rug that was simple, yet also brought in some more color. I found the Le Poem Indoor/Outdoor Rug from Ballard Design. The rug is cream with a sage colored poem written in French about an industrious ant, a carefree cricket and the end of summer.

 

10. Throw Pillows: The floral pillow pictured was my inspiration for the entire room. It is from Etsy.com in PopOColor’s Shop (Kravet Green and Grays Jacobean Floral Pillow Cover).

The blue and white geometric pillow is from the same seller and is called Robin Egg Blue and Off White Trellis Decorative Pillow Cover.

The solid green, blue, and tan pillows are all from Pottery Barn.

11. Ottoman: The client preferred ottomans over coffee tables, so I chose a square leather ottoman that opens up for extra storage. The Richmond Espresso bonded Leather Storage Ottoman pictured is from Overstock.com ($199).  

12. Occasional Chair: I wanted to find an accent chair to serve as a little reading spot tucked in a corner of the room. The style and color of the Nottingham Taupe Nailhead Club Chair from Overtsock.com ($399.99) would work perfectly in the space.

13. Side Table: A small side table would work well next to the occasional chair in the reading corner to hold a lamp. For this, I chose the Round Top Pedestal Table from Target.com ($79.99).

14. Table Lamp: To offer additional lighting to the reading corner, a table lamp is needed. I chose a 29” Ceramic Table Lamp in Beidge from Target.com ($159.99) to serve this purpose. Some of my favorite sources for cute, inexpensive table lamps are HomeGoods, HomeSense, and TJMaxx, so if you have any of those stores in your area, you may want to check them out first!

This was my most favorite project that I've worked on so far. I am so excited to see how this space turns out!

To learn more about our affordable online design consultations, click HERE.

Nature-Inspired Lake Cottage Paint Plan

I recently completed a whole-house paint plan for a client who had just purchased a lake condo. She wanted the color scheme of her house to reflect its lake/wilderness surroundings. She also wanted to find colors that flowed well together since her condo had a open floor concept with high ceilings.

The following is what I came up with for her new space.

I selected a mostly neutral color palette, inspired by nature, intended to give the condo a restful, lake resort appeal.

Since the walls in the main living area (family room, kitchen, loft, etc.) were so tall, I chose a slightly darker tan (Sherwin Williams’ Universal Khaki) to give the rooms a more warm and intimate feeling. Another tip for making the rooms feel more intimate was to paint the high ceilings either the same color as the walls or just a few shades lighter (Sherwin Williams’ Wool Skein). White ceilings in tall rooms can often make the room feel like an auditorium.

The rug I placed in the plan (top left) was an example of how color could be added in to the main living areas to tie in some of the colors from the rest of the house. The rug is from Overstock.com and is called “Hand Tufted Coliseum Beige Wool Rug”.

Since there wasn't much natural light in the entry/hallway, I wanted to keep the colors light while also giving it some interest. Light colored, wide tone-on-tone stripes (Sherwin Williams' Wool Skein + Benjamin Moore's Simply White) down the length of the hallway would take what is a normally insignificant space and give it character.

The client wanted to use some of her existing art prints in the 2 guest rooms, which is what inspired the color choices for these two rooms. For the first room, she wanted to hang a grouping of dragon fly/flower prints.

To compliment these prints, I suggested she paint the room Sherwin Williams’ Comfort Gray, which is a light, airy bluish gray. I actually used this color in my house and love it, but it was just a smidge too dark for me so I had the paint guy reduce the color by 35% to lighten it up (you can read about that HERE). I suggested she try a sample of this on her walls first. 

I also suggested that she remove the prints from their existing frames and replace them with white frames with wide white mats to give them more presence and an updated look.

For the smaller guest bedroom, the client wanted to hang two bear prints.

I chose Sherwin Williams Quiver Tan to compliment these prints, which I would also put in new frames with oversized white mats to give them more presence. 

Most people tend to think that you should paint small spaces light colors, when in actuality paint small spaces dark camouflages the fact that they are small. I think this darker color would give the room a cozy, den-like appeal. Just be sure to use light accessories (like white curtains, white lamp shades and bedding…see example below).

Source: Decor Pad

For the master bedroom, I chose Benjamin Moore’s Dune Grass. Green is one of those colors that can be tricky to find just the right shade, so this is another one that I suggest testing on your walls first! 

To keep the nature-inspired look throughout the house, I thought some fern prints would complement the green well. The prints I used in the plan drawing are from art.com. The following is a picture from Country Curtains that illustrates how light green walls paired with fern prints would look.

