Garima’s Design Dilemma

Garima, her husband, and their 3 yr old daughter moved into a newly built home and are having the same issues that we had. You know the whole bland builder home, white walls etc. So she wrote to me asking for help with their family room.

Hi Vidya!

Good to know you via your blog. 🙂 I like how you’ve done your house and your blog really inspires me to keep going on (get tired sometimes)! I am sending you pics of my half done living room so you’d get an idea of my style. Let me know what you think. I am on the lookout for a dark wood round coffee table and matching end tables. My original colors for the living room were yellow, wood, and touch of green here n there….I think all the orange in the pillows is making it look too colorful. I have enough of color in another room so will stick to the original plan of just yellow and white for now.

 

On the other wall is the entertainment center and the stairs.

Do you see the problem? Too much of a good thing. We’ve somehow got to make all these great features work in this 2 story family room. Without much adieu here is my take;

The Palette: Gray, Yellow, Green, White, Rich Wood & Metal tones

click on the image for a bigger pic

Before we go into the detail, let’s look at the new layout in my high tech hand sketch made with borrowed crayons from my kids. Sorry folks, I still haven’t mastered 3D Mood Boards.

The sectional is now centered in the room away from the windows. Pulling your furniture away from the walls makes for a much more cozier space. Based on their sectional configuration and their ‘no TV on the fireplace’ requirement the TV/entertainment was left in the same spot. A large rug anchors the room. Adding interest over the fireplace makes it the focal point. Bringing in the chair on the right side of the fireplace continues the flow of color throughout the room and provides a more intimate conversation area. Without this, the eye would stop at the fireplace without connecting to the other side of the room. On the staircase landing, the floor to ceiling gallery wall provides the WOW factor and is another focal point as you walk down the stairs.

Paint Colors: You cannot go wrong with either shades of gray (one of Garima’s fav colors) though I prefer the darker one. The light from all those windows in the room may wash out any light color.

14. Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray

15. Quill by Olympic

Where to get all the stuff?

1. Andalusia Rug – West Elm. The yellow and the Moroccan pattern sets the mood in the room.

2. Tribal Carved Coffee Table – World Market. It brings in their love for the rich wood tones and ethnic Indian decor.

3. The Brickell Square End Table from Home Decorators Collection (also available at Amazon) is the touch of contemporary.

4. Yellow Lamps – I didn’t list a source for these. Target has yellow lamp bases for $19.99. I think a cheaper alternative would be to buy thrift store bases and add new shades. Actually I am just wrapping up a similar yellow lamp project for the guest bedroom.

5. Yellow Vases – You can find similar ones at Home Goods.

6. The round mirror shown here is from Amazon for over $200. I saw an exact same one at Home Goods last week for $69.99. The round shape echoes the roundness of the coffee table and the lamp shades.

7. Moss balls in a clear glass vase or apothecary jar. You can make moss balls by hot gluing dried moss (Micheals) to Styrofoam balls (a similar project coming soon). The vase/ apothecary jar is available at most TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Home Goods stores.

8. Canary Print Slipper Chair – yellow from Target

9. Green Bolster Pillow – Reusing the one they already have

10. Merete (bleached) from Ikea -5 pairs. You can fabric glue yellow ribbon to both the sides to bring in the yellow to that side of the room. In the mood board the yellow stripe is only on one side.

11. Yellow Throw Pillow Cover – The Home Centric on Etsy

12. Yellow Grey Dwell Studio Pillow Cover – From my fav Etsy store, Motif Pillows. Garima, you can pick this if you win the Giveaway. 🙂 The gray in the pillows is the perfect accent to the wall color.

13. Fern Pillow Cover – Pillow Happy on Etsy

16. Console Table – JC Penny.  This contemporary wood and metal table has the same clean lines as the side table yet doesn’t feel too matchy.

There is also space to add a nice big piece of art over the sofa/console table. For the paint color for the gallery wall; going a shade darker than the one in the family room will draw your eye to that area.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay?

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Just to show you guys how simple it is, I made some tweaks in the same mood board and now you have a more beachy look. All I changed are a few of the throw pillows and the paint color.

click on the image for a bigger pic

The new Palette: Blue, Yellow, Green, White, Rich Wood & Metal tones

Paint Colors: Cool beach glass colors. A great sisal rug would add to the beach vibe if you really want to go that route.

15. Valspar Icy Mint

17. Glidden Cool Cucumber

We bring in more blue in the room through the throw pillows.

12. Kasari Ikat pillow cover – Spark Modern on Etsy

13. Dwell Studio Kiwi Green – Festive Home Decor on Etsy

14. Lumbar Pillow – Teal/Blue – Olive Green – Turquoise Tumbleweed on Etsy

Can’t wait to hear you take on this. Are you a cool blue or a warm gray person?