A Character, Color-Filled Family Room

Cameron Jones
6 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

I love having the opportunity to work with families over time so that I can get to know them, their styles and there is a level of trust built which makes it a little easier to push people out of their same-old comfort zones. I got to work with this lovely couple last year on their primary bedroom and I was thrilled when they asked me to help with their family room. They are a large family and while the living room was large, it wasn't really functioning for them. Not only was there not enough seating, it wasn't particularly comfortable and the room was lacking some personality.

Console Area BEFORE. We actually kept this console but changed its look entirely with new art, lamps and styling. See below.

Shelf Area BEFORE. These shelves were made by a loved one and so my clients wanted to better incorporate them into the space.

First things first, I put together multiple layout options for the space for them. I wanted them to consider different options to determine ultimately what was going to work best for their family. Maximizing comfortable seating was a high priority. We landed on a layout of two couches facing each other, each served by its own ottoman and two comfortable club chairs facing the fireplace.

Next, we focused on the largest pieces of furniture in the room - the soon-to-be two new couches. It can be hard to think about buying custom furniture so I met my clients at the designer showroom so they could sit on the sofa and think through what they liked/didn't like as far as fabric. We actually decided on the fabric while there in the showroom but it was a warm netural and was super soft to the touch so I knew we could easily incorporate it into whatever scheme we went for.

I sent them several ideas as jumping off points for the rest of the scheme and we were able to eventually hone into fabrics they loved that were must haves. We selected pillow fabrics, fabrics for custom chairs and ottomans as well as a fabric to recover some stools that paired with a cute little vintage console table I scored on Facebook Marketplace.

Here was the scheme we ultimately landed on:

Here is the space now in completion (and I apologize for my poor photography skills - the windows in the space are awesome but makes photographing it difficult!):

A few more details...

I found a cute little vintage console/bench on Facebook Marketplace that I thought would be great for them to fill in the space on the wall opposite their existing console. I love using small benches that people can pull up to use as ottomans, extra seating, etc. plus they offer another spot for a fun fabric! This is what the console and stools looked like before:

We lacquered the set in a beautiful blue and since we were painting it, we were able to replace the hardware to something a little less dated and we recovered the stools with a fun, colorful leopard print in a performance fabric. We added a pretty mirror and some simple styling and I love how this little vignette turned out!

For the console area, we looked at several options for art and ultimately decided to commission a piece from April Atchley. I sent her swatches of all the fabrics in the room to inform the color choices for the art. The original lamps we selected unfortunately didn't ship from Italy but I think that was a happy incident because I just adore the citron colored ones we ultimately landed on.

My client's original console with new art, lamps and styling. You can also see the custom chairs with the darling chevron tape on the base of the skirt.

We utilized the shelves that were already there but adding some different styling/accessories and a beautiful chest with a warm natural wood tone and gold hardware that better fit the space.

The custom ottomans are one of my favorite elements in the room. They are made from a beautiful Schumacher fabric that we ran length wise down the ottomans and fitted with carved wood legs.

We styled one of the ottomans with a tray that they can easily remove for when kids are around and everyone wants to put their feet up but they can use it for when they have company, want to serve food/drinks or just dress the space up a little.

Funnily enough, the pillow fabrics were one of the hardest things to decide on. The dotted geometric one was a no-brainer with the ottoman fabric but we wanted to add in more color than just blues and greens and ultimately I think this Thibaut one did the job - it is happy and spunky and adds a lot of color variety!