Finally, I suggested the family room be neutralized and lightened up (it was dark red) by painting it Benjamin Moore's Camouflage Gray.

Adding in a large grouping of sepia toned photography (the ones pictured in the concept drawing are from art.com) in matching white frames to the family room would help unify this space with the rest on the home's lake/nature feel. 

The client was so pleased with her paint plan that she also hired me to redesign her family room, which I will be sharing with you soon!

* Please note that paint colors often appear very different on a computer screen than they do on your walls. Since lighting varies from home to home, it’s very difficult to select colors without actually seeing in person how they will look on the walls. I would highly recommend getting a small sample of each color and testing it out on your walls before purchasing and painting any rooms. 

 To learn more about our affordable design consultations, please click HERE.

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Reading Nook Inspiration

Our little guy's room has this funky little alcove carved into one of its corners and I've been dying to turn it into a little reading nook for him.

Originally I had just planned to have the hubs build a little bench for reading with some built-in storage underneath. Something like one of these...

Source: Everything Lovely

 Source: Good Life of Design  

                            

 Source: Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

 Source: Thrifty Decor Chick

Source: The Boo and the Boy

 Source: Pretty Handy Girl

But then Jacob had the brilliant idea to turn the alcove into a reading loft, since our little guy loves his brother's bunk bed so much. So we're in the planning phase right now, but are thinking of something a little like some of these...

Source: Ana White

Source: Design Sponge

Source: Apartment Therapy

Once the loft is built, I think it'd be pretty cool to add some fun privacy curtains too. Like these...

Source: These Moments of Mine

 

Source: Ashley Ann Photography

Source: Dylan Kyle Architecture

So that's the plan for now...

With 3 three-year-olds running around, it's a little hard to actually get much done around here!

Adding Character to a Small Space with Beadboard

Since our little guy’s bedroom is so small, we wanted to give it a little something extra.  We wanted a little architectural interest coupled with a place to display pictures and other accessories.  To achieve this, we installed beadboard paneling with picture ledge trim.

The project went a lot faster than we anticipated and did wonders for giving the room some character.

We started the project by deciding how high up the wall we wanted our beadboard panels to extend.  We were sure to keep in mind where our light switches and window ledges were.  Since we wanted to keep the project as budget-friendly as possible and we knew the panels were sold in 4’x8’ sheets, we decided to keep the overall height under 48” so that we could get 2 pieces out of every sheet and minimize waste.

We bought the pre-primed 4’x8’ beadboard panels at our local home improvement store and had the professionals there cut them down to size for us, which saved us a ton of time!

We removed all of the outlets covers before installing any of the paneling. We highly recommend that you also remove your existing baseboards.  Unfortunately we did not do that until after we had started putting the panels up and learned that our baseboards were not level!

You will also want to locate and mark your wall studs so that you can securely nail your panels into the studs.

Before we began attaching the panels to the wall, we cut holes for each outlet. To do this we measured where each outlet was located on our walls, mapped out where the outlet would be on the back of the beadboard and then used a jigsaw to cut out the rectangles.

To install the panels, we spread adhesive on the back and then used a nail gun to attach the panels to the wall studs.

Panel by panel we worked our way around the entire room, cutting out around outlets and window sills as we went.

Once all of the panels were up, we reattached the baseboards. In hindsight, we should have had our beadboard cut long enough so that it would extend all the way to the floor behind the baseboards and then reattached the baseboards over the top of the panels. That would have given it a more polished look and gotten rid of all of the gaps we had.

For the picture ledge trim along the top we used primed pine 1”x3” boards, 1”x2” boards and decorative shoe molding.

The first step was to attach the 1”x3” boards along the top edge of the beadboard using a nailgun (again nailing them to the studs).

Then we added the 1”x2” boards on top, nailing them from the top into the 1”x3” boards.

To cover up imperfections and give the trim a custom look, we attached shoe molding over the joint where the two boards connected.

Since the beadboard in the corners of the room did not match up perfectly, we covered the cracks with cove molding to hide the imperfections.

For the finishing touches, we patched all of the nail holes, caulked all of the cracks and painted everything with 2 coats of a semi-gloss super white paint.

The addition of the beadboard in this room not only gave the space some character, it also provided the perfect ledge for framed artwork and decorative accessories.

We are thrilled with the outcome and our little customer couldn’t be happier with how his room turned out. In fact, he discovered that the ledge is a great place to line up his little cars.

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