Family room needs french door treatment and art

last year

We bought a colonial house, along with the existing Colonial Williamsburg style furniture and decor. My style is coastal/tropical. We do not want to spend the money to redo all at once, so I am transitioning by using a British Colonial style. Photos below, please forgive the mess in the kitchen.

I have two problems with the family room.

Problem #1: The french door needs a window treatment to cover the glass for privacy at night and temperature control. Right now I have tacked up some ugly green fabric until I can come up with a plan.

The existing windows have custom valances and 2" dark wood venetian blinds. The french door has just a matching valance. I love the blinds and am ambivalent about the valances.

I have considered the following for the french door:

a) Mount 1/2" venetian blinds or bamboo shades to the door itself. Not crazy about that idea as we use the door a LOT and I want to maximize light during the day. I cannot do thicker blinds because of leaving clearance for the door handle. I don't like most cellular shades.

b) Mount 2" wood blind or large bamboo shade over the entire door frame. Problem - the french door valance is shallow and would not cover the blinds header, so that valance would need to go. I think this would look odd since the adjacent windows would still have valances.

c) Take down the french door valance and put draperies that stack to the right. Still have the non-matching issue, plus it would be a pain to climb over the chair to open and shut the drapes.

d) Take down ALL the valances. Problem - the existing wood blinds don't have a decorative valance, so I would need new fabric valances. I thought about solid green valances to coordinate with the loveseat, but the kitchen window really needs more color or pattern to give the kitchen some oomph. The kitchen counters are putty brown with flecks of cream, black, and brick red. I don't want to use solid red valances, and I'm not sure what kind of pattern might coordinate with the loveseat.

Problem #2: Art for over the piano. I found some great prints of music clefs and of pineapples that pick up the gold color of the wall. Problem is that we don't really like the gold wall, and hubby vetoed the art because it was "too gold and he wants a pop of color". I have not been able to come up with something colorful that also works with the muted color scheme we have.

All suggestions are welcome. (Except the following, LOL - I know I need to hang the painting over the mantel lower, redo the mantel accessories, relocate hubby's stereo wires on the carpet, and clean up the breakfast bar.)

Thank you!!

Featured Answer

MarleneM

last year

Perhaps this photo will provide some inspiration. I suggest removing valances and painting walls a shade of white. Then add lots of plants.

https://www.houzz.com/photos/residential-projects-at-vero-beach-florida-tropical-living-room-phvw-vp~96167342

For the patio door you can get wide one-way draw drapes. Stack them on chair side and install a rod as in photo to pull them closed easily.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
First get rid of those valances and the roman shades they are not good at all. A piano reguires no art that says hi I am a piano so find an art piece you like and hang it there , I would suggest before taking pics of spaces you tidy up a bit . I am not really sure how this is going to transition to coastal and use drapes for nighttime privacy what is the issue there . IMO the wall color is not nice at all so I would paint before doing much else .
Related Professionals
Hialeah Gardens Lighting · Makakilo City Architects & Building Designers · Toledo Furniture & Accessories · Sahuarita Furniture & Accessories · Holly Hill General Contractors · Longview General Contractors · Saginaw General Contractors · Signal Hill General Contractors · Waianae General Contractors · Arkansas Interior Designers & Decorators · Wanaque Interior Designers & Decorators · Kirkland Flooring Contractors · Petaluma Flooring Contractors · Taunton Flooring Contractors · Verona Flooring Contractors
latifolia
last year
To move in the direction of coastal, eliminate all the valances and put a curtain over the sliders stacking to the right, as you suggest. Paint the walls a light cream color that works with your countertops.

Then pare down your furnishings. The leather chair crammed in the corner needs to go or be relocated. Make a nice conversation grouping in front of your fireplace. Long-term, i would go with smaller scale furniture, maybe a couch and two side chairs. This furniture looks like it was brought from a much larger home.

Good luck.
everdebz
last year
I'd paint upper molding same color as the wall. Good valance/ shades-- I'd consider a layering of 'cooler' transitional pendants instead of cans... possible not sure?
everdebz
last year
last modified: last year
Is upholstered seating same fabric as window's fabric? let us see without door's treatment - and let the 3 identical fabrics remain. Rug?
Spice, Marine Printed Polyester Layla Area Rug by Loloi II, 7'6"x9'6" · More Info
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
You missed your biggest issue........Paint. The Dubloon Gold on the walls has got to go.

Place your art over the piano instead. Your fireplace wall needs texture and attention. I would consider a round wood framed mirror with hurricane candle sconces. Botanicals to add some color and texture to the walls.

You could select wood blinds or plantation shutters for the French doors.
ratherbeatthebeach
Original Author
last year
Beverly, I LOVE your mockup. I agree that the gold paint needs to go. Your fireplace wall includes all my favorite elements. I did try a mirror there, but it reflects the ceiling fan and kitchen cabinets, which is not a great look.

Everdebz, the loveseat fabric matches the valances. I'd love to get it reupholstered eventually but not in the budget now.

Latifolia, I agree that the furniture is large scale, but it's darn comfy and we are not small people, so I want to keep it. I can rotate the leather chair so it doesn't look quite so crammed into the corner. I also need to bring back my chair pillows, which distract the eye from how bulky the chairs are (in my opinion at least). Will add more photos once the pillows are there.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
You can select a mirror that has antique glass which will give the sparkle without the reflection. If you're a DIY there are videos on YouTube showing how to take a regular mirror and distress the finish from the back to make it antique.
decoenthusiaste
last year
Forget British Colonial and forget the valances and blinds. Let's start approaching your coastal dream right now by whitewashing the brick and painting the mantel and trim throughout to match your kitchen cabinets. Paint the walls Sherwin Williams Sea Salt. Take down all the blinds. Do the same with valances and offer them and the petite matching sofa and leather chair on your local FB Marketplace or other online sales site. Get the idea of valances out of your head. Instead install bamboo shades throughout. What are your floors under the carpet? Looks like the landing at the sliders is wood? Is that under the carpet too? If so, unveil it, refinish if needed and plan to use a large sisal rug to anchor the seating area. If you can't afford new seating right now, get a second chair and do white slipcovers on two chairs facing the fireplace. They will be more comfy than that small sofa.
arcy_gw
last year
UGG do not paint the brick!! There's not enough of it to matter why ruin a natural feature with paint!!! Paint is #1. The wall color has to go. Next the crown ends oddly and it's dark which is bringing your ceiling down. It should be white like your cupboards. Show us these blinds and the top you fear letting show. You agree the valances have to go--so begin by taking them down. They all need to be rehung, they are not at the same height anywhere in the room. It's unfortunate the blinds are dark but as a rule blinds are a PITB-they collect soooo much dust and are a chore to clean.
everdebz
last year
Was looking for a large central item like table to repeat brick red / fabrics - can look good with gold/ tans.
Bermuda Cocktail Table · More Info
ratherbeatthebeach
Original Author
last year
I looked more closely at the countertop and it has flecks of both white and cream in it, along with the red and black flecks on the muddy background. The cabinets are definitely cream with a slight gold undertone.Our ceiling is currently bright white.

I'd like to paint the walls a light sand color.

What color paint for the ceiling, trim, and mantel?
ratherbeatthebeach
Original Author
last year
Update - we finally got some grommet curtains mounted. I was going to do one way draw stacked to the right but dh wanted panels on both sides and I like how it turned out. (I know some of you will tell me the rod should be higher but I wanted to stick with off the shelf lengths and the next longer length would have required mounting the rod on the crown molding). I also bought some tailored valances in the same fabric for the other two windows but they are not up yet.