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Adding Function and Style to Our Family Room

January 11, 2022 By Chelsea Lipford Wolf 7 Comments

Modern Updates to a 1950s Living Room

How we took our blah, blah, bland family room and transformed it over a few days into a bright, modern and functional place to hang out with friends, watch TV or play games as a family!

Chelsea Lipford Wolf Living Room Makeover 1950s Ranch Home

Before

It’s funny that in less than a year of living here, the function and the way we used this room changed. Not by leaps and bounds, mind you, but enough that we now desperately need toy storage in here instead of the playroom. So I’m glad we waited to live here a bit before making any changes to one of the most-used rooms in our home.

Living Room and Dining Room in Ranch House

Not only is this the first room you see when you enter our house, it’s also where we hang out, play games and watch TV. While it’s set up as a more formal living room, it’s very much a den or family room in our house!

Family Room by Front Door with Fireplace Before

That means we have kids’ toys, board games, plenty of seating and a TV to work into the layout of this space. Oh and I can’t forget the flow from the front door to the hallway on one side and the dining room on the other.

Looking into Living Room from Hallway

Fortunately there is a lot of space to work with! And that large window! One of the features we loved about this house when we first walked through it.

Create Function and Character

Even though the window calls a lot of attention to itself on its own, it was begging for some bookcases on either side to really make that wall a focal feature! And that would give momma some good hidden storage to keep the not-so-magazine-worthy toys, random doll parts and stacks of puzzles and coloring books out of sight.

Built-In Bookcase with Baseboard and Crown Molding

Dad and I custom-made the bookcases so they would be ‘built-in’ and fit all of the available space, from wall to window trim and from floor to ceiling! It really takes things up a notch and makes them look original to the house, especially once we wrapped the crown molding around the top and baseboard at the bottom!

My little nod to current trends…caning cabinet doors! I love the texture they add to the bookcases and the natural look of the caning. Just like adding wood tones can add warmth, so can caning and rattan!

DIY Caning Cabinet Doors Living Room Built-Ins

Speaking of trends, I have wanted to have a room with colored (light blue/gray/green) trim and white walls for close to 3 years when I went on a girls’ trip to Charleston and Savannah, GA! There was a sweet little bistro cafe that had so much charm!

And now it just so happens to be ‘in’.🤷‍♀️ Regardless I love it. And when I don’t love it anymore. I can paint it!

Add a Ceiling Pop

I’ve been a fan of pops of color and fun ceiling treatments for a while now. When I renovated my kitchen at the old house, back in 2012(😱), I had picked out a pretty purple-blue paint for the walls. But once the backsplash was installed, there wasn’t much wall left. So I decided to paint the ceiling with it!

Modern Kitchen Updated and Decluttered for Home Staging

Then when I was creating my first nursery, I painted the ceiling gold! (Please forgive my lack of photo skills back then…😬they don’t do the ceiling justice.)

And let’s not forget the wood plank ceiling I installed in the adjacent dining room in this house!

So it’s safe to say, this living room was getting a ceiling pop too! Dad and I decided to keep it a little simpler so as not to compete with the fabulous dining room ceiling. We opted for a grid made from 1x4s painted the same as the room’s trim.

Chelsea Ranch Revival Living Family Room White Walls Blue Trim

You can check out a how-to video over on todayshomeowner.com by clicking here!

Since I was going with the white walls look but still wanted color in this room, it was important to bring that color up so the room wasn’t just a white box! I think it adds just the right amount of oomph without being too flashy.

Eliminate What Doesn’t Work

I mentioned we use this room to watch TV. And we only have one TV, so I want it to work and look good! And it wasn’t working over the existing fireplace for me.

View of Living Room Fireplace Before Makeover

Having it above the fireplace was not optimal viewing height and I didn’t love the mantel. But the real kicker and decision-maker for me was that the fireplace wasn’t even real. There is no chimney. There are no gas logs. It was only there for aesthetics and the aesthetics were not serving me and my family!

So we eliminated the fireplace and patched the wall. This allowed us to hang the TV at a lower height AND we’re able to add a piece of furniture to give us more storage!

Bright and Modern Living Room After Removing Fireplace

Removing a fireplace can be controversial! Whew! But it’s so freeing to do what you know is right for your home and the way your family lives there every single day. I haven’t regretted it for a second these past few months.

Bring In Family Treasures

In the rush of moving in and knowing we would later update this room, a lot of hand-me-downs and mismatched furnishings got dumped in here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m appreciative to even have that as an option! But I’ve noticed as I’m aging more and more into my 30s, (I’m 33☺️) I’m wanting to spend money on things that will last and that actually suit our lifestyle. Not just things that are ‘free’. So as part of this makeover, we ordered new (matching) sofas and a rug.

