Last winter we painted our builder oak cabinets white. 

BEFORE

AFTER

Since then, we’ve gradually tackled other kitchen improvements:  added cabinet hardware, had granite countertops installed along with a new sink and faucet, DIY’d a glass-front cabinet and (just recently) put up a tile backsplash.  It’s really coming along and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.  I should.  After all, it’s been nearly a year since we first started updating our kitchen!

There are a few minor projects left to finish (handmade window treatment, painting the inside of the glass-front cabinet, extending the island and adding a butcher block countertop to the island) but I thought I’d tease you with a few ‘in progress’ snapshots to keep you on the edge of your seats.

The only bad thing about accomplishing these projects is that it takes time away from blogging.  I am NOT Superwoman.  So, rest assured, that while I may not be posting a lot right now I am working on stuff that will make its way into future posts!

It’s Feature Friday!  On Fridays, I’ll be featuring one room in my house in its current condition even if there are some things I’d like to change about it.  If I do happen to improve something later, I can always revisit it when the time comes.  Plus, I’d kinda feel dishonest if I only focused on “finished” rooms in my house.  And if what they (the professionals) say is true, a room is never really finished anyways…you’re always tweaking it.  Concentrating on just one room weekly should give me some time to tidy it up a bit, too.  At least, I can throw all the toys into another room!  So, without further ado, let’s tour my family room.

Last week, you saw my living room.  It’s at the front of our home and you walk through it to get to the back of our house.  At the back of our house is the main living area.  It’s where we spend most of our time and it includes a family room, sunroom, dining area, pantry, kitchen, mini-mudroom and powder room.  This week we’re gonna tour my family room but, not to worry, you’ll see the other rooms soon enough in future Feature Fridays.  Let’s get started…

View of the family room walking in from the living room

As you walk back further, our family photo wall is to your right.  (The white door leads to our unfinished basement.)

The view into our family room while standing at the family photo wall…again, as in my living room, I’d love to rip up all that carpet and put down hardwoods.  The IKEA console behind the sectional holds my kiddos crap, ahem, I mean playthings.

Here’s a closer shot of the glass front cabinet that you saw in the first image

An image to give you the “lay” of the room

The fireplace wall has 2 windows that let the light pour in.  I hung a round mirror above the mantle to soften the square and rectangular shapes in the room.  The fireplace surround is actually painted marble (gasp!).  The marble was too 80′s looking and had pink stains in it.  I sanded, primed and painted it a shade darker than the wall color.  The IKEA curtains are extra long (they still need hemmed) and hung high to emphasize the 9′ ceilings.

We have a TV and aren’t afraid to show it.  I painted subtle horizontal stripes along the TV wall to give it some dimension.  The stripes are fairly wide and mimic the size of the large room.  (The larger the room, the wider the stripe.)  I added artwork and slipcovered ottomans to either side of the flatscreen.  Above the TV is a monogram decal.  The console was a scratch-and-dent floor sample purchase from La-Z-Boy.

The wall opposite the fireplace has a trio of mirrors on it to bounce light around from the windows.  I’ve always wondered what they would look like painted white.  Hmmm…

To me, nothing says “family room” more than a sectional chock full of pillows and blankets.  On movie nights, we push the ottoman right up to the couch and it feels like one big bed.

A few “for fun” shots because you’ve made it this far!

And finally the view back towards the living room from where we were last week.  See what I mean about the hardwood hallway, a.k.a. The Landing Strip?

So ends my family room tour.  Next week’s Feature Friday forecast is looking quite sunny, if you catch my drift.

This is the boring white cabinet that I bought from homedecoratorsoutlet.com.

I added new knobs and painted the back of it for a fresh look with a hint of color.

Today, I finally got around to filling it up.  Take a look.

The only thing I specifically bought for dressing this cabinet is the picture frame hanging above it.  I found it waaaaay on sale at a West Elm store closing.  It was just what I was looking for!  I filled it with some photos taken from my handy hubby’s high school trip to Spain.  (The only thing he knows how to say in Spanish is, “Donde estan mis pantalones?”)  So even though the trip didn’t hone in on his foreign language skills, at least we’ve got some sweet pictures to show for it.

A tray houses two IKEA vases and a lone candleholder that I found at Goodwill.  The tray itself is from Goodwill also.  It was originally hunter green and donned a country motif of painted apples.  I gave it the ‘white treatment’.  (My 4-year-old wants to know why I paint everything white.)  I stole the lamp from our office desk.

I dressed the shelves with some of my favorite interior decorating books and magazines.  The two wooden boxes hail from IKEA and are empty at the moment.  (You’d be surprised by how many of my ‘storage’ containers are actually empty.  Room to grow!)  A few family photo albums, a mortar and pestle (a prize I won in pharmacy college), and a lovely porcelain box given to me by my grandma round out the third shelf.  My grandma really enjoys playing cards.  Some of my fondest memories are of her staying up late to teach me new card games.  So, of course, I keep decks of cards in there.  The two sculptural lanterns on the top shelf were a steal from Big Lots.  Again, I had all this stuff sitting around my house just waiting for a home.

Don’t you love the way the green acts as a subtle backdrop for all the goodies?  The bottom drawer holds some activity books, Playdoh and art paper for the kiddos. 

What’s that, you say?  The knobs are different?!  Well, as with any project of mine, this one wasn’t perfect.  When I replaced the knobs I made a mistake.  Oops!  I used screws instead of bolts to attach the knobs and ended up stripping the knobs’ threading.  My 1-year-old had a knob off in two days!  Not good.  So, off to Lowe’s for new knobs and I actually found some clear, glass ones that I liked better anyways.  Handy hubby attached ‘em this time…the right way.  And he secured the entire cabinet to the wall for the kids’ safety.  He’s pretty awesome.  Finally, one last shot of the glass-front cabinet in all its painted, knobbed and knick-knacked glory. 

Have you ever ‘shopped’ around your house for decor items?  It’s amazing what you might find because you’ve stowed it away and forgotten about it.  Plus, it’s FREE.

This empty storage cabinet had been sitting in the family room for a while. 

It was missing a knob that was to be replaced by the manufacturer.  Turns out, there were no replacement knobs because the cabinet was discontinued.  (Duh, that’s how I got it for cheap.)  So, the company gave me $28 to buy new knobs!  Awesome.  The white, wooden knobs were pretty plain anyways.

I found four of these bad boys for $3 each.  (That means I had $16 leftover!)

With the knobs all accounted for, I decided this little cabinet needed some ‘tweaking’.  (Which is what I think about most things.)  Wouldn’t the inside of the cabinet look great painted green?  With the leftover knob money in my pocket, I snatched up some paint.  Glidden’s Celery Sticks, to be exact.  After attaching the new knobs, I taped off the back of the cabinet and brought it to life. 

It’s still an empty cabinet sitting in my family room.  But, at least, it’s got four knobs now.  I’m on the prowl for some storage baskets, boxes, printed paper and other knick-knackish goodies.

I’m in love with the fresh, springy green. It’s helping me forget that it’s 20 degrees outside. A little