The Best Way to Get the Family Room You Want Now

So, the kids have moved out or they’re old enough not to spill their milk all over the sofa, but your family room still looks like western Mass. 1990! Time for an interior design refresh of that room where poofy brown sofas have gone to die!

But, really, you don’t have to wait. Even if you’re not an empty nester yet, even if your kids DO still spill on your sofa, you can enjoy your family room now! Because, let’s be honest, big kids, like your husband and your red wine drinking, book club friend, are still spilling on the sofa. There are tons of ways to design a new family room that is kid, pet and yes, husband (hah) friendly! From doing a quick refresh all in one day to a full room design, we’ve got some fresh, new family room ideas for you.

If you already have furniture that you’d like to keep, either because you just purchased it or it’s not something you want to invest in right now, you can still do a room refresh and spruce it up to get a new look!

First, determine what’s staying and figure out what will be missing after the other items go. In this family room above, we knew the sofa would stay, but it needed end tables and lamps. You can see the AFTER below. Make a list of what you need, including measurements for where it’ll go.

And, if you have something in the room that you’re trying to match, either take a really good picture of it or take a paint swatch and match it up to the piece. Then you can simply carry that paint swatch with your list and use it while you’re out to find just the right coordinating item.

And speaking of paint, sometimes all a room needs is paint. You can get a whole new, fresh look with just paint.
See this family room below? The homeowner wanted to rip out that fireplace and do it all over, brand new. BUT, she was on a budget. We suggested that she paint it. What did she have to lose? If she painted it and she still hated it she could still redo it, right? So out with the 1970 built ins and in with a 2020 fireplace and built ins! Guess what happened. She painted it and she loved it!

Ok, back to the process, time to head out to your favorite store to find new furniture pieces, artwork, accessories, lamps, rugs, etc. that’ll give your room that fresh new look! Below is that family room, in Palmer, Massachusetts, that we talked about earlier. They had painted their room a pretty gray paint color and gotten some nice furniture pieces. But, it still didn’t feel right to them.

A room can look completely different by just changing some things out and adding a few key pieces. We kept the same upholstered furniture but brought in some new end tables, accessories, lamps and a rug. It was a huge transformation all while keeping the same furniture and paint color!

But, what if your family room IS that room where poofy brown sofas have gone to die, like this basement in Monson, MA?

You’re starting from scratch. Give yourself a clean palette. Clear out the room entirely. But, now what?

Well, how do you want the room to feel? Warm and cozy? Bright and fresh? That’ll help you with a color palette.
For the basement above, the homeowner wanted a bright, fresh feeling using colors from nature, inspired by her beautiful western Massachusetts backyard, right outside of this room. You can actually read ALL about this basement renovation by clicking HERE. And, you can see all the pictures of it in our portfolio.

Then, think about how you want to use the room. Do you want to use it for movie nights? Do you want to host book club and sip wine with your friends? Knowing how you want to use the room will give you an idea of what furniture you need in the room.

Make a list of the items you’ll need and the measurements for where they’ll go. Measure the wall that the sofa will go on. Don’t forget to leave room for an end table or two. We also have a whole blog post about exactly what to consider BEFORE buying a sofa. Click HERE for that one.

TIP ALERT – If you have kids or pets, choose upholstered pieces with performance fabrics (like the sofa below) to hold up to those household messes. Leather is also a great upholstery option, especially for pet hair and wipeability. But, they’ve really improved the durability of upholstery fabrics, and there are tons of great options that don’t look like hotel furniture! In fact, there’s a whole other blog post all about that. Click HERE for that blog featuring Mugsy. I mean who doesn’t love a bulldog!

You’ll also need to measure how much space you have for a coffee table.

TIP ALERT – What size coffee table do you need? Your coffee table should be about ⅔ the size of your sofa and sit about 18”- 24” from the front of your sofa. It should also be about the same height as the seat of your sofa.

Measure for every piece on your list, including lamps and art. Make sure you have ALL of those measurements with you when you start furniture shopping.

And, don’t forget to measure how much space you have for artwork, your area rug, side chairs, everything.

TIP ALERT – If you have trouble picturing how things will fit, use painters tape and tape out the furniture on the floor. That way you can see how things will fit and where they should go.

So you know what color direction you’re going in and you know what furniture pieces you need. Where does the room design come from? We always start every design plan with an inspiration piece. Sometimes it’s a piece of art that we know the client will love. Sometimes it’s an area rug that has all of the colors that we know we’re using in the room. Use that inspiration piece to build the room.

