Decorating a Family Room--need your input!

[daisymommy]

We're redecorating our family room, and I need your ideas, and photos if you are willing to share them!

Our family room is the main hang-out in the house. Casual and comfortable, kids toys in this room, etc. We have a seperate formal living room. I like the look of Pottery Barn casual living rooms (although not their prices ;).

We are keeping our wood furniture, which is a honey oak color. But we do need a new sofa, loveseat, and possibly chair. Also need new wall paint colors, lamps/lighting, and decorative touches like pillows, candles, etc.

We were originally thinking of denim sofa and loveseat, with red accent pillows, and a red chair, with a warm taupe paint on the walls, & white trim. But DH thinks maybe we won't like denim long enough to get our money out of it, and maybe it's just way too dated. I'm clueless on that factor :) I thought denim might wear well long term, and looks casual-fun for a family room.

DH likes this sofa, and so do I, but I'm unsure how well this color would do around kids: http://tinyurl.com/2rf4oq
I would still go with red accent pillows.
Or, different couch, but same color (I like this one better actually)
http://tinyurl.com/3x426j
But I'm wondering, with a couch that color, what color would I do the walls in so that it wasn't one big tan colored room that all blended together?

Thoughts??? Thanks!!!

[C99]

I had a big khaki slipcovered couch for about 18 months. It did not do well w/ daily exposure to my DS1.

[bisous]

I just read Caroline's response about the beige couch. I have no experience on that one as my couch is quite brightly colored but can see that that might be an issue. That said, I just wanted to mention that I do like the idea of using a neutral colored couch. Hopefully, the purchase of upholstered furniture is something that will last a very long time. It will be so much easier throughout the years to repaint or buy new throw pillows when you want to totally revamp your look.

As far as colors? I think that totally depends on your styles and preferences. You seem to like red and there are many colors out there that would complement the red in the throw pillows but still contrast with your beige couch. For example, you talked about denim couches so maybe a really nice blue? I personally like red/green combos that don't have to look like Christmas colors if you choose just the right reds and greens. If you like the look of pottery barn maybe you could get your hands on a catalog and see if you can find some color schemes that you really like. The nice thing is that paint is pretty cheap and easy to change compared to all the other decorating elements in a room.

HTH

Jen

[bchafin]

We have a denim sofa. It has not worn well. In the first year the seat has worn like denim jeans would wear. The seats turned white like the knees of jeans. Does that make sense? Keep in mind that we had no kids when we bought it, so this is just adult usage. I've been making new cushions for it pretty much since we bought it and am looking forward to when it dies and I can buy a new sofa.

HTH and good luck
Barb

[ciaobella]

When we finally get around to redecorating our play room, I am thinking about the same colors that you mentioned. Our walls are a dark khaki and we will not be changing those as I am very happy with it. As far as the color of the couch, I am thinking of using a chocolate brown or soemthing like that but in a softer / muted tone.

With 2 kids, I am going to have to make sure that the fabric is good quality and I am going to buy the warranty :)

We have leather furniture downstairs which is where we spend most of our time and while it is not the Martha Stewart look at all, I would not change it because it has been so easy to care for. I might actually look for a more structured leather couch and chair for the upstairs too.

[daisymommy]

Thanks for weighing on on this topic gals! And I'm so glad that Barb commented on the denim couch, as I hadn't thought about it doing the "white-knee" thing--UGH. I would hate that!

I actually love the idea of a leather couch, but DH wants the warmth of fabric. Maybe a chocolate microfiber is the way to go?

[Piglet]

Just wanted to add - we live in our family room and have leather couches from IKEA. We LOVE them for ease of cleaning and putting up with our crazy kids! We just wipe them off and away we go. No stains or spills have made them look bad.

[MelissaTC]

I hear you on the leather, sister! M has vomited, spilled and done God knows what else on our couches and they clean up well & look great! I highly recommend leather.

