I’m so excited to share this project with you guys! If you read last Friday’s post, I mentioned how I have been on a rearranging kick. When we took the tree down, I decided to switch the tv and the sofa and MAN! Has it made such a difference. I have no idea why I didn’t do this in the very beginning, as it feels so much more natural. To walk into a room and see the sofa instead of the tv. It just feels really…right this way. And our backs aren’t to the rest of the house, as it was the old way. To refresh your memory:
So you can see the front door there – and you’d walk into the tv in front of you and the sofa along the steps.
Not anymore!
But before I show you a pic…
I was left with a conundrum as to what to hang above the sofa now. When it was in its old spot, the steps/banister took up some wall, and so I just had a little bit left to fill in. I went with a couple different things:
But now I had more room, so I had to think of something different.
Hmmm…
Naturally I thought about a big ol’ sign. Like BIG. I had the Full of Grace sign above the tv, and I just loved seeing that every day.
And this room is where we spend the majority of our lives. We hang out here every night, play games, watch movies…it’s our little sanctuary. So I thought a really sweet sentiment about home would be just the thing. I love Let’s Stay Home (being the biggest homebody!;), but couldn’t find one big enough. I’d have to DIY, which wasn’t a problem, but just for the heck of it, I thought I’d wander around Hobby Lobby and look for inspiration.
That’s when it hit me.
I saw these large signs that caught my eye. They weren’t big enough, and the words weren’t right, but maybe if I bought two…spray painted them….turned them sideways…wrote my own words?? That way the sign DIY building aspect would be done, so I’d be ahead of the game with that part! I could maybe split up a saying?? Half on one sign, half on the other?? Is this crazy or genius, I really didn’t know at this point. The signs were 50% off, so I decided it can’t hurt to take them home and hold them up, and can always take them back if I decide it was crazy, not in fact, genius.
(Goodness I’m terrible with before pictures. Taken with MY PHONE, and didn’t even bother to fix up the couch or move the glass of water and remote – lol!!)
I went on Instagram and asked for your input about the saying – you guys were awesome, thank you!! I asked if you thought It’s so good….to be home or this is our…happy place would be better, and the second one won by a lot, which surprised me! One of you even wrote that since I already have it’s so good to be home on a sign, I shouldn’t choose that one. Y’all are GOOD. And totally right – I’d have to recreate that sign too, because can’t have two signs with the same words?! That’d be a little overkill.
So I listened to a lot of you and went with the happy place one. It’s so fitting for us too, as we really do love this little house of ours, especially the family room.
I swear, this was so meant to be, because what are the odds during what is the coldest winter so far EVER, that we were blessed with a 60 degree day JUST WHEN I NEEDED TO SPRAY PAINT?!!! I know, right?! Crazy! So I taped up the frame so it was protected from the paint, and went to work outside, covering all those words…
Now for the scary part…writing the words. I freehanded oh, about a kajillionty different styles and sizes, (on my kids’ easel paper cut to size), and finally settled on a font I liked.
I took some tracing paper and slid it underneath and went over the letters with a pencil…
And you can see it leaves just a very light copy of the words, so I can go over them…
I really thought I’d be painting the letters on with some black craft paint and a tiny brush, but then I decided to give my wide angled Sharpie a try!
I went over it to thicken a couple lines and fix some shaky spots, and then I was done! (and yes, this was about 2 in the afternoon and I’m still in last night’s pjs, in case you’re wondering…)
I am SO happy with how it turned out – especially given how nervous I was to just bite the bullet and start. I had practiced so many different ‘fonts’ (can you call them fonts if it’s just your own handwriting?! lol…), and was scared I’d regret going with whatever one I went with, and would I have wished I went with a different one? Is the empty white space a mistake – will it look weird? And I knew I could not mess this up, because even just a little mistake – I would notice EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I walk in here. Just goes to show you, sometimes we just gotta go for it, and quit overthinking, right?! I’m 100% happy with the ‘font’ (?!) I decided on. It’s so simple and clean and the white space I questioned feels…peaceful. It just makes my eyes happy. 🙂
And because Charlie is always, always by my side, I had to snap a pic of him enjoying the sunshine…;)
I can’t wait to show you the opposite wall (now the tv wall) when it’s done – it’s really coming together in here!
It’s funny, I tell pretty much every single client when I’m helping them decorate their walls, to look for something non-square/rectangular in a space between two windows. I like to avoid a lot of box-iness – the windows are square, so I tell them maybe a huge round clock, or mirror, or arch-y architectural something…so many awesome options out there now. And here I go, totally going against my own advice! But in this room (that has five windows), there are a lot of different shapes between the remaining windows, so I’m ok with it. I have an oval mirror, an octagon shaped clock, an arched birdcage shaped thing (all things I’ll be showing you soon when the room is totally done;), so I don’t have a problem with this. Plus, I think it’s just what this room needed. A cozy sentiment to remind us every day just how fortunate we are for this happy place we get to call home.
Stay tuned for more family room progress to come!
I LOVE your style. Room Looks great. Random question of something I noticed in this post…what kind of plant do you have in your living room? It looks like just the right thing to fill an empty spot in my living room. Is it real or fake? Thanks! Again, love your blog.
Thank you so much, Tristen! It is a fiddle leaf fig tree and it is real:)
The signs are perfect! What is your secret for hanging them flat even though they go over your white trim?
Thanks, Heather! Super long nails! 😉
Wow. Great job with the free hand. The signs look amazing. I love your space so bright, nicely decorated and looks cozy.
Thanks so much, Stacy!!
Oohh! I love that!! Good job!
Thanks so much, Tiziana!
What are your wall colors?
Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter and Sherwin Williams Alabaster on the bottom.
I LOVE THESE!!!!! You did a great job with the handwriting. Also — great idea for repurposing a Hobby Lobby sign. Now I’m going to be on the lookout for clearance art that I can remake.
Thanks, Christene!!
These look amazing! I can’t believe you freehanded!!!! My goodness I’m impressed. I have been looking for big art for above our sofa too – this is a great idea!
Thanks so much, friend!!
They turned out great! ❤️
love it Liz! totally using the idea of spraying over an existing sign to save time in making a sign board! <3
This is beautiful! Where did you place your tv in the new arrangement?
Thank you! Check out this post!
http://www.naptimedecorator.net/diy/the-other-wall-in-the-new-family-room-setup/