A family room should be all about the family that lives in it. If your family is energetic and playful, it doesn’t make sense for the room you spend the most time in to be a quiet mix of bland neutrals. Something much more colorful is in order, like this lively room pictured in Better Homes & Gardens. While the bright, marigold yellow could be overpowering, it’s balanced nicely with the soft pewter gray of the shelving unit. Pops of complimentary colors elsewhere give the room a youthful, energetic vibe.
I’m convinced that a similar look can be achieved without spending much money, so I challenged myself to find 5 DIY projects that might be used to recreate this look.
1. DIY Built Ins
The shelving in this room is definitely a focal point. Did you know that you can fake built-ins like these? Centsational Girl offers one of the best tutorials for achieving the look of a custom shelf for the price of an Ikea one.
2. Statement Paint Color
The color combo of marigold and pewter really works in my inspiration room. Not sure you’d be brave enough to try a color this bright? Check out an example of a very similar color (Apricot Brandy by CIL Paints) in use at My House. My Canvas.
3. Colorful Glassware
I love the way these shelves are styled. Along with the typical books and plants, the vases and patterned containers provide lots of visual interest. Newsflash: you don’t need to spend oodles of money on colorful glassware. Follow the tutorial at My Repurposed Life and spray paint the stuff you find at thrift shops!
4. Striped Rug
A fun striped rug that actually coordinates with your decor doesn’t have to break the bank. Get the look you want by painting your own stripes! House Tweaking shares her tips for getting perfect stripes.
5. Contrasting Welt
I used to call it “piping”, but the cute orange fabric trimming the edges of this chair is known as welt. Contrasting welt, like this, is an emerging trend that is a fun way to play with color in a room. Addicted to Decorating provides directions for making your own–you can use any fabric you like!
What do you think? Would you dare to be this bold with color? What is your favorite element in this room?
Actually I like it all. In my last house I painted one wall a bright orange and it looked sensational. Right now I have my kitchen painted a deep chocolate brown, so that’s also pretty daring. Great post and some really helpful tutorials. Hugs, Marty
i enjoy the bold look but doubt I would be brave enough to do it in my own home 🙂
Hugs
First–thanks so much for linking to my painted glass post!
my favorite element is the rug. I think because of the color. Yellow scares me! We painted jamie’s living room yellow before she moved in. No sooner than we got the paint on the wall, she was changing her mind. Her living room had some faux brick paneling, so we tagged it the “yellow brick road”. Since then she has changed the living room color every year or so I think.
gail
okay. did i go color blind? that welt on the blue chair… it’s WHITE right? not orange?
I am doing the bookcase thing myself in my studio… i am hoping it will make a HUGE difference in there….
This is a very helpful post! I just started a craft club & I look on your page about everyday for more inspiration. Thank you!
I like how the bold wall color is tamed with the grays. It’s a very Martha Stewart palette!
I love the chair
Best compliment ever!
Becky, I can’t read the first paragraph in any of your posts bc of the ads that don’t go away, even when I click the X 🙁
Oh my gosh I am so sorry about it. Something went wonky yesterday. It is all fixed now. I am sorry for the inconvenience.
Finally, so happy to see the colors pop in even small places. When I moved into my apt., I thought I might lose my mind looking at the flat white paint everywhere which looked gray at night. Yuck. I painted every room a happy color and two in the hallway. I use only a whipped cream white on ceilings and it’s semi gloss so the ceilings are shiny and add light. Large and cool mirrors here and there help bounce the light around. My home has been a very happy environment since all that was done. I never regretted the colors I chose and enjoy coming home.