[ family room before and after ]

TODAY I thought I'd give you a little peek at my family room. This is the BEFORE when we viewed the house with the seller's furniture...

As you can see, their taste was quite traditional. But it's a great family room addition that they added on and the windows on three sides flood the room with such beautiful light. {It's amazing how big this room looks in these realtor photos ~ those wide angle lenses they use are deceiving!}

I started out by painting over the yellow walls with Benjamin Moore Cloud White CC-40 ~ a warm white that provides just a bit of contrast from the white trim. In some photos, it almost looks the same as the original walls but trust me, that yellow is GONE! My thought was to paint the room more of a pure white, but then we bought this new slipcovered sofa that was a bit more of a warm white so that dictated the colour {it's also the same colour I painted the kitchen}...

I absolutely love this Rowe sofa ~ what a difference from the Laura Ashley fiasco we purchased in Dubai and I didn't have to sew my own slipcover for it! Bonus!

Here is how the room looks now {without a wide angle lens!}...

It's been fun unwrapping our things from storage and combining them with items from Dubai and a few new pieces. Those of you who have been around for a while will recognize bits and pieces. We spend most of our time in this room and so far are loving how cozy it feels, while still feeling fresh.

We picked up two of these gorgeous chairs from Muskoka Living in Port Carling...

I love how they fit in so well without being bulky, still have the slipcovered look and add warmth with the wooden frame. They're down-filled so they're super comfy. Because the sofa is big in this space, I'm glad I didn't choose the matching slipcovered armchairs ~ it would have felt too heavy and crowded.

Now we just need to address the fireplace situation. We decided to put the tv above the fireplace since there really wasn't any other logical spot for it. I think I may want to frame it out somehow so that it doesn't look like a big black rectangle on the wall.

But first, the biggest question is... should I paint out the fireplace in the white trim colour?

I'm leaning a certain way but it's always fun to hear what you think!

lisa