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!

For more pictures Click Here!

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

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

Click here to see on Buzz Feed!