My Favorite Room....The Endearing Home

 Hi everyone, I'm Lauren from The Endearing Home blog. When Kim invited me to be a part of her Favorite Room series I seriously couldn't believe it! I am so honored and beyond excited to be Kim's guest and to share my favorite room here today. I became an instant fan of Kim's blog years ago and look forward to every Savvy Southern Style post in my in box, I love Kim's gorgeous home, all of her fabulous painted furniture transformations and decorating ideas! When I started to think about which room to choose my first thought was our dining room, but knowing Kim's love of buffalo check I just knew I had to go with our family room. The family room is one of the first rooms you see from the foyer. Our family room and kitchen are actually one big open space and are truly the heart of our home and where we spend the most time.

  Here is what the room looked like when we moved in over two years ago. As you can see from all of the paint samples on the wall I had a bit of hard time picking out a color. The winner was Ramie by Sherwin Williams. I loved the color so much I ended up using it in the foyer and throughout the hallways upstairs and down.

  Over the summer I decided I wanted to make the room flow a little better between the family room and kitchen by removing the red rug and accents. I am so happy with the new sisal rug, it's not as comfy as the wool rug, but we love the way it looks. With all the trees surrounding our back yard this room can feel dark and the new rug helped to brighten things up.

  The most important things to me when it comes to decorating our home are making each room feel comfortable, inviting and to reflect our family. We love the ocean, so this was the perfect place to display our seashell collections from beach vacations. We are really enjoying the coastal cottage feel of the family room.

  For me, the thing that makes this room feel so warm and cozy are the buffalo check curtains. When deciding on curtains for the room I knew I wanted either toile, check or ticking. I have to admit I was pretty nervous when I first ordered these panels, wondering if they were maybe a little too bold and how my family would react. Once I put them up I instantly fell in love and my family approved too. I usually play it safe when it comes to big purchases, but it felt good to just go for it! Stepping out of my decorating comfort zone and seeing what a big impact these curtains had on the room helped me get more creative with my choices when decorating the rest of the house.

 

I would love to eventually add some decorative wood trim above the fireplace and finally get around to painting or replacing the brass on the fireplace doors. For now I am happy with the framed prints. They were hanging in our living room, but they found a new home in our family room. I love moving things around the house!

 

One of my favorite home improvement projects was the addition of the beadboard paneling along the wall between the two rooms. It also extends down the hallway and throughout the foyer. I could seriously add beadboard to every room, I just love the look of it!

  Years ago I fell in love with a swatch of apple green velvet that I ordered from Ballard Designs. I knew I had to find a place for it in our home someday. When I was looking to add another touch of green to the room I thought a soft velvet pillow in that pretty apple green would be the perfect addition.

  We have a formal living and dining room, but when hosting family and friends we always end up gathering in the family room. 

 

 I am not much of furniture painter, it usually takes me several attempts to get it right. That was definitely the case with this cabinet I found on Craigslist. We needed some extra storage and despite my lack of painting skills I am really happy with how the cabinet turned out. The knobs from Hobby Lobby really helped it look complete. I also painted the TV console and the chest next to sofa. The windsor style chair was another Craigslist find for $30.

  Most evenings after dinner this is where my husband and I enjoy catching up on the days news and a glass of wine together.

 
This is the room where I don't stress about crumbs or spills (thanks to the leather sofa) and there are no rules about feet on the coffee table.

  Only a few pillows actually stay in place, the rest usually end up on the floor.

   I like to make things pretty while still being practical, so there are lots of baskets around the room which also help keep things tidy. The chest and big basket in the corner are where we keep lots of blankets. We love to have cuddly blankets around for everyone to snuggle with on chilly days,

  Here's another view into the kitchen.

   I do quite of bit of crafting from the kitchen table, so it's nice to be able to watch TV and see what all of the Real Housewives are up to.

  Thank you so much Kim for having me as your guest here today and for letting me share my Favorite Room with your readers! This was so much fun and hope you will stop by to say hello!

Thanks, Lauren for opening your home and sharing your favorite room. Yes, I love those checks.

Okay y'all please go over to The Endearing Home and say hi to Lauren and tour some more of her beautiful home.

Miss any past favorite rooms? Find them all here.

Have a super weekend!