Family Room: Before and After

Greg's going to kill me for using this picture :). 
It's the only "before" shot I have showing the whole family room I swear!

 

At last, 14 months later, the family room is finally finished (for now)!!  It took me over a year to finish ONE room in our house.  At this rate it's going to be a longggg time before the whole house is done.  But when I look at the before and after pictures, it really has come a long way.  And of course there have been other small and large (the deck!) projects during this time too.

I was going for a rustic/traditional style with this room.  I'm not really an "earthy-tones" type person; I favor cooler grays and I reallllly love distressed wood.  I have also been really into pops(!) of color lately and have been going mostly with orange, teal and lime green.  [I didn't purposefully copy Young House Love's color scheme, but maybe I subconsciously got my inspiration there.]  Knowing how often I change my mind I kept most of the "pops" to easily changeable accessories. 

Here's more photos of the finished product (there's some other photos on Part 1 of the Family Room Reveal)!

 

 

 

 

 



My chalkboard wall between the morning room and family room, which displays my
"wishlist" and current projects with % complete for each.  Nerd alert!



Are you tired of seeing these chairs yet?  I have been told by people who shall remain nameless that I might be going a little overboard with the chair sharing.  What can I say... I'm in love!

Another "before" angle

...and after

 



This is a semi-custom piece from Howard Miller furniture, which I've had
forever and get so much use out of.

Here are some photos of one final area that I'm still not sure what to do with.  I plan to do something like this in the space next to the couch.  I can't figure out what to do decoration-wise on the wall behind the couch.  I like the pictures I have there, but I don't think they take up enough vertical space and look kind of lost on this wall.  I can't decide whether to add another row, mount them on wood backing similar to this, or just scrap the frame idea and try something totally different.  Any ideas??

Source List:

Burlap Curtains and Galvanized Steel Rods- DIY

TV Console - Custom from Martin's Furniture in Lancaster, PA

Deer Head - West Elm

Metal Circle Wall Art - Kohls

Gray and Orange Poufs - Target

Black Basket with Rope Handles - Pier 1

Metal Stool - Joss & Main

Chairs and Couches - Ashley Furniture

2 End Tables with Chairs and Sofa Table - Joss & Main

Tall Black Wine/Misc Storage Unit - Howard Miller furniture

Coffee Table - Ballard Designs

Gray Leapord Ottomans and Table Lamp - American Signature Furniture

Pillows - Joss & Main

Clock - Joss & Main

Orange Throw - West Elm

Green Throw - Crate and Barrel 

 

 

I'm linking up at House of Rose, the Humble Brag, the Blissful Bee and The Golden Sycamore go check them out!

Burlap Curtains and Galvanized Steel Pipe Curtain Rods

This project is not quite complete... I still have two more sets to go, but I just couldn't wait to share it!  Plus I thought it would be nice to share a little preview of what's been going on in the family room.  I got the idea for the burlap curtains from Jessica's tutorial at Four Generations One Roof.  The project was so cheap so I figured I had nothing to lose trying it out.  It came out awesome and was so easy.  All I needed was three yards of burlap per curtain (with a 50% off coupon for Joanns it came out to $6 per panel!) plus some stitch-witchery and an iron.  I had never used stitch-witchery, but that stuff is awesome!  Here's how the first two sets turned out:



DIY Burlap Curtains

I really wanted these curtain rods from West Elm but at $100 per rod, I could not justify spending $400 on curtain rods for one room.  So of course I decided to try to make them!  I took my measurements and then brought my dad along to Home Depot since I had never been down the plumbing isle before.  (I'm glad I did because I got some flack from the pipe-cutting-guy and some other random guy... the two of them and my dad had a 10-minute conversation about how Martha Stewert is the devil.  lol).  They cut the pipes to size and thredded them right there.  I also needed some flanges and some street elbow joints:

The actual construction of the curtain rods was simple;

...it was the hanging part that got a little tricky.  The galvanized steel pipes are quite heavy, so we tried several different types of hardware before we got it right.  In the end these are the products that worked the best:

Some tips if you are interested in making these yourself:

1. Burlap kind of smells funny.  I cut the panels and left them outside for a day or two to air out.  Then I ironed each one on the steam setting.  It really helped lessen the smell.  Leaving it outside also helped get rid of some of the little dusty pieces that come with burlap.
2. Pay close attention to how they cut it at the store when you buy the burlap.  There's a technique to cutting it straight and making sure it doesn't fray.
3. You definitely need the steam setting for ironing on the stitch-witchery.  My iron setting wasn't working at first and it didn't work at all without the steam.
4. DO NOT try washing burlap!  I tried this with the first panel to try to get the smell out and I wound up with a piece completely frayed with wrinkles that would not budge (and it didn't help the smell).
5. I'm not sure how I'm going to wash the curtains when the time comes.  I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it :).

What do you think??