TIP ALERT – Having an inspiration piece is THE way to choose a paint color for a room. Never pick the paint first. You always need to choose a paint color that’ll have the same undertones as the pieces in your room. If you have an inspiration piece you can choose a color right from that piece.

And you’re off to the races, so to speak. You know what feel you’re going for. You know exactly what pieces you need to buy. You have your list and your measurements. Now what?

Once we’ve chosen a few pieces that will work in the room we create a mood board. You can do this right in PowerPoint or PhotoShop. Putting pictures of them all together gives you an idea of how everything will look together. Does the sofa shape work with the chair? How does the area rug look with the draperies? Lay it out and see how it looks. The one below on the right is a family room that we’re about to install. Come back to the Portfolio to see the After pics soon. This is the board that we showed to the client, although the paint color looks a little off in this picture. We showed her the actual paint swatch, with the fabric and rug samples, as you see on the left

TIP ALERT – Speaking of area rugs, and spillers, another thing to think is what the rug is made of. There are tons of rug options out there now that are super stain resistant. Polypropylene rugs are really easy to clean and stain resistant. Wool rugs are extremely durable and resist staining but aren’t great with liquid spills. If you’re looking for stain resistant, be sure NOT to get a rug with viscose in it. While viscose makes a rug super soft, it is terrible for staining. We have a bunch of rug samples that we can actually spill wine on to test how it cleans!

So, you’ve got at least one piece that you love. You can choose your paint color from that.
Have the room painted, or paint it yourself, while it’s empty. That’s so much easier!

If you’re designing your family or living room on your own you can start adding pieces as they come in. We like to do it all in one day so the client is only disrupted once, plus they get that HGTV WOW reveal. So fun!

But, let’s be honest here, not all interior design is like you see on HGTV. Sometimes you’re working on it piece by piece. And, that’s ok too. That’s why we’re walking you through it here.

Whether you’re doing it little by little or all at once, once you have all of your furniture in it’s time to add lamps, are and accessories. Don’t forget lamps. They add that little bit of ambient and/or task lighting. Plus, they can really be the jewelry for the room.

When you’re considering art, go a little bigger than you think you need. Make a statement. Your art for over your sofa should be about ⅔ the size of your sofa! Really!

And when it comes to accessories, you need to add just enough to warm up the space and add some personality and not so much that it’s cluttered. Choose some key pieces and stop there. And, add a plant. Every room needs a little life and the texture that a plant adds.

Now, take a step back. How does it look? How does it feel? Do you need to add anything because it doesn’t feel finished? Do you need to take a thing or two out because it looks a little cluttered? Adjust and ENJOY!

We do a ton of new family rooms, in fact it’s our favorite room to do!

If you feel like you need some help with the process, we’ve got you! Ask a question below. Or, head to our Facebook page for daily tips.

We DO offer both services that we chatted about above.
For a room refresh, whether we do the work or you do the work, we have Details for a Day.
We’ll meet at your house and chat about your wants and needs, check out the space and take some measurements.

Then we’ll head out for a few hours of shopping at some of our favorite spots.
Then we’ll take everything back to your room and put it exactly where it should go.
Click HERE for more info!

And, of course, we offer Full Service Design. Full Service Design is just that, full service. We have a Consultation. We come meet with you, see the space, and ask tons of questions. We really want to get to know you and how you live in your space. We take measurements and pictures. Then we go back to our office and put together a full design plan, just like we talked about above. If you need to see more than just a mood board, we draw out the room to scale to show you the new furniture arrangement and how your completed room will look, just like you see on Fixer Upper. We source tons of products that will work in your room and give you options! You get a mood board curated just for your space. It’ll look something like the photo you saw above. Then we take care of everything, ordering, tracking, problem solving, scheduling, installing, assembly, trash removal, everything!

You go to work, or the soccer field, and come home to a brand new room all ready to enjoy with your family and friends.

We even offer Online Design for those clients that would like to do the work themselves BUT need a plan to go by. We have a Consultation, either in person, if you’re local, or online, if you’re not in western Massachusetts or northern Connecticut. Then we will come up with a full plan for you. It’ll have a clickable shopping list and detailed instructions for how and where to place everything in the plan. It will even have a floor plan. You can follow the directions like a road map to your dream room!

You’ve got tons of options to create that updated family room. So no more poofy brown ‘leather’ sofas! Make a plan, or contact us, and you could be enjoying your new family room before your next book club!

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