Family Room Mini-Makeover

When I woke up yesterday morning, the plan was to frame these estate sale prints of Kansas City fountain sketches and hang them in the entryway.

By the end of the day, the family room had gotten a mini-makeover instead.

I really, really wanted to have the prints custom framed. But because there were four of them, and because I don’t have a large framing budget – or any framing budget at all as a matter of fact – ready-made frames it was. 

After the prints were in the frames, it turned out they were a great fit for the TV wall in the family room. The same wall I stare at and mentally decorate during commercials or slow spots in movies or basketball timeouts.

The only before picture I could put my hands on was this one from Christmas. You can see all the blank wall space above the TV.

I knew I wanted to put art around the TV, but I wasn’t sure how to start. Turns out these prints were my starting point.

In addition to the fountain prints, I added a drawing of the house my husband, Tom, grew up in.

It  had been hanging in a hallway upstairs and was ready for a more primetime location (no TV pun intended, but there it is). Eventually I’d like to add some other, smaller prints on either side of the TV to give it all more of a collage look.

I also moved Tom’s grandmother’s chair in here from the living room – to make room for the french chairs that are now at the upholsterer’s – and I’m really liking it here.

I like how the white chair repeats the white background of the prints. That’s something I was having a little bit of a hard time with because the white background of the prints is really white.

I also like that the black frames repeat the black in the TV. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they disguise it, but it looks a bit less boxy and severe on that wall, I think.

I moved what had been hanging in the corner by the TV to another wall above another chair in the family room.

The clock is from Tom’s high school. We bought it at a school auction when we were first married. The prints below it are from our trip to Boston.

They’re the kind of prints you buy on the street from what you think is a street artist and you feel all sophisticated because you’re the kind of person who brings back art from your travels. And then you realize the same prints are for sale everywhere around the city, including a kiosk in the mall. Ha!

And despite the new round of snow we got this weekend, there’s a bunny pillow on the chair. Because it’s March. And March means spring. Despite what the weather is doing.

In fact I’m adding spring wherever I can. Like boxwood clippings in an urn.

And white flowers from Trader Joe’s on the fireplace.

And there’s one more tiny detail about this room I want to share with you. But as I started to write about it I realized it deserved it’s own post. So I’ll see you in a day or two with that.

This post is part of Share It Sunday, Sunday Link-Up, Metamorphosis Monday, Centerpiece Wednesday, and The Scoop.