This End Up: Taking Our Wood Panelled Midcentury Modern Family Room Back To Its Roots

Welcome to the cafe!

I realized this morning that I have not given a This End Up/House report in quite a while. So, today is the day for the family room reveal!

When we first toured the house last year, my husband walked into this room and said "Ugh, wood panelling."

To which I replied, ""Ooh, wood panelling!"

I really liked this room, and could see all sorts of possibilities. We moved our thirteen year-old overstuffed furniture in and made ourselves comfy. Or we tried to, at any rate. But the overstuffed furniture took up a lot of space and really did not offer enough seating for our family movie nights.

It was time to upgrade.

We offered the old furniture to a nephew, who made the drive all the way from Toledo, Ohio to Pittsburgh, just to lay claim to the sofas, chair and ottoman. Yeah, he was THAT desperate for furniture!

The old went out, and the new came in. Here is how the family room looks now.

We went furniture shopping with our room dimensions and a plan in mind. For starters, we knew that the purpose of this room was for movie viewing, so getting enough seating was priority. And in order to make that happen, we also knew that we needed furniture that was smaller scaled, with smaller arms and shorter depth.

We had a wonderful sales associate at Macy's. Mechita was so sweet, a dear Christian woman and a cancer survivor.  She made great recommendations, and we had a lot of laughs through the process.

We opted for a sofa with ottoman, two leather recliners, and an occasional chair. Comfortable seating for six! I am so glad we decided against a loveseat, as it impeded the flow into the room before.

I knew that I wanted a blue sofa. Like a great pair of blue jeans, I figured a blue sofa could go with just about anything. This sofa has a low profile, and has been compared to that favorite sofa at your Grandma's house.

I knew that we would probably fight over the awesome leather recliners, so I insisted on ordering two. We're so glad we did! My husband often uses this recliner as his work station. He can watch television with his briefcase nearby, while working on his ipad on his lapdesk. Now that's multitasking! The leather is a beautiful shade...a cross between a deep orange and cognac. It's soft, like butter!

There were a lot of masculine elements in the room, so I had to throw in a fun chair, just for whimsy. It fits me perfectly, and it's a great spot to read or stitch.

Of course, the real purpose of the room is for late night movie viewing, which is made even cozier with a roaring fire in the wood burning fireplace!

I found these pretty Smith and Hawken fireplace tools for half off after Christmas at Target! The color is perfect in this room, and my husband has been putting them to use all week.

Overall, we're so pleased with how the room has turned out. We still have a few projects in mind...new curtains, new lighting, and maybe some new artwork over the sofa. But for now, we are enjoying this room every day. This house does not have a basement, so we knew that our family room had to fill the void. And it does! It's a warm and welcoming spot for all of my boys (and my labrador) to gather over a bowl of popcorn and just relax.

We've put the "family" back into this family room!