[Lovingliv]

I have microfiber in blue and could not be happier! We have spilled spag sauce, bbq, soda, had poop and pee accidents, tons of spit up and we can literally just take a touch of soap and wash it down, set it somewhere to dry and it looks brand new. We have had this sofa for 5 years and 2 years with kids...it is in great condition. My vote is for microfiber!!!

[C99]

I have chocolate microfiber/microsuede -- it's the couch we bought after the khaki slipcovered couch ended up being a dud. We have had it for a year and it still looks OK. It does have stains on it, but they usually come out with a brisk scrubbing w/ a bristle brush and some vinegar and water. It's not the color I would have chosen, but I will say that it has fared better w/ small kids than the khaki non-washable slipcovered couch I used to have did.

[BeachBum]

I use red as my "accent" color in my family room too. My walls are painted kind of a blue greenish color similar to this "silver sage" from restoration hardware
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1048015&navCount=2

My sofa is a taupe color with a suble diamond pattern that has lighter taupe threads forming the diamonds. This adds a lot of depth to the fabric. I change the pillows regularly--right now they are a red and off white pattern. I have 3 chairs, one is striped wiht tan, brown and the silver sage color, (it is a parsons type side chair) one very textured armchair (that has a red leather pillow) and one leather and wooden chair with a patterned pillow. I would like to add another chair--but I haven't found the right one.
I have a red lamp and a few other red accessories (more before DS could reach them ;))

I just thought I'd throw another color scheem out there for ya. Red and kakhi is a nice look, but it isn't the only way to use red without being too wild. My furniture is something that I plan to keep for some time. I feel like the sofa and leather chair could go with anything. The blue green chair is interesting but could also be neutral with pillows. With a slipcover I could change the look of parsons chair.

If I were you I'd find some fabric for inspriation. Whether it's pillows, drapes, a rug--something that you really love to get an inpiration out of. Those types of things are where you often get your room pops from and they are things that are typically easier to change than furniture. Once you find that, chosing the right shade of paint will be easier and you'll have a pallet of colors you know work together.

Good luck and have fun!

[caleymama]

I think that your color scheme sounds very pretty. We have denim slipcovers on our couch and loveseat (we moved recently and our furniture was okay but didn't match at all, so we slipcovered with Sure-fit). The slipcovers are a dark denim. We've only been using them 3 months but so far they've held up very well to 2 crazy kids and 1 semi-crazy cat, LOL.
They are from this "Indigo Denim" line:
http://www.surefit.net/shop/category/sofa--chair---loveseat-slipcovers/indigo-denim.cfm
I found the loveseat & chair slipcovers on super clearance at Linens & Things or Bed Bath and Beyond but had to order the couch size. At first I didn't think I'd care for the yellow stitching but it's grown on me quite a bit and looks cute with the rest of our (casual) stuff. Our other main seating piece is a medium brown leather recliner that I found a TJMaxx of all places.

I found some red accent pillows at Pier 1 (and a warm gold too) to use on the couch. Our wood floors and trim are also a honey oak. I got a honey oak coffee table & end tables from homedecorators.com. I'd check there and homedecoratorsoutlet.com for accent pieces - and they do participate with ebates too! I've had good luck multiple times with pieces from both the regular HD and the HD outlet.
My parents have an inexpensive blue microfiber set from Levitz in their basement and it has held up great in the 18 mos they've had it. It's very comfortable and has seen a fair share of wear and tear. They have the couch, loveseat, chair, & ottoman.
I think it is this set (but looks darker blue in person):
http://www.levitz.com/common/product/ProductInfo.aspx?itemid=112447&ChildId=112447&xs=15155c3dec-4e2d-48c9-b4a8-ec71a020b69a
We almost got this set for ourselves but ultimately decided that our furniture was fine and that we'd go with slipcovers until the kids were a little older and the furniture was truly worn out.

Another set we considered, but did not see in person, was this Denim set at Raymour & Flanigan:
http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=9973
I thought the striped chair was so cute!

Whew, didn't mean to be so long! HTH!
ETA: of the two couches you posted, I like the JCP one better but I'm not sure about the light color.