There’s finally some construction progress happening this week! 🥳 Sub-contractors have been in and out almost daily working on odds and ends in various places around the house. Electricians, demolition crews, flooring installers, cabinet makers, both A/C and A/V technicians, mirror & glass guys, painters, roofers, power washers… the list is long! There are a lot of little projects happening, but the main space I’m focusing on right now is our family room.

Before I go any further… shout out as always to the fabulous ladies at Heather Scott Home & Design who helped me hone in my vision and put together a design plan for this space. Our contractor is Messer Design & Construction.

Before: Sunset Terrace (located directly off the family room).

We’re renovating the family room first because we’ll need a space to hang out and watch TV, etc. during phase 2 of the renovation. In phase 2, we’ll completely gut what I refer to as “the Great Room” which is our kitchen, pantry, breakfast nook, casual living space and fireplace area, plus the laundry room. When that project begins (there’s no timeline yet!), it will be nice having the family room completed so we have somewhere cozy to hang during construction.

The family room sits halfway up the back staircase behind the kitchen and is located at the very front of the house (directly above our garage). Lucky for us, it has some decent views! If you follow me on Instagram, then you might remember I shared a “sunset terrace” which faces west and has hill country views. For reference, that terrace is located directly off the family room. Aside from the terrace off Kate’s room, which sits at a higher elevation, the family room and sunset terrace have the best views in the house.

Here’s a comprehensive list of everything we’re doing to update the space:

Carpet: the existing carpet was original to the house, which meant it was over 20 years old and in need of replacement. We decided on carpet over wood as 1) a cost save and 2) to help muffle the sound since this will be our media room. The room is huge IRL, and sound quality will be better with carpet. It also adds to the cozy factor!
Ceiling detail: we’re adding tongue & groove paneling + 4 beams, all of which will be painted Benjamin Moore’s “Cloud White” (the same color as the walls).
Cabinetry: updated design with cabinets & drawers below (which will have cane fronts) + floating shelves above. Cabinets will be painted Farrow & Ball’s “Green Smoke”, countertops and floating shelves will be stained (exact color TBD, but it will coordinate with the existing trim and baseboards). A large, 75” TV will be mounted between two sets of floating shelves.
Electrical: replacing the dated ceiling fan with a large-scale chandelier, adding two sconces flanking either side of the media cabinet, upgrading existing cans with LEDs, adding a floor outlet so we can have area lamps around our sectional, replacing the fan on the sunset terrace, and putting everything on dimmer switches. Not one light in this house is on a dimmer switch and it drives me nuts! You cannot cultivate a vibe without dimmers!
Surround sound: the home was already pre-wired for it, so we only had to cut holes for the speakers before the ceiling installation. Since this room will serve as our media room, we decided to put in surround sound vs. just having a sound bar (which was the original plan). I’m telling myself this upgrade will be worth it in the end! 🤪
Windows: I made the decision to remove the plantation shutters. Not only do they block the view, but they block a lot of natural light (which is one thing lacking from several rooms in this house!). I waffled for a while with this decision because the room faces west. A classic choice between form and function given the brutal summer heat we get in Texas. 🥵 However, after studying the light at different points in the day, I feel confident the natural light and views gained will far outweigh any protection the plantation shutters provided us. Plus, I’m having curtains made. 👌🏼

As of now, everything has been demo’d and the new cabinets + floating shelves have been installed. The ceiling paneling and beams are being installed today. Everything is set to be painted/stained next week. Then we’ll finish up the electrical, hook up the TV and speakers, and install the carpet. My hope is that all of the above will be completed by early-mid June.

Now that the construction elements are out of the way, let’s talk design!

Fabric selection: Heather Scott Home & Design.

We’ve already selected and ordered some of the furniture we need for the family room + all of the furniture for the sunset terrace. I’ll share the furniture plan later down the road. Lead times are really long right now, so it will be another 2-3 months before furniture arrives anyway! I do, however, want to share the fabric selections above because they give you a good idea of the room’s earthy color palette and the various textures being incorporated into the space. And FYI my plan is to run the green shade seen above throughout the entire home to keep things cohesive.

Above is the inspiration for the ceiling detail. I went back and forth on whether I wanted to stain the beams for a contrast against the white tongue & groove paneling OR paint everything white. Ultimately, with some input from my designer and contractor, I chose all white to achieve a cleaner, more modern look. It’s also the cheaper option, so it saved some money. Always a good thing! I love the look of stained beams too, but I’m saving that option for the great room renovation (or maybe even for our master bedroom down the road!).

Above you can see the original cabinet design plan. Things have changed a little… there are now only two floating shelves on each side of the TV vs. three. We lost one shelf when we decided to keep the fur down above the cabinets so that the new ceiling beams had a proper place to “die”. Also, there’s no more sound bar since we upgraded to surround sound. The cabinet doors and drawer fronts will be cane (you can see the cane style we selected above), which I’m super excited about since I’m a big fan of this current design trend. Such an easy way to add texture and interest!

Again, the cabinets and drawers will be painted Farrow & Ball’s “Green Smoke” and the countertops + floating shelves will be stained to match the existing baseboards and trim. For hardware, we are doing this brass “finger pull” style that will be installed along the doors’ edges.

Finally, the lighting! It’s definitely getting an upgrade. 😍 The chandelier inspiration came from this account I follow on Instagram. I love that it has an old-world, Mediterranean vibe yet is still totally modern. It’s also quite big which will be perfect in the large room, yet it’s still dainty which is nice because the ceilings are lower. In other words… it will make a statement without being overpowering. The coordinating sconces will flank either side of the new media cabinet, and the ceiling fan is going outside on the terrace. I want to call attention to the ceiling fan. We had this brand at our last house and it’s sooooo nice. It’s pricier, but worth the splurge in my opinion!

That’s it for today! Stay tuned to Instagram as I’ll share construction updates as they unfold. And in the coming weeks I’ll share more about the furniture selection for this space as well as other projects going on at the house.

I hope you like where things are headed! ☺️

Family Room: Before Pictures and Renovation Update

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