But one hand-me-down we gladly pulled out of storage was my family’s old wooden kitchen table. The one we ate breakfast and almost every family meal around for the better part of my childhood. It was classic 90s wood and not quite my tastes these days.

90s Round Wood Kitchen Breakfast Table

Give me a problem I can’t fix! I got to work stripping and sanding the stain off. And while I was at it, I took the circular saw to the base and made it the perfect height for propping up your feet or playing a game of Uno.

Round Wood Coffee Table Made from Kitchen Table

I LOVE the look of raw, unstained wood. And after a few quick coats of clear sealer, it’s the perfect wood tone to keep the warmth in our cozy family room! Plus you can’t beat furniture with history!😍

You can watch the process in this highlight on my Instagram!

Family Room Makeover with White Walls and Decorative Ceiling

The new living room has functioned SO well for us so far! It’s so bright and fresh without being over the top modern.

View from Hallway After Modern Makeover Updates in Family Room

I can’t wait to really finish off this room by refinishing the hardwood floors in here and throughout the house to get rid of that orange! Hopefully that will come later this year. But until then, we’ll be able to play, watch, love and grow in the family room!❤️

Sources

sofas

rug

TV*

ceiling fan*

console table

hall door*

door knob*

caning

bookcase wallpaper*

trim paint*

wall paint*

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

*This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a small commission from your purchase without increasing the price for you!*

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Comments

  1. Barbi K. says

    January 12, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    Love how this turned out and your attention to detail. Love you saved a beloved family treasure in that table too! Great Job!!!

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      February 3, 2022 at 10:40 am

      The table is my favorite part! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  2. Barbie Klos says

    January 13, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    I love watching the show even the repeats are great because you forgot then you think oh yeah that did look easy to do and pretty too. I love all your work thanks Chelsea and your dad too GBU

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      February 3, 2022 at 10:23 am

      Thank you! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  3. Cindy Bader says

    February 9, 2022 at 10:51 pm

    I love to see how talented you are. I’ve watched you and your dad for a long time. Now I’m fighting with my local channel. They think their news is so important. ❤

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      February 10, 2022 at 1:37 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Cindy! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  4. Cindy Bader says

    February 9, 2022 at 10:53 pm

    Keep up the wonderful work you do.

    Reply

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Happy 3rd birthday🎈to the biggest mama’s girl Happy 3rd birthday🎈to the biggest mama’s girl I’ve ever known! She weighs as much as her big siblings but still likes Mommy to hold her.😜 She’s got plenty of sass and insists on doing everything herself. Which is why she normally has hair in her face and a tornado of chaos all around her. Pretty much our life since she came into it. But the best kind of chaos that grows and stretches you and teaches you to slow down and accept them just the way they are.☺️
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Can’t believe it’s been 3 years!🥺
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#celebratethem #birthdayshoutout #girlbirthday #girlparty #3rdbirthday #springbreak2022 #familyvaca #vacay2022 #vacationmode #visitflorida #staugustinefl
Cheers to the weekend, friends! May it be filled w Cheers to the weekend, friends! May it be filled with plenty of sunshine and bright spots!☀️🥰
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FINALLY painted this eyesore of a wall and finishe FINALLY painted this eyesore of a wall and finished just before dark last night!🙌🏻 My husband and I decided instead of starting a new project (ahem a baby nursery) we should finish the projects we’ve already started. Since baby is due in the summer, it will be so nice to have our backyard up to par so we can rest and relax out there during recovery. ☺️
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We started this project back in October by stripping and scraping the many layers of paint so we could waterproof the bricks and paint the wall to match the house. But the house was painted exactly a year ago. So it was way past time to knock this huge item of the time-do list. And it feels like such a relief to not have to walk by the unfinished-ness every time we come home now!
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Next up we’ll slowly tackle patching hardwood floors and finish painting and replacing our interior doors that are taking up room in our garage.👏🏻
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What’s something you’ve knocked off your to-do list lately?!
Happy Sunday! Love these little Easter babies of m Happy Sunday! Love these little Easter babies of mine! And definitely loving this beautiful spring weather we’ve been having lately!☀️Don’t forget Sunday is a day of rest and to give yourself some time to relax today.💆🏼‍♀️
Easter Sunday always feels special!✝️✨ Easter Sunday always feels special!✝️✨
Azaleas under oak trees never gets old. Welcome, S Azaleas under oak trees never gets old. Welcome, Spring!🌸🌺🪴
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