Because I’m Spoiled . . .

Look at that drooly little Owlie.  Man, how can he be so big now?  Okay, now stop looking at the baby and look behind him to view one of the biggest design conundrums in my house: How to maximize the space in a narrow family room with low ceilings and two walls occupied by windows and a very mediocre fireplace with a shallow mantle.

Our solution had always been a large armoir to hold the TV and its components, but no matter where we put the armoir – and our choices were very limited- it ate up too much space in the room.

About three years ago I drew this sketch in my ‘idea notebook’ and left it on the coffee table.  The next morning the Hubby asked me what it was.  I told him I was just messing around with ideas in my head.  He confirmed that I should dream on and I quickly labeled the drawing ‘Dream Built-Ins Family Room’, shelved the idea book and have only peeked at it about twenty {plus ten} times since.

Well, today I am here to tell you that dreams do come true – especially when paired with a Hubby who likes to make his wife happy and a contractor who finally named the right price.

On the very day I  was in charge of decorating for a huge birthday party, I also tore apart our family room and left it looking like this:

A week later, it looked like this:  And today, it looks like this:  Our contractor {and good friend} rebuilt the entire mantle using a picture I found on the internet as inspiration.  He also gave us shelves, crown molding, and recessed cabinet doors all painted in a bright white from Pratt & Lambert.  Two new JennyLund chairs from Ikea finished off the room. 

Next up we’re going to refresh the very tired seven year old paint in the room and create a great gallery of frames on the one wall in the room that is still blank.  These built-ins have really changed the look and feel of the room for the better.

What do you think?  Do you have dream decorating ideas that you could somehow make a reality?