Family Friendly Living and Dining Room Makeover

There’s nothing I love more than helping clients, friends and family bring a vision to life and help them realize that a tired house really can be updated for a modern and family-friendly lifestyle. So when my client Rebecca came to me with pictures of a house that she and her husband Matt bought through a family friend I was more than excited to jump on board and help.  She asked me “Can we really make this work? I’m scared!” The answer was undoubtingly YES. As soon as I walked in the house I knew it had great bones and just needed to be taken out of the early 60s. The transformation was relatively quick and took a few months with very little tweaking. With no major walls being taken down construction was at a minimum.  We decided to move the dining area and needed an access to the kitchen without going through the front foyer and down the long hallway.  We added a single French pocket door from the dining area to the back hallway by the kitchen. It was important to let in light but at the same time buffer the noise at night for the kids sleeping across the hall. We change the formal dining room that was off the garage into Rebecca’s office and family mud room. We relocated light fixtures, removed carpets and refinished floors, added built-ins on both sides of the fireplace, and of course a fresh coat of paint. I’m going to let the pictures do the talking!

Before of the living room. It was a long and narrow space. We decided to divide it into two areas. Dining and living room.

After. We added the French pocket door to the right corner of the room. The pocket door was important over traditional French doors because they would’ve opened into the room. That wouldn’t work because we needed all the space we could for people to pass by when seated at the table. In came a durable dusty navy linen down filled sofa with chaise from Bassett HGTV Home, Metal Honeycomb Drum Shade Pendant light fixture from West Elm, Leather ottoman from Pier One, plush oatmeal frizze carpet from Home Depot and walls painted in Benjamin Moore Beach Glass 1564.

Rebecca ordered a custom made farmtable and bench. The ladder back chairs got a coat of fresh black paint. Gallery wall with family photos in Dark Stained Wood Pottery Barn frames. Matt’s grandfather baseball mitt, photography canvas by Gabrielle Plucknette and house warming custom wood plaque from The Brindle Bean. Shadow box from Tuesday Morning and metal M, and harvest Fall tablescape from HomeGoods make this dining area cozy and welcoming.

Close up of the fall tablescape. A table runner and boxwood plants in wooden crates and  natural wood orbs from HomeGoods fill a Wilton Armetale wedding gift bowl. A berry wreath from Michaels and burlap pumpkins from the Target dollar bin fill out the arrangement. This can easily change into a Christmas tablescape by replacing the pumpkins with glass ornaments and a holy wreath.

Another before of the 60’s living room.
A black Sadie Wooden Arched mirror from Kirkland’s bounces the light back into the once dark room.

The before of the fireplace wall with the awkward placement of the game table and chandelier.

After the new built ins with ample storage for games, photo albums,video games and DVDs.

Close up of the bookcases. Rebecca said that she didn’t have much. I told her to bring up all the books she had and we turned the ugly spines to the back wall to simplify the look. A pretty mixture of old and new, We added family photos and headed out to HomeGoods for a collection of bright colored glass and ceramics. I accented with wooden items and faux boxwood orbs. I also hung artwork and pictures on the back of the bookcase.

I’m so thrilled for Rebecca and Matt and their two children. They now can build memories in their new living room and dining room and enjoying every square foot of their “Dream Home”. I was so lucky to be a part of this makeover. I still can’t believe how bright and happy this living space is! What kind of room makeovers are you tackling this Fall? I’d love to see your transformations. Happy November friends!