Sunday, May 23

Same old furniture, brand new space

My last post featured photos of our old house--one we sold in February 2005. In March 2005 we moved into our current house, which is where I hope we'll live for a very long time.

We bought this house as it was being built. The builder took us on a tour as it was nearing completion, and he reminded us of a feature we'd nearly overlooked. Our basement is a "terrace level" space that includes a bedroom, a bathroom, a large family room, and an exercise room. As we toured the space, he said, "Don't forget this room is pre-wired for a home theatre."

Can you imagine how long it took my husband to find a purveyor of A/V equipment?

I know that the term "home theatre" conjures images of fancy spaces with tiered seating. In our house, "home theatre" refers mostly to the equipment. Once the equipment was paid for, there were no funds for making the space fancy. So instead of tiered theatre seating, I needed to make the space work with the same old sectional sofa we'd had for years.



I wanted to change the look into something more fitting for the new space. . . but I needed to do it with very few dollars. My friend Renee' has very good taste and understood the look I was trying to achieve, so I took her with me to the fabric store, and we found fabrics to make new throw pillows for the sectional sofa and new floor pillows. I simply measured my old pillows and sewed new covers for them using same technique I described in this post. I bought a covered-button kit at JoAnn's and added a button to two of the pillows. What a difference a change of pillows makes!



The old floral painting wasn't going to work for the walls in this space, but I didn't have money to spend on the kind of cool art I wanted. The solution? Movie posters from allposters.com. We chose posters representing some of our favorite series of films (remember, I have three teenage boys). The posters cost less than $20 apiece. I had them dry mounted and framed in simple black frames.




To round out the room, I found a $20 coffee table at a thrift store and painted it black. Then found a cool lamp for the side table at Target. Done!

(It's hard to get good photos in this room because it's pretty dark. The room has six French doors and windows, so there's plenty of natural light, but those are covered by wood blinds lined with black-out shades. Makes a great place to watch a movie but not such a great place to take pictures.)

Our media room is now one of our favorite spaces. The fact that it contains no expensive or fancy furniture or art has turned out to be a good thing. Believe me, when you have 16 thirteen-year-old boys watching an action-adventure movie, you don't want expensive decor. You just want fun.

Do you have a space in your home that's just for fun?

I'm linking to these great parties:

26 comments:

  1. I love your media room. We have a race room in our house painted red with black and white racing stripes halfway up the wall. The ceiling is painted like a checker flag. Can you guess what my husband is in to? My girls actually like to watch their chick flicks in there because of the large flat screen TV. Every house needs a cool hang out room, don't you think? Carla

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  2. Love the room! It is amazing what a few posters and pillows can do!

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  3. Great space! I really like your framed posters and new pillows. With boys it's got to be nice to have a space that they can use and enjoy and not have to worry about getting it dirty or messing it up.

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  4. Great ideas. We are moving this summer and I am itching to start the projects and make our new home personal. Love what you did. Also love the bold colors in your last post.
    Brave woman for having 16 13-year-olds in your home.

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  5. wow! i want to come over and watch a movie! ummm... without the 13 teenage boys :)

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  6. I wish I had a room like that when my boys were younger. I had a basketball team at my house most every day after school for years.
    You did a good job without throwing a bunch of money at it. Kudos.

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  7. Incredible! Just love it! I'm sure my family would love that space too...especially my audiophile hubby who turns up the volume when I'm out for a while. :) Super fun space, Richella! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. Hi Richella! Oh, you know what? I love your media room just like it is! I think it looks more like a home with warmth and not a movie theater! Love how you've put it together on a budget too. Doesn't look like it though.
    Thanks for popping in to see me.
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  9. Thanks for your comment on my blog. Actually it's a walk in closet off a hallway, which already had shelves on one side. I think the former owner used it to store her Mary Kay products that she sold. So I have all those shelves plus the ones hubby added over the makeshift desk, So to answer your question, there is a door to the mini room or closet, and I can close the whole mess off by simply shutting the door. Also have a ceiling fan as it can get warm in there with the computer. have a good week. You have a lovely new space that looks very comfortable.

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  10. Love your media room. We have one of those old big t.v.s upstairs in the bonus room and I did use our old furniture up there(now gone) and did the same thing with movie posters. Great way to add to the blank walls and fits the theme without costing a fortune. I would rather have the sectional than those movie seats.

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  11. What a great room. I know you will really enjoy it. Love the sofa and the pillows. A great room. Hugs, Marty

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  12. Love the new look!!
    see you just proved decorating doesn't need to be expensive! Have a good week!!

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  13. No, unfortunately we don't have a space just for fun. I would love to have a room like this. The changes you made are great! I love it!

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  14. I always like to decorate my home with antique furniture...luxury outdoor furniture

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  15. What a great space!! I like the framed movie posters...I like Indiana Jones too. :) I can see why your family likes hanging out there so much. It looks like a fun and relaxing space. :)

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  16. I love your media room, and how perfect with teenaged children!!! I think it looks great ~ the movie posters add the perfect touch!!

    ~angela @ peonypatch
    www.mccalled.com/peonypatch

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  17. What a great room! My grown boys would have loved a room like this. Your pillows and pictures are great touches and perfect for your media room. Thanks for sharing.

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  18. Hi Richella,
    I love what you did to the media room, and I love that sectional :)
    I enjoyed catching up and looking at your photos from the previous post too. I wasn't on here much over the weekend.... was busy knitting more stuff ;)
    Have a wonderful Monday.
    hugs
    Denise

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  19. I could TOTALLY curl up there to watch a movie! Pass the popcorn!

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  20. You were able to accomplish a lot with just a few changes. Great job!!

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  21. You are so resourceful. That looks like a fine space to get cozy, eat popcorn, and be entertained. Good call repurposing an older, leather, sectional...boys are not so mindful of mess. : )

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  22. You did a great job updating this room with very little changes. It looks like a very inviting place to relax and enjoy.

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  23. Wow, I love this transformation -- what an awesome place to hang out with the family!

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  24. That looks awesome! I have a link party on my blog on saturday (it is still open from last weekend) that I would love for you to check out www.iamonly1woman.blogspot.com

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  25. I have three boys, too (7, 5 and 2), and we would LOVE to have a media room! As it is, our den serves that purpose, but we don't have surround sound or anything like that. Perhaps in our next home! I love how you made what you already had work for the space. Great job!

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