If you’ve been following along, you know the back family room is slowly coming together We painted the final coats on the walls, the antique pine cabinet is in, and the foundation of the room is starting to come together. The space is starting to feel like a real room and not just a project site. Now I’m ready to create mood boards to work through the design decisions that remain.
We’ve been slowly making over our back family room for a while now and if there is one thing I know about how to decorate with a partner, it’s that sometimes it can be a struggle.
When we first moved in years ago, we painted it and made it usable but as our taste evolved and how we actually lived in the house became more clear, we knew what we wanted it to be.
The English pine cabinet arrived on a Friday while I was out of town at the Springfield Antique Show and Flea Market. Mike texted me a picture of it in the space and the doubts started to creep in. I had measured the wall I wanted it on and knew it would fit. But seeing the photo he sent, I worried it was too big and the color was all wrong for the cozy family room we were trying to create. I told myself to wait until I saw it in person thinking it was just bad lighting.
A year ago we had our siding, windows, and gutters replaced. When it came to choosing a siding color, it really came down to two options: a warm linen white that would have been just a touch warmer than what we had, or a charcoal that felt a bit more modern and dramatic. Mike really wanted a change and was drawn to the charcoal. I liked it too, but my hesitation was less about the color itself and more about how it would work with our red-orange brick. I wasn’t sure that combination would still get me to the English cottage exterior look I’d always been working toward.
If you’ve spent any time in my home or on this blog, you know blue and white pieces are everywhere. On the bookshelves, on the dining room table, tucked into vignettes throughout the house. Blue is my favorite color, so it’s really no surprise that blue and white pottery has become the thing I’m always hunting for.