AO House Tour: Family Room

Welcome to our family room! (a.k.a. The Basement Renovation)

I told you I wanted a colorful space! I really embraced the pastel color palette from my inspiration art. And I'm quite content with the incredibly happy vibe of this room - especially since it's in the basement and therefore not the sunniest of spaces.

Though hallelujah for some sunshine that made these photos infinitely better than the nursery ones.

One of my rules - paint your ceiling the same color as your walls if the room has weird angles or a low ceiling AND no crown-molding. Really opens up the space.

The sectional was a must-have for TV-watching and multi-friend entertaining and we are so far very pleased with our IKEA choice. I made my striped pillows out of Scalamandre's Jambalaya - the color combo of the fabric was completely on point. The additional pillows were a very serendipitous HomeGoods find.

There is my mirror score in all of its glory. We had a silver rectangular mirror there before and it was very blah. This mirror really warms up the space and ties together the brass accents.

My art wall is way awkward due to the wee window and the electrical panel, so I thought a shelf might be a good way to bestow some order on the haphazard wall chunk I had to work with.

I bought these vintage chairs like five years ago. For real. And they have sat and sat and sat. And then we needed some small seating to go with the sectional and kind of "rope off" the TV area and wouldn't you know these guys were perfect. And I had some of that rad Cowtan & Tout neutral stripe that helped ground some of the color explosion.

This area is admittedly less zhushed. And that's on purpose as I want this to be a graphic black/white/neutral situation to serve as an anchor to the colorful couch that it faces. But I think we still need a little something on this wall of the room - not sure what that is yet.

O'verlays, y'all.  A total IKEA game-changer. These panels are the Cheryle and totally jazzed up the IKEA Malm dresser.

Now we have arrived at Ana Claire's Clubhouse. This area has been SO useful since AC's arrival. She spends her days with a nanny at home and we really needed a good spot for them to hang out and play. For now, since Ana Claire is teeny, this is a good sized area for her to sit and play and bang on things. Once she gets bigger, we'll see what adjustments are needed but this works for now.

And a shout-out to the vintage tea cart that is serving as my end table. It was a welcome hand-me-down from Carter's stepdad and it works great here.

These awesome chairs were actually my family's formal dining set growing up. Go mom and dad. I definitely plucked them from their spot of 20-something years to use them here.
Vintage + free + good-looking = #winning.

I know the changing table is super chic...keepin' it real. Since this is Ana Claire's Clubhouse, the girl needed some facilities.

I am not doing Kerry's painting justice. I hung it too high and it needs a frame, but once I fix those items it will look even more amazing in this nook.

I think down the line the goal is built-ins on this wall, but I had to give the man a break.

Speaking of the man, WOAH. Did you see what Carter was able to do WITH HIS OWN TWO HANDS? He basically built this room all by himself. He has some skillz. He did drywall, installed flooring, ran baseboard, painted, installed lighting. I am still impressed with what he accomplished.

For effect, before:

And same view, after:

Do you like?

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SOURCE LIST

Sectional - IKEA Karlstad (our shade of green seems to be no longer available)
Ottoman - Target (no longer see the lavender version)
Rug - Rugs USA Sierra Paddle
Striped pillow fabric - Scalamandre Jambalaya
Other pillows - HomeGoods
Mirror - TJMaxx
Wall shelf - Home Decorators
Pastel prints - Susan Schwake
Tea cart side table - vintage
Orange lamp - HomeGoods
Cane tub chairs - vintage
Tub chair fabric - Cowtan & Tout (forget the pattern name)
Orange side table - HomeGoods
Media cabinet - IKEA Malm with O'verlays Cheryle pattern (15% off with code YAY15 until 9/14/13)
Brass stool pair - Nate Berkus for HSN (no longer available)
Play quilt - LuluBelleQuilts on Etsy
Toy storage - Badger Baskets via Amazon (here & here)
White dining table - IKEA Docksta
Wicker dining chairs - vintage
Gold shelves - IKEA Vittsjo
Abstract painting - Kerry Steele
Brass metal light fixture - Uttermost Alita

Friday Crush

Photo by Patrick Cline, design by Jamie Meares, via Lonny

The new issue of Lonny is fantastic and the feature on a home designed by Jamie Meares is not to be missed. I love this cozy den because it shows that a small space does not call for small things. Jamie used a huge mirror, a large sectional, and large window treatments to fill up the room and use it to its maximum potential. And I adore the color palette. The perfect place to read a book and look out the window.

Have a wonderful weekend...see you Monday!

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Colorful Den via Southern Living

I have a vague recollection of seeing this den design in the December 2010 issue of Southern Living, but seeing as how I can't stop obsessing over anything in that minty-jade colorway, it bubbled up to my attention because I adore the paint color and how it is mixed with greens, pinks and tans.

Photo by Laurey W. Glenn, design by Anne Turner Carroll via Southern Living

This space is what I consider the perfect cozy den with lots of color but very comfortable and easy on the eyes. I especially love the design board - all the bits look so pretty together. FYI, the wall paint is Dix Blue (82) by Farrow and Ball - it's a little more aqua than mint, but I still love it. Especially since it's such a nice contrast to the rest of the room (the color is only picked up in 2 pillows and slight flecks in the curtains, but it all works so well).

Does anyone know the fabric that is on the pillow in the very bottom right-hand corner of the first picture (the brown/cream fabric)? It's also at the very top of the design board. I love it.

Also note the use of a large circular rug...I don't see that very often, but it's perfect in this space.

What do you like about the room?

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Five Rooms via One Kings Lane

Did you catch One Kings Lane's "Five Rooms in Five Days" sales last week? If so, you'll recognize these photos of what I think are particularly well-styled and designed room vignettes.

My favorite are from the foyer sale - wow!

Really great inspiration photos. They also designed lovely spaces for the den, office, kitchen and bedroom:

The photos were a nice dose of motivation for me last week - great little nuggets of inspiration in autumnal hues, don't you think? Hope they help kick off your week...

And if you are interested in the sales, they are still going for a couple more hours - foyer, den, kitchen, office, bedroom.

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More Den Inspiration

I really like this room, so I'm adding it to my basement den inspiration files.

Via bhg.com

Via bhg.com

As you know, I'm definitely contemplating a blue palette for the (eventual) renovation of our basement den and this space pictured feels so normal. Does that sound weird? It's just pretty. And looks comfortable. Nothing crazy or cutting-edge. Just nice. I think that's what I'm going for in the den.

I really love the wainscoting and the green couch paired with the blue wall paint. I didn't really think of using green as an accent, but it would make sense seeing as how it's the #1 color on our main level. I also have some snazzy fern prints that were displaced when we got this guy, so they would be a great choice for the walls in a scenario like this one.

All things to contemplate, folks.