Purchasing an older home comes with many advantages including an endless list of fun projects and possibilities! Settling in and really getting to know the nooks and crannies of your home is like unwrapping layers of opportunities.
Our entryway inspiration by Linda McDougald Design.
Our entryway circa 2015. There have been a few nice changes in here ~ I’ll share in another post.
What a blast to daydream about designing and re-designing our spaces over and over until we imagine just the right fit.
I get giddy thinking about what to do next to make our home even homier. It keeps me up at night. I think about it as I am tucked under our big comforter which provides the coziest personal haven for dreaming before I fall asleep! Recently, my desire for freshening up our family room was all I could think about under the heavy layers of my bedding.
When we moved in, our family room already had wall to wall built-in bookshelves. They are a decorators dream for filling with family photos & collected pieces.
Our family room before previous owners painted the built-ins
Built-ins we custom designed for our last home. Although beautiful, we have very different design plans for our new home!
There was one small- or rather one large problem. The built-ins were slathered in a solid coat of an interesting green color. Imagine if avocado green and a lime had a baby… this Avolime color is not my fav. In fact, I lined our last built-in bookshelves with rich emerald green books and accents. My glorious emerald is certainly a design foe of Avolime.
As I planned to use many of the same pieces I had displayed in our previous home, I knew the bookshelf color needed to change.
From the comfort of my bed late at night, I began to envision the look I was going for in our new family room. Admittedly, my style has evolved over the years. More accurately put, it’s taken me years to find my style.
We lean toward an updated traditional style with extra sprinkles of cozy mixed throughout. This space featured in Traditional Home is a nod to our own design style.
So for this entire space, as much as I wanted to go all out and design a robust, elegant atmosphere, my desire for the practical won out. Knowing our three babes, friends, neighbors and extended family will all enjoy this room, I want it to be beautiful yet cozy.
The previous owners of our home had great taste but it was unique to them. Truth be told, my sister was in love with the color they had selected for the wall of shelving and was a little sad to hear of our plans to refresh them. It didn’t fit our style and repairs were desperately needed throughout the shelving so updating was in order.
If I had to describe my personal design style, it would be a fresh blend of traditional pieces with plenty of sentimental and cozy accents.
I lean toward dramatic and high contrast statement rooms. If left to my own devices, I would create a space that is over-the-top vivid yet elegant with everything perfectly placed. However, it would feel untouchable, impersonal, and in order to stay in that over-the-top-wow status… I would probably need to request everyone admire from afar. Ha! But then I wouldn’t really enjoy it because the people I love would be missing.
That’s why I also love Pinterest. I do enjoy the look of these gorgeous rooms. Whenever I want to soak in grand, sumptuous spaces, I can scroll until my little heart is content! I want my family and friends to be able to enjoy our home together so I will continue to get my fill of wildly stunning homes on the internet. And I am perfectly happy to do so if it means my loved ones are cozied up next to me in our real life rooms.
So in the design of our family room, I wanted to incorporate beauty and livability. Just as important as knowing what the room will feel like, is understanding the function. It’s important to identify how we will live and use each room. The function is just as much a priority as aesthetics and feel. (That said- I am a HUGE believer you can create a sumptuous, dreamy home that is very accommodating for the whole family.)
Painting our built-ins was going to be the first step in freshening our family room. These bad boys take up a great amount of visual real estate. Changing the look of this wall would set a whole new tone in the family room as well as the breakfast nook + kitchen which are all connected. Additionally, it’s worth saying we, like most families, spend 90% of our wake time in this general area. The change to this one wall of built-ins is the first domino in an endless line of future transformations.
Avolime cabinetry
Prepping for the built-ins transformation
I do have appreciation for the use of color splashed throughout a house but Avolime just isn’t me. The bookshelves were beckoning for a fresh take on life and I was their lady to help!