My clients have a large basement area that they want to turn into a comfortable family room. They do not have children yet but bought the house with the intention of starting a family so I wanted to put something together that will be kid friendly down the road.
The first thing we are starting with is painting the entire house so we needed to get the paint colors selected first. The basement space has decent light because it is adjacent to a sun room filled with windows. I wanted the space to feel cozy and inviting since they plan to do the bulk of their hanging out in this area. In order to achieve an extra cozy feel and to make the lower basement ceilings feel like an intentional part of the design scheme, we decided to paint the ceiling a very muted shade of blue. The room also has a very large fireplace that has nothing wrong with it but needs a little updating. In order to make it work with the space, we decided to go dark to try to modernize some of the dated molding detail on it and to make it stand out.
Here's an up-close of the color scheme:
The next big ticket item will be a sectional. This is their main "hang out" room so something big and comfy where they can stretch out, watch tv, hang with friends (and kiddos down the road) is key. They have a functioning piece right now in the room which will serve as a placeholder until we find the right piece for them.
They especially wanted to try to incorporate some buffalo check as the print somewhere. These PierOne chairs may not make the cut but boy the price is right in case anyone is on the hunt:
I love the Buffalo check because it isn't overly feminine so it typically appeals to men as well. Speaking of, I wanted to appeal to the husband's senses in this space also. He recently purchased two leather chairs for another space in the house so I thought pulling in a leather ottoman might be a good way to make him feel at home as well. It's also comfortable to put your feet up and practical for kids since it has rounded edges and wear and tear will only make it have a cooler aged patina.
I found these really cute pillows that married the black and white and buffalo check and the leather. Since the chairs will likely live on the opposite side of the room from the sectional (but will be easy to pull up if additional seating is needed), I thought these pillows would be a great way to tie things together.
And because my client loves a pop of color - especially red! - I wanted to try to incorporate that as well through some pillows mixed up on the sectional and perhaps even in the buffalo check chairs.
Something vintage like these pillows from Chairish or these pillows from CollectivCo could be fun:
Another way to incorporate a fun colorful note could be with a side lamp or two. I adore this one from Perigold.
On the other side of the room is a large area that feels kind of like "no man's land" that we need to address. The chairs will be on one side to make an additional seating area that can easily be moved and on the other side, I wanted to think about getting them a piece of furniture that can be multi-functional down the road.
The couple loves to entertain and so I thought it we found a beautiful old chest, we could set that up as a bar area for now and that when kids come along, it can easily provide storage for toys or get moved to a bedroom or other living area down the road. Something with great lines like this (just spruced up!):
A simple mirror will dress the space up while reflecting light from the windows in the adjacent sunroom to help brighten the family room. This one from World Market hits all the right notes to me and is a great price point as well:
And of course, what room isn't complete (in my opinion!) without a little greenery for good measure? A fun basket will add texture and added warmth.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this space takes shape!
xo, Cameron
