Before and After Traditional Family Room

Today I’ve got another great before and after to show you. It’s a beautiful traditional family room with a touch of southern class.

My client wanted a traditional, cozy family room space with a hint of southern influence, and strong warm neutrals with soft tones. Her goal was to have a classic inviting room where they could watch a movie comfortably (facing the TV) and have more seating facing each other so guests could carry on conversations. During the process of designing her space, my client found an opportunity to move into a new home, so we ended up holding off on a couple of elements that we needed to complete the room. Because she didn’t know the height of her new family room we didn’t move forward with curtains, backed off on additional accents and some plants. But all things considered, I think the room came together beautifully and more importantly it really reflects my client’s style and personality.

BEFORE

Heather put together a lovely testimonial, so what better way to talk about the space but to hear it directly from her. Thank you so much Heather for trusting me and thinking of me for your home. It was such a pleasure working with you! XOXO

AFTER

“I believe, I believe! You guys, I am converted. EVERYONE needs a designer! After 15 years of marriage, I finally bought my first couch! It all started when we replaced the flooring in our main level. The old carpet had to go and Brett installed laminate hardwood looking floors. Now we needed an area rug but I was so sick of the old couch and didn’t want to spend money matching a rug to the old stuff. So we waited and saved up. I thought it would be so fun shopping for the new furniture but it turns out I got completely overwhelmed and had no clue what I was doing. I love following home decorating Instagrams and I thought I could just copy what I liked. Well, there were so many particulars when trying to put things in my house that I just needed help on. What size area rug would look right? How do I arrange the furniture? Where do I put the TV? I wanted to add more seating but I HATE not directly facing the TV so how do I do that? I also needed more storage and originally thought I would have to install built-ins or put bookshelves on either side of the fireplace, but the fireplace is off centered so how do I make that look right? It was time to call my good friend, Melessa, to design my space. This furniture was definitely an investment that I wanted to look good for a long time, like hopefully a decade!

Melessa came and took measurements. She listened to my wants, needs, budget and style. She quickly came back with 6 furniture layouts for me, all to scale! I picked one and she then shopped for me and put real furniture pieces to scale so I could see what everything would look like all together. Wow! So much easier that trying to guess what everything would look like. I originally thought I wanted a blue couch. I have a hard time committing to color but I thought I could live with blue for a long time. It’s classic, right? But once I saw the design with a fantastic blue herringbone couch, I realized it was too dark. I was trying to be practical with three boys and a cat but I just knew that I couldn’t live with that dark couch. I tend to love neutrals. I love how bright, happy and calm I feel around them. Plus I feel like I get sick of colors pretty quick. I felt like such a pill going back to Melessa after all her work on my original color scheme and saying, “scratch it!” I told her how I know I should like it because it’s exactly what I asked for but I just didn’t. Melessa was so helpful. She did not make me feel bad and told me to go with my gut and what would make me happy. She helped me find a light, neutral couch with water repellent finish that was machine washable! It was what I wanted AND practical! Once Melessa showed me the new design I instantly knew that was it. She was right, go with the gut!

Melessa also talked me out of getting a matching set of couch and love seat. Matching matches, so it works, right? Nope. I love that Melessa knew how to take different pieces and make them work together. It’s so much more professional looking and interesting to look at. I take a long time to make decisions and Melessa was so patient and helpful. I know I could not have done this without her! Just look at my house! It looks like a magazine! I gave her a big, old list of everything I wanted and look what she did it! I have storage, more seating, more light, just the right amount of color AND I can still watch the TV directly with my swivel chairs. Not only does it look good, but it’s so much more functional than before. I can’t say it enough, you need Melessa! She can do any budget and style and you’ll be glad you did!” – Heather Lindsay

P.S. See this Tuesday’s post to shop this rooms look!