Beach Coastal Family Room Makeover

Submitted by A Brit of Happiness

So today is the day that I get to show you the “Family Room” Makeover.  I have been working on this room for a few weeks now.
Keep in mind, I need to finish the curtains, and I still haven’t had a chance to paint my wall art for above the doggy bed, but that will get done soon enough, I hope 😉
Well, I won’t keep you waiting.

Beach Coastal Family Room Makeover

Here is the BEFORE…

Everything was sprayed beige, even the ceilings, when we moved in.  We opted to not have windows on either side of the fire place so that we could have a large built in from wall to wall.  The window frames were knocked out to allow for really nice finished off framed out windows!

Here is the AFTER…



I love this shot because it shows the rooms true color, but I hadn’t finished the curtains and blinds off in this shot.

Here is the room completed.  We added the blinds, which I ordered on overstock.  You can find them here.
Then we put up the curtains and curtain rods, but not in that order 😉  We bought both the curtains and rods from Target.
I am going to add some chartreuse colored  horizontal stripes to the curtains when I can actually find some fabric that matches the pillows.  It has been much more difficult finding fabric than I expected, but I will keep looking.

I still haven’t gotten a chance to make my art piece for the wall area above the dog bed, but hopefully I can get it done in the next few days and give you a tutorial on it later this week.

Ok, so from this picture, you might think, ahh the lights in the cabinet add a nice touch.
So did I until we put them up and after a little while,
the hubs said “Why did you turn off the lights?”
My reply, “I didn’t.”
His reply, “Ha Ha Ha, so that’s what they meant by 30 minute lights!”
Yep, 30 MINUTE LIGHTS!  So if I want a little ambiance, I have to get up every 30 minutes and turn these “suckers” on with none other than my long trusty level, since I am not tall enough to reach.  The only bonus is the exercise I get from getting up and down ;-).  So much for trying to go cheaper and get some battery operated touch lights.
In my future plans, I hope to have some nice recessed lighting in the ceiling that will shine down on each side of the bookcases!

Ok, this maybe my favorite find for the room, it’s hard for me to decide.  It was $12.99 at HomeGoods.  Now I would like to say that I got it because as soon as I saw the #24 on it, I thought “Oh wow, my house growing up was #24,”  but not so.  More like I just loved the color and look of it and my mum was the one who pointed out the significance of the number and said, “I bet that’s why you got it.”  Sure Mum, sure!

I really like this lamp for a few reasons, one, it’s silver.  I think silver, or gold for that matter, is the secret to finishing off any room.  If you look at almost all of Candice Olson’s rooms on HGTV, she adds silver through out her rooms to add a bit ofglamour and sparkle and finish things off nicely!
Another reason I really like this lamp is because of the swirl design on the base.  Kind of  a “rolling waves” effect.  If you go simple with other areas of your design, i.e. couches, woodwork, and pattern, then you need  some layers of interest in the room and I think this lamp does the trick!

The “glass bubble ball,” (again this is a very important technical term) was purchased at Ross for $6.99.  I love a good bargain!
I think it is a fun touch. Bubbly water and coral, anyone for scuba diving?

I was able to pick up a bag of “finger star fish” at Marshalls for around $12.00.  So I have been using them throughout my house.  I have them in my morning room glass jars and I used them to make Starfish Art.  The candle and candle holder were both purchased at Target.

I also purchased this big beautiful shell at HomeGoods!  I could live in that place, HomeGoods, not the shell!

Remember Nora. The lovely whale I purchased when I started decorating this room.  Well, she was very lonely until I found her “true love” Pip. Nora came already named, but Pip was all alone on the shelf at Homegoods with no name, so we adopted him, named him, and brought him home. (P.S. Don’t tell Pip, but when I was in S. Carolina at a different HomeGoods, I found Justin, a hammer head shark.  Pip might get jealous of Justin and I wouldn’t want a love triangle, so Justin is going in another room.  Crisis diverted!!

Strong and handsome Pip.

The minute I saw the driftwood ballsspheres (it just sounds better) at Crate and Barrel, I knew they were coming home with me.  I got one small and one medium sized sphere.  What shelf wouldn’t look good with a little bull dog bling?  He is the guard dog around here, since our real bulldog is too much of a “softy” to harm anyone!

Here is the momma  driftwood sphere.  What do the owls have to do with the ocean, you may wonder, well I have no clue 😉   I have had these guys for awhile and can’t seem to part with them.  They may find a new home somewhere else in the house, but for now they will live at the ocean.

I was so excited to find these storage baskets at Target.  I really like how the color and texture of them adds warmth to the room.

See just when you were worried that these book shelves weren’t gonna’ house any books, I shocked ya!  I am working at becoming an elementary teacher, so I have to show how important it is to read, right?  Even those these books are mostly pictures,Shhh!

I found all of the Coral for the bookshelves at Marshall’s Dept Store.  They currently have a really nice selection of beach themed items.

I bought the chartreuse green pillow at World Market and the gray blue flowery pillow from Target.

This is the fan we went with for the Family Room.  It is “humungo.” I purchased it at Lowes.

I like the way each blade is different.  I think it has a really cool driftwood look to it!

My vintage ladder accents the wall as a “multi tasker.”  He can hold blankets and cover large ugly wall vents, what more could you ask for!

Hello new projects that I love!  You can check here for the “how to” on my pallet doggy bed and herefor the vintage ladder redo.

The ladder was purchased from a lovely shop called Everything Vintage, Co.  Both blankets were purchased at Marshall’s.

I would love to hear back about any thoughts you have about the Family Room Makeover.

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I am the husband of the amazing Cassity of Remodelaholic. I love to problem solve and to design and build things inside and outside the house to make life better. I am a professional Landscape Architect by trade and love the outdoors.

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46 Comments

  1. Love, love, love your makover!! I have fabric I am using to make curtains you may like, it might be too much color though!! I would be happy to send pics or send you a sample of the material!! It has dark gray, turquoise, orange res & chartreuse.

    1. Hi Cathy,
      Thanks for the offer, but this is a guest post from a couple of years ago so I imagine that these lovely ladies have the curtains figured out 🙂 Thanks for the comment!

  2. Lovely rooom, it’s a classic. I’m glad someone asked about the couch, it looks so comfy. My question is did you install a floor outlet for behind the couch? Do the lamp cords hide under the carpet. I love that look for a sofa table but don’t know how it’s done. Thanks!

    1. Hi Melody,
      It does look like perhaps they installed a floor outlet, but since this is a guest post from a couple of years ago, I’m afraid your guess is as good as mine! You can click over to the original guest’s blog, though, and ask there — it’s linked at the top of the post.

      1. Hi Melody,

        Thanks so much for asking! We weren’t able to install floor outlets but we did have the opportunity to hide our cords under the rug. We definitely recommend installing floor outlets to our clients in these circumstances.

  3. I love what you did! We have a very similar living room with the very lonely fireplace at the and and I want to add built ins in the worst way. This is a perfect example to show my husband. Do you have additional seating at the other end of the room?

    1. Hi Amy,
      This is a guest post from a few years back, so you’ll have to click over to the guest’s blog (linked at the top of the post) to see for sure. Sorry I’m not more help!

  4. RE: the curtain chartreuse stripes. I’ve read tutorials on how to paint stripes on curtains. If you can’t find the fabric you like, consider painting the stripes on yourself. You’ll be sure to get the exact shade you want.

  5. The family room makeover is beautiful! I love everything about it! Thank you for all the ideas and tips!

  6. I know I am a couple years late on this post but do you have the bookshelves/cabinet plans that you used? I love what you did!