Living Room & Family Room Update

It was time for Living Room & Family room update!

We’ve had our living room furniture for almost 10 years and it was time for a change! Our current living room's (10 ½ x 16) configuration was tight but best accommodated what we had. The TV was huge and took up a lot of valuable space. Our current sofa, chaise, and chair along with bulky side and coffee tables made the room feel smaller than it is. There is also a permanent AC Unit in the wall thatwas a CONSTANT  eyesore! The living room is joined to our Family room, or as we call it “The Blue Room”,  by a large 7 ½ wide opening.  
The Blue Room (12x 13 ½) is intended as a formal dining room, but we are a young family so it suits us better to use it as our computer room /office/ dining room/ music room/ art studio /game room......Family Room. The current Blue Room configuration is very open, with the computer desk, printer stand, drumset, a few shelving units and a bar height  table with 4 stools. The TV was mounted right above the table  which is way too close for the kids to sit and eat in front of and the table was too small for us all to eat together. We'd have to pull the table  away from the wall whenever  any of us ate while watching  TV or if there were more than 2 of us sitting together  for a meal, which was at least  once a day. Other than that the room's current set up functioned best to our needs.

Click the images below to enlarge

 

  

 

I created these vision boards and floor plan:

Living Room Vision Board

Blue Room Vision Board

For the new living room design I purchased a large black leather sectional, colorful accent chairs, and to conserve floor space, a wall mounted 3-D Smart TV and floating wall mounted TV stand.  I wanted a coffee table that would be large enough for the sectional, but not compromise floor space so I purchased a 60" espresso slat bench and had a custom piece of glass cut to place on top of it. I bought an 8' runner carpet and placed one end under the sectional so it runs out and under the coffee table. To cover up the AC unit I installed a panel bracket system (the same I used for my panel curtains) to the wall above it, and hung a large poster print so that whenever  the AC wasn't in use I could slide the poster in front of it.  It is a great graphic piece of art in addition to FINALLY getting rid of the eyesore! To store all the video games and controllers I built a small 2 shelf unit the same width of the wall next to the opening between the rooms, painted it the same color as the wall, and attached stainless steel legs to raise it so it would clear the baseboard heaters. I got rid of the dated wood ceiling fan and installed a simple light fixture. I decided to change the color of the red stripes I already had painted throughout walls to blue  and green. On the picture  wall off the Living room, leading to the stairs, I painted the larger  bottom stripe various  colors  broken up by silver lines.

In the Blue room I wanted a dining area (that we didn't have to constantly be pulling out whenever  we wanted to sit together or if we wanted to watch TV while eating a meal) without losing the other functions we needed. I decided  the best way to execute  that is switch the walls the TV and large canvas print were on, and purchase a larger table top for the bar table base I already had. I also got 6 new stools for additional dining seating. I got rid of the printer stand and rearranged the rest of the shelving units I already  had and installed a new ceiling fan, since I took the one out of the living room. The ceiling  fan light  was not as bright  as we sometimes need so I also purchased a floor lamp, which I placed on top of the "Art Supplies" shelving unit with a dimmer switch, for whenever  we needed bright lighting.  I wanted to add funky colorful twist on the wall surrounding the TV, so I ordered the Safari and North American Sets on Cardboard Safari and had the kids make their own designs on them.

Click the images below to enlarge

 

  

 

 

  

 

The Living room now has even more seating and table-top surfaces than before AND is much more contemporary and spacious. When the kids want to play the Wii or Kinect the “coffee table” slides right under the Floating TV Stand and there is plenty of space for them to jump around.

The Blue Room now has a more formal dining area with additional seating while still maintaining all the purposes we require of the room.

We are extremely pleased with our new Living & Blue Rooms!

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Click here to see the Living Room on Ikea Share Space!

Click Here to see the Blue Room on Ikea Share Space!

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Master Bedroom Update

It was time to update our Master Bedroom!

 Floor Plan

 After 5 years it was beginning to feel dated and we had a serious lack of clothing storage. Our bedroom (13 ½  x 11) has a large window across, and a closet door to the left of the entry door, leaving one wall to center the bed.  The current arrangement we had only allowed for our king sized bed and 2 small nights stands on either side, and 2 Ikea lack shelving units stacked horizontally across from the bed.

