The beginning of our Family Room makeover
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I was going to wait until next year to tackle our family room but came across these inspirations & decided, “OH, I WANT THIS NOW”! Love the white horizontal paneling, barn doors & rustic coffee table. The chandelier’s not to shabby either!
via House Beautiful
Board & Batten …..I think my dad would FREAK if I suggested beams across the ceiling. I LOVE them though!
This is our family room now, a pretty basic traditional look. It has so many windows & no wall space that I struggle with furniture placement. Any suggestions? This was my parents family room in the main part of the house until 7 months ago. We switched living spaces when my gram, who recently passed away, moved in. My mom loves traditional design & I actually just painted this room 2 years ago for her. NOW, I’m going to paint it white!
Thanks to no internet, TV or phone service, when we were invaded with snow a couple weeks ago, I painted this entire room by myself for 10 hours (over 3 days). Hello Benjamin Moore, White Diamond! Here is a peak at the corner with the fireplace. Any suggestions as to how to incorporate a mantel?
You see the wood? I decided I wanted to cozy up the space & love the horizontal panel look so I asked my dad to help me out. He said NOOOOOOO, not until next year! He’s gone into “winter hibernation” mode….which basically means, he sits in his recliner & watches TV. I will admit, he has always cut most of my wood & helped me with projects so I was totally bummed he wasn’t motivated like I was . The man has every power tool under the sun but they are ginormous & beastly and they scare the CRAP out of me! I tried using his skill saw & it basically ran away with me. So after stressed for a day about how I was going to to do this alone, I went to Home Depot and bought battery powered tools. I love my little 5 1/2 inch skill saw & chop saw.
This thing though, the nail gun, is my dad’s and scares me……but after using it for two days to nail the wood to the wall, we have become friends .
This picture was taken by my camera on a timer! I can’t believe I did that! What a DORK!
So that’s what’s going on around here! My new blog name & blog design is looking good & should be done soon Looking forward to showing you all!

Meet Jessica
What started as a hobby, Jessica’s blog now has millions of people visit yearly and while many of the projects and posts look and sound perfect, life hasn’t always been easy. Read Jessica’s story and how overcoming death, divorce and dementia was one of her biggest life lessons to date.
You are one busy bee Jessica! I love the first inspiration pic…the walls look very cozy and those doors and the coffee table are fabulous! Kudos to you for putting the wood panel up on the wall by yourself…I don't know that I would be able to do it! Where is it that you were wanting to put a mantle? I don't know how you do that with a wood burning stove. Looking forward to seeing the finished product…I'm sure it will be great!
Rachel 🙂
I think it's amazing that you have done all this without at least a human assistant. Just nailing up the boards level would scare me off! Good work!
Wow LOVE the first pic. I can't believe you're doing that yourself! Good for you 🙂 Can't wait to see more.
Have you tried googling 'wood stove enclosures'? I'm sure you can box the stove out and install a mantle. Tricky thing is the stove pipe.
wood stove w/mantle
Wow, you're doing an excellent job. I can't believe you're doing this by yourself…but I know you're going to feel extremely satisfied when it's all done. I'm a new follower, please drop by when you have a chance. http://decoratingwcent.blogspot.com
Love the white walls. Beautiful! That panelling looks amazing and your very brave – I've never done something like that! Can't wait to see more photos!
It looks AWESOME, friend!!! And I'm gonna LOVE those planks! Thanks for all of your sweet comments lately!!
🙂
shaunna
OOOOH! It's going to looks so PRETTY!!!!!! 😀
If you find a way to make a mantel, let me know. I have been dying to do one for my wood stove, but have never found any ideas. Only thing I can think of is putting one on the wall on each side of the pipes. Like a 2 foot one on the right and a two foot one on the left – almost like ledges. And maybe have them about three foot above the top of the stove (since it gets so hot).
Oh my goodness, this is going to look amazing. The wood is going to be such a huge difference. I'm so impressed that you're doing it yourself.
What about an old architectural salvage mantle? Could you use one of those and then build up from it to cover the pipe? I actually think the old stove is cool.
I was wondering if you used a special primer with the wood planks. Have you had any problems with the pine knots bleeding thru the paint? I am trying to find the cheapest way to get this look. The pine boards at HD were the most cost effective, but I worry about those knots. Your room looks beautiful!
Let me know if you figure out a mantle. Our wood stove is positioned just like yours, plus I have a window to work around too. I wanted to do those imitation rocks up behind my stove, but my window really puts a damper on things. Looks beautiful!