REVEAL: Family Fun
Today, I’m excited to share some pictures of a recent project we completed here in Santa Fe. This isn’t a full remodel, but I wanted to show you what a difference even just redoing interiors can make when it comes to making a space useful.
Our task here was to repurpose a formal living room — you know, the room that sits right at your entryway, usually untouched, to create some aspirational sense of perfection for when guests come in your door. Or at least that’s what my mom used to say: no living in the formal living room!
In this case, our clients were tired of having this space sit unused by their family. We put together a plan to make this front room full of fun instead of just for show — and I think you’ll see from the pictures that it turned out both practical and gorgeous!
A Play Room for Play
We started by completely repurposing the entry room into a playroom for the family’s daughters. While it still appears somewhat “formal” on the surface, the idea is that this room is ready for fun at a moment’s notice. The two facing chairs hang from the ceiling, and you’ll notice a dedicated kid-size coloring table under the window.
I love the big Tibetan table set up as a game space, too. This usage isn’t as risky as it seems; this gorgeous piece actually wipes off easily in case of any paint spills or other mishaps!
You’ll also notice that there’s no TV in this room — that’s on purpose. This space is made for individual entertainment like reading or playing games, which gave us the flexibility not to use a TV as a focal point.
Cozy Family Space
In the second room, we did create more of a family room hangout area (this is where you’ll see the TV just beyond the playroom).
In both of these spaces, we kept things homey by using lots of textured fabrics on the sofas and chairs, while also bringing color and pattern into play. We used great contrast here to make the instances of color really pop with bold blues, greens, and reds. These patterns are mostly organic in nature (instead of geometric), which highlights the architecture of this space: natural beams in the ceiling, wood floors, and gorgeous adobe walls.
The best part? In all instances, our focus is on durability for the family: all of these fabrics are stain-resistant, meaning they’ll stay beautiful for years to come!
Overall, our goal here was to design a space that was impactful but playful, while also creating somewhere the family actually wanted to hang out together. Mission accomplished!!
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