CJ & Amy’s Design Dilemma

When we heard CJ & Amy’s cry for help with their dated and dark family room, we grabbed our capes and sprung into action. Just kidding, we grabbed our paint swatches, but close enough. Here’s their letter:

Hey youngsters! We saw your information in last week’s Washington Post and of all the companies mentioned you youngsters seem to speak to us the most. Sure you can’t beat your price but your style and taste seemed close to ours and we liked that you live in Richmond which isn’t that far from Annapolis. Let’s have fun! The first room we want advice on is our family room/TV room. Everything in the room can go except for the large yellow framed print. One side of the room is open to the kitchen so you’ll have to ignore the color scheme in there and just focus on the family room. The wood paneling and the red brick fireplace also make this room a doozie. The floor, believe it or not, is ceramic tile. Who would choose tile that appears to actually be linoleum?  We’ll be replacing the tile down the line but would like to work with it for the time being. Our style is best described as laid back modern with some funky traditional pieces thrown in as well (we really like Anthropologie). We like to find “different” and funky pieces from many different stores that all seem to work together in an interesting way. We love ALL of your before and after examples on your site. We are so excited to be working with you!!!  -CJ & Amy

This is another one of those rooms that will totally transform with some paint on that paneling and some swanky furniture in the space to freshen things up. And thanks to CJ and Amy’s love for color and a bit of funkiness, we can make that patterned blue tile look right at home:

And now for the mood board breakdown.

1. Our color palette is full of saturated tones like a rich blue hue that will make those tiles look intentional along with some warm yellows (to work with the existing art work) and some dark wood tones to keep things grounded and balanced. Choosing a sofa in light steely gray will interject another neutral hue into the room to keep all the colors from overpowering the narrow family room. And as for the wall color, we’d go with a warm yellow tone (try Hawthorne Yellow by Benjamin Moore) to cover all that drywall and paneling to unify and brighten the entire space. CJ & Amy could also paint the brick fireplace a nice medium gray tone (like Glidden’s Eastern Lighthouse) which would work perfectly with our palette while adding an updated feel to the space. But they can also choose to keep the brick unpainted for more of a NYC exposed brick feeling which will still work with all the other colors and tones going on (and tie in the red tones in their oversized print). It’s really up to CJ & Amy!

2. Two of these quirky yet sculptural lamps from Urban Outfitters will add infinite interest on the side tables that we’ll be bringing in to flank the couch. And adding a punchy blue shade is another chance to inject a pop of color to keep things playful.

3. And for another dash of color we totally fell for these throw pillows that will subtly mimic the movement going on in those blue floor tiles to add layers of funky texture and pattern to the space. And on our steely gray sofa they’ll strike the perfect balance of business and casual.

4. And speaking of that handsome and clean lined sofa, here she is. Isn’t she a beauty? Gray is always fantastic with blue and we think this timeless couch will work for decades in any number of rooms and color schemes. Total classic.

5. This yellow TV cabinet is the perfect example of traditional with a twist. The ornate curves paired with the crisp and current lemon yellow color is just the statement piece for this room- and placing it right where the large art piece is leaning in the before pictures above (where the cable jack is) will allow the couch to be placed right across from it for a simple and functional layout for maximum TV viewing comfort.

6. Here’s another sculptural yet functional piece to go along with our fish-based lamps (in fact, two of these babies will actually support said lamps). We love that they’ll bring yet another texture to the space for that funky layered effect that will detract attention from that busy tile floor. Score!

7. These fabulous curtain panels from Anthro actually found us. And they’re sheer perfection. They’ll look great flanking the large sliding glass doors and softening their hard rectangular shape, and the colors miraculously tie in with our color palette magnificently. Love. That. And a good tip about mixing pattern on pattern is to choose one fabric with a large scale pattern and keep everything else relatively small in scale. So the pillows with their larger swirly pattern will live happily with these finer detailed curtains in the same tones.

8. This sleek and modern coffee table will bring some much needed contrast to the room in the form of some dark handsome wood which will ground the entire seating area (and balance out the red brick fireplace should CJ and Amy decide not to paint it). And for such clean lines and fabulous construction we can hardly believe the price (it’s 25% off!).

9. Another way to ground the seating area and tone down that floor tile would be this perfect jute rug bordered with our blue accent color. The neutral jute will balance all the colorful pops of blue and yellow that we’re bringing in while the absence of pattern on this large scale piece will also maintain a simple and serene vibe throughout the space.

So there it is. CJ and Amy’s fresh and fabulous family room. We can’t wait to see what you guys think- especially CJ and Amy! And if you’re in need of your very own custom mood board makeover, just click here to get the ball rolling.

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