To me, making a house into a home is a big deal.

Do we need to spend a fortune on it? Nope. I just feel like it’s important to create an environment conducive to creating a family. To me, that is sacred.

I want the home I raise my children in to elicit feelings in them like my little sister has for the home we grew up in. The rest of us adore that old house too because of the sacred memories that seep right out of it’s walls. (But my sister is the one who actually wrote about it…I linked to her thoughts a while ago here.)

Does the way the home is decorated make a difference? Not really. I mean, I think you could bring in that wonderful feeling of “family” in any kind of home, outdated or updated or whatever it may be. I do think that what we choose to put on the walls makes a difference (see why here). And to me, having things organized and beautiful in their own way brings in such a good spirit.

So, that’s my little preface to introduce our little house “spruce-up” project I talked Dave into last year because of all that jazz I outlined above.

It all began with this:
…the gorgeous piano Dave’s brother and his wife very graciously let us borrow while they built their house had to be returned. Drat. I had grown pretty attached to that thing. (Thanks again, guys, for letting us use it!)

Now that the living room would need to change a bit to accommodate a new piano, why not spruce it up while we were at it? It had been a while since we adorned the walls in there with dark red paint. I was ready for bright and light.

I was done with the red.
So we pulled everything out. (I say “we” liberally because Dave wasn’t involved much more than to be bothered that this whole thing has taken me SOOOOO long…notice the Easter wreath on the door in that first picture? Yeah, well, that was last Easter. The 2009 Easter. He has a reason to have been frustrated. But hey, it’s pretty much over so hallelujah! for both of us.)

I sold everything on Craig’s List or gave it away and we painted the room the color of a “silver fox” (according to Dunn Edwards).

I say “we” here because my friend Denise helped me SO much with all this. She has got the greatest eye and the greatest ideas. Plus she thinks so much like I do. Click here to see her decorating blog.
Tried this rug in here…a little too bold (I wanted to incorporate my new colors: orange, green and a hint of blue, but this was a little much).
Got new floor (I love slate) and a new couch (from clubhousefurniture dot com):
Oh, and got our family picture stretched on canvas by this local guy here at Trotter Galleries. I thought he did an awesome job.


Framed our family picture and got this book shelf made by another local guy here:

Oh and that light above the family picture, love that. That was on super sale from Pottery Barn and I think it helps complete the room.

So there you go. Still waiting on the chair that goes in that corner to the right but hey, it’s a heck of a lot more done than the “torn apart” thing we had going on forever.

And I really love it.

The only problem is that this opened a can of worms: I loved having something different so much that I decided we needed to get rid of the red throw pillows on the couches in the family room. And that led to a bunch of other stuff in there. Then the dining room needed help. And then the entry way didn’t go with it all either. So…we made a few other changes too. More on that later…

Have a great day!

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29 Comments

  1. Yes, I find that one thing quickly leads to others when it comes to decorating…and when you are on a roll it's hard to stop.
    It looks awesome!

  2. Wow! Where do you get your frames ideas? I love the one the guy built for you on the map. We are going to copy this idea. Our family loves to travel and my husband loved this idea!

  3. LOVE IT!!! I am thinking along the same lines. We have olivey green walls that I loved almost 5 years ago when we painted them but now they are starting to feel dark and stifling. I think some lighter paint would be fabulous but then I want to change everything else too! Thanks for the inspiration…

  4. This is fun to see! I love seeing what other people decide to do when they redo a room. Things I never would have thought of look absolutely stunning. I have to admit, my favorite part of your new room is the piano….I'd like to redo a room with that!

  5. Love everything about the new room!!!!..the color, the pictures, the bookshelf, the floors, the rug, the piano.(of course)….I am a light and bright kind of house decorater too….now if you could just come move by me to help me change up my front room.

  6. We have that color in our master bathroom and I am amazed at how much I love it…every time I walk in! The floor is beautiful too! Congrats on finishing…it takes FOREVER!!!!

  7. Your blog has become one of my favorites to read! That orange rug was from Pottery Barn, right? I tried it, too, but it is orang-ier in person than it looks in pics. Your family is beautiful…your home is beautiful…and I loved reading your sister's post about your childhood home. I helped my son and daughter-in-law decorate a nursery for their twins. I had kept all of the Fisher Price sets from when my son was little (he's now 30!). I put the barn set out and the first thing he did was smell it. He still picks it up and smells…he says it makes him remember so much when he gets a whiff of it! I have a blog that is being designed…I've been a lurker for years…have decided I want to try it!!

  8. I just wanted to stop by and say that I love your blog! I stumbled across it after stumbling across Clover Lane, ah the joys of blogging 🙂 I noticed in one of your posts that you mentioned you served a mission. I just recently got my call to the Washington D.C. South mission, and I'm so excited! I always love to find women that served missions because I don't know too many. You and your beautiful family are an inspiration to me. It brightens my day each time I read your blog!
    Love,
    Jordan Lee

  9. My dear. You have got talent! Love your new room. Thank you for sharing with the rest of us and getting us inspired. Our house needs some freshening. Awhile back I read your sister's post about your house you grew up in (which was so wonderfully written) and thought of it while in DC visiting my childhood home and I think of it here at our desert home and what thoughts will our children walk away with and how that is so important to make them good ones. I'm so glad I read that post! Love, love, love your piano. Oh, I want a baby grand soooo bad. When I got married I asked for a "gold band and a baby grand". I've got the band but still waiting for the baby grand. It looks GREAT. Love you!

  10. Everything looks great and I feel honored to have seen it in person!! When I walked by that room, I thought about how great it looked!!! If you ever need to sell your red stuff, just let me know, I am doing a lot of red accents in the new house.
    Thanks for blogging your changes, they inspire me!
    Christa Johnson

  11. Holy cow! I was not expecting such a transformation, but I LOVE it. The walls are perfect for those windows and the natural light!

  12. I never in a million years would have guessed that room was red before! Wow! It has been so fun to watch that room transform over the year, and it's absolutely beautiful!

  13. I have a question. How are the acoustics with the slate floor?

    LOVE the baby grand! I do think you did a great job on this. I personally think rooms with a piano are hard to decorate! Also, if your kids play piano, it would be really cool to do some b/w photos framed & hung above & to the right of the piano. I always forget to get shots of them while they are practicing! All 3 of my kids play & they are starting to sound really good:) Looking forward to the next posts:)

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