The main-floor family room is a high-demand spot in many households that is expected to seamlessly transition from child-friendly play zone (during daylight hours) into adult-friendly lounging and entertaining area (during evenings and weekends). Navigating the fine balance between a place young kids can play independently while still under close supervision from an adjoining room such as the kitchen and making it look like a place that you want to spend time in without feeling as if you’re visiting a toy showroom can be challenging. I’m a strong believer that having kids does not go hand in hand with giving up your sense of style and sophistication. I do believe that it is possible to have rooms that are not off-limits to kids, yet still look lovely and presentable once their busy little bodies have nodded off to sleep.
A monochromatic palette doesn’t need to be a snooze. Take your old beige-on-beige room and update it with shades of grey and tones of camel and caramel. If you’re worried about finding a colour scheme that is family friendly, remember this: there is no more forgiving decorating palette than one that is based on the colours of dirt. For added flexibility and easy care, choose an all-cotton upholstery fabric, prewash and predry it before using it for upholstery, and have your seat cushions made without piping, and you’ll always be able to wash the seat covers whenever disaster strikes.
When you lower your sight line and only install cabinetry on the bottom of the wall, you can put some of the savings toward finishing touches. A honed-granite counter with tones of caramel and charcoal that are drawn from the overall room scheme and high-impact cabinetry hardware that is anything but basic kitchen fare ups the ante on your installation from off the rack to customizable chic. Paying attention to the finishing decorative touches will take your inexpensive storage solution to another level.
Hooked rugs are an iconic country-decor staple and a collectible folk-art form, but they’ve also made a resurgence in the design market as a practical and hard-wearing construction for wool carpets. Thanks to the short-looped construction, hooked rugs are softer underfoot than a simple flat-woven style, are offered in more interesting patterns than most broadloom options, and don’t fuzz or shed as much as tufted versions. Combine all these aspects and you’ve got a durable and family-friendly choice that’s easy to vacuum and easy on the eyes.