Well, hello! Thanks so much for all of your praise and kind words you lavished on my laundry room ~ I so appreciated it! I'll post about the cabinets and other ?'s you asked tomorrow...but
today I'm giving you a design challenge with this room:





Sara sent me these pictures of her family room and this is what she says:
"I think I'm going to repaint my DEEP red den this lovely color(monroe bisque)...the red is feeling soooo heavy-add in some drop cloth curtains and I'm good to go!
I also have a red brick fireplace that goes up to the ceiling-should I just paint the brick that color too or go for another color? Contrast? Or just simple?
I also have brown woodwork-that's going to have to go white too...
And then I have 3 of the most bizarre windows in the entire world.
And my hearth is funky. It's raised about 2 feet off the floor with a big concrete hearth bottom thingy...I have visions of somehow enclosing the entire thing and tiling it (slate? travertine?) but have no clue how to start that!
I have a psycho insane life and the red feels so intense.
And isn't the fireplace just WACKED out? But the mantle? I work for a custom woodshop (I know, you're jealous) and it was a display that they were about to throw away! And it's...well...velcroed to my firebox, nester style :) But it DID make my amazing photos taken by my amazing photog friend Amy.
I'm attaching 2 of the windows-and there is 1 more like that. What the HECK were they thinking???? Like the entertainment center I got on craigslist for $75? It's a little more mod than I like but its fits the space (and our tv) perfectly. I am contemplating painting it black. But I'm afraid!
I have a brown chenille couch and a small red oriental rug-but I'm not wedded to the rug at all-it only cost $25. Ideas?? "
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I think Sara has the right thinking of going lighter. With the small space, I think it will really open it up and it will feel much calmer. I would go with natural creams and beiges with the couch and choose a natural green or blue to use for accents. I think her thoughts of dropcloth drapes on all 4 windows would be a great, low cost choice.
I would choose one photo for the mantel and put it in a big, chunky frame with a few other simple accessories like some candlesticks. I would paint the mantel and the brick a creamy white and the walls a neutral monroe bisque, plantation beige, or ivoire. If you want more a contrast, you could stain the mantel to match your wood floors, which would also look very rich.
I think the pictures of the (adorable!) kids in the white frames are too small scale for the wall~maybe a big grouping of all black or all white frames?
That light placement is very interesting...I would get rid of it if I could and bring in a lovely floor lamp with a shade. That trunk is awesome, but I'm wondering if it would be better displayed in another room of your house? I would clear out as many little furniture items as possible to open up the space and keep it simple.
Velcro, Sara?? Wow :) I applaud your ingenuity, but you might want to secure it a little more... I would frame out the rest empty spot in the hearth and then tile it. You can google tiling a stone fireplace and lots of different ideas and tutorials will come up. Layla had a great tutorial on her blog for her fireplace as well.
Now that window...what is on the other side, Sara? Would it look cool to paint the frame black and make it a little picture window, or maybe just cleverly cover it up?
What do you all think? Any ideas or links to share with Sara for inspiration, especially with the hearth and the funky window above the sofa? Let's help a girl out...give her any thoughts in the comments and we'll definitely be following up with her to see what she decides. I'll be checking in with the comments a couple of times today and have Sara as well so we can ask her questions if we need to~thanks, everyone! I'm excited to see what we can come up for her :)
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