New Floor Plan

For my new plan I decided to place the bed along the windows in order to accommodate 7(!) additional Ikea Malm storage units: 2- 2 drawer chests, 2-4 drawer chests, 1-3 drawer chest, 1- 6 drawer chest, and 1- 6 drawer dresser. I arranged the 2- 4 drawer chests, with the 6 drawer chest between them, along the wall that the closet door is. I put the 3 drawer chest & 6 drawer dresser under the TV along the wall that the entry door is on, and across from that the bed and 2- 2 drawer chests as night stands. Being that the bed could not be centered with the window, and our Ikea Malm bed has such a low headboard, I hung up drapes from the ceiling to floor, behind the bed to create the illusion of a headboard and that the bed was centered.

I wanted the room to be Romantic and  Glamorous.                                                                                                                                                      

I created the vision boards below:

 I wanted to customize the Malm units so I ordered the "Caci" overlay from  O'verlays and “diamond” knobs from Amazon for them. The possibilities for this are endless!

Knob Patterns

Silver Overlays

Black Overlays

I had many scenarios, as you can see, but chose the one below.

I spray painted the overlays black and glued them to the top drawers of the units, and attached the knobs to the rest of the drawers.

Click here to see my Hack on Ikea Hackers!

The night stands are bit small so I rigged Ikea Knappa Pendant lamps over them and ran the cords behind the curtains, and attached Ikea Dimma dimmer switches to them. 

I already had 2 Ikea Ung Drill frames from my previous "headboard" , so I painted them metallic silver to flank the TV. 

Below are the results and I am VERY pleased!

                                                                         

Click here to see on Ikea Share Space!

FOR MORE PICTURES CLICK HERE!

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The Switcharoo!

My children wanted to update their bedrooms, and after about 4 years since moving in I agreed (plus I LOVE interior design, so I didn’t need convincing!) Not only did they want new rooms, but they wanted to switch bedrooms!

My son, Lorenzo, had the smaller room (roughly 7  x 11 ) with a large window, double sliding door closet, and the entry door all on different walls. Being that the room is so small, and has little wall space for furniture to work with; I put a twin loft bed in there in order to accommodate room for the rest of his storage and make the room feel more spacious. Under the loft bed I was able to have a desk, chair, and 2 Ikea Malm chests (3 drawer and 2 drawer). Along the wall with the window I placed 3 Ikea Lack shelveing units (2 horizontally and 1 vertically), and on the wall across the bed I placed 3 storage ottomans which added additional seating. My son enjoyed his room for years but he was ready for a change!

My daughter, Sabrina,  had the larger room (roughly 9 ½ x 10). She had a Disney Princess themed room with a castle bed and all. She had a wardrobe, large dresser, Castle loft bed with slide, and a whole bunch of toys.I removed the sliding doors and stored the wardrobe in the closet, and arranged the rest of the furniture to best accommodate her toys and other play furniture. She loved the room for years, but had now out grown it. She wanted to get rid of the Princess stuff and have a “Big girl” room.

I sat down with them both and asked what they wanted in their new rooms:

Lorenzo: A Larger bed, a nice desk area, a Flat screen TV with a Roku player, Gray walls, and Blue and Green accent colors. I created these Vision Boards with him:

                             

Floor Plan

Original elevation plan

Final elevation draft

Final results

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Sabby: A Daybed, a Flat screen TV with a Roku player, a desk, Paisley prints, Turquoise walls and bright colord accents. I created these Vision Boards with her:

Floor Plan

Elevation Draft

                                   

Final results

Click here to see on Buzz Feed!

Click here to see on Ikea Share Space!

For more pictures click here!

My Sister's 1st Apartment

My sister moved into her first apartment and asked me to help her decorate the small space. 

The walls, ceiling and floor were all a neutral off white color and my sister did not want to paint. She was on a tight budget but wanted a bright stylish contemporary space.

We purchased a white faux leather couch that also converts to a bed for whenever she has guests sleeping over. We selected a black TV stand and compact black coffee table and end tables.  The pillows, throw, mosaic rug, and Damask Turquoise accent chairs added bold splashes of color to give the room a bright airy feel. I hung up light gray curtains floor to ceiling behind the couch and mounted a medium sized round mirror over the couch that reflects the large custom nail head framed artwork on the wall across from it. I printed 2- 4x6 colorful bird prints I found on Pinterest and framed them with inexpensive plain green frames. There is no light fixture in the living room so we placed a floor lamp in the corner and a table lamp on the side table. In the kitchen installed a fun colorful wall decal over the bar height table.

My sister is very pleased with the results!

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