I have shown you bits and pieces of my family room but never the whole thing. I didn't even realize that until I started gathering pictures for examples of Americana decorating. I LOVE my family room. It has big windows and is sunny. It has arches, nooks, and coved ceilings. It is filled with things that I have built and things that have meaning. It is cozy and a lot of our time is spent in here playing games, having family night, watching movies, looking out the window for dad to come home, celebrating holidays, and just plain being silly.
The nook above the couch began as a design problem. I didn't know what to do with it so I was thinking about covering it up. My mom asked my husband soon after moving in what his favorite thing about the whole house was. His answer? This nook. Crap. I knew I had to do something with it. I made shutters for it with my jigsaw and painted it to look like an old window. It is now one of my favorite things too :)
I built this bench when we moved here because I needed additional seating. I had re-upholstered furniture before and built things before but this was the first time I had upholstered something that I had built.
I found this tin ceiling frame on EBAY. I had envisioned a blue tin ceiling frame going in that spot and it took me months to find one. I can be stubborn like that. I know what I want and I keep searching until I find it. The topiary is fake. I use to have a real one. I tend to murder house plants so I babied that thing! I took such good care of it and it lasted longer than most of my victims houseplants. It got spider mites and died. I was too emotionally distraught to get a new real one.
And of course my lamp...
I love that my 1938 house has so many arches!
I have posted this before, but in case you missed it, this is the original key to my front door. It still works!!! But I obviously am not going to put it on my key ring, so I framed it instead :)
This is a cabinet I made that has all of the movies and blankets in it. It is one of my favorite things I have built. It is so simple. But I think that is part of why I love it. I built the crate next to it too. It has all the board games inside. It was the very first thing I ever built. I didn't have power tools back then either. I wanted it to look like an old shipping crate.
The clock on my entertainment center is an antique. Like I mentioned yesterday, my mom collects antiques. She has a thing for clocks. When each of us kids got married she let us pick one of her clocks as part of our wedding gift. I chose this one. I grew up with it all my life and I LOVE it.
This is my Kmart fake wood Entertainment center that I cut in half, painted, and added doors to.
I love plants. Like REALLY love them. To the point of obsession. I need to take a class on how to keep them alive though. If I could, I would have my house FULL of them. I want a sunroom one day with tons of them. But for now I am happy with a couple here and there.
*UPDATE* My moss in the tallest one died due to too much water. It got moldy. Be careful how much water you add to terrariums. See. I kill indoor plants :(
Thanks for letting me share one of my favorite rooms in my house! If you have an Americana room in your house I would love to see it. You can email it to me if you would like.
I love how find ways to repurpose & actually build furniture in your family room! Love your Kmart cabinet, the floor lamp, & upholstered bench! Very cool. I love all the light that filters in & makes it a happy space. Thanks for sharing your ideas!
Looks great! I really love the cabinet and crate.
Wow! That room is amazing. Incredible job on the bench too. You did a fantastic job!
Well what a lovely room, there is so much charm in there thanks for sharing!
Love it, so cute all of it. It would be fun if we were neighbs. winks-jen
LOVE the framed key.
Super Idea!
Thanks for a great post :D
totally love your red bench and red cabinent. They are great!
Love all the architectural details the room has! And, you have done a fabulous job showcasingt them!!
I love your room! It's so warm & homey. You continually amaze me with how easily and casually you build furniture. Such an inspiration! Thanks for sharing.
You inspire me! I LOVE it!
I really like how this looks! that lamp is too cute!
It is just beautiful Stacy! I am very jealous of all your arches. So very cool! And I can't believe you actually built furniture without power tools. You rock girl!
I love this room! My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home and it has arches and cove ceiling which reminded me of my childhood home and made me fall in love with it. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for painting the cove ceiling. We were thinking of painting the wall, cove, and ceiling 3 different colors for a bold look, but I'm not sure if that's too much. Thoughts? Thanks!
Love your eye for decorating! :) Rebecca
Love it! So pretty and fun details!
happy crafting,
Linda
Very pretty room! Where did you get your rug at?
Brilliant idea to make shutters for the nook! Also, that is really neat that you were able to frame the original key to your house--so many people frame keys these days, but usually they are not "meaningful"!
Thank you... thank you!! Your blog is just inspiring!! You are a wonderwoman!! I have had a little bit of a problem getting inspiration for decorating my home. We've now been there for nearly a year and it still looks so bland... there are so many ideas you have given me to add to my own home. However I am nowhere near as brave or talented as you to be able to build them myself!
Love the bench seat- gorgeous, and so many other things in there. And the lamp! Oh my!