There is always a bit of debate about what room should be called what in our home. Growing up, our "living" room was the nicer room. The room where the home teachers would come to visit. The room with the piano. The room we rarely went in. Or the room where we actually did very little "living." The family room was where we hung out. It had a couch for lounging, a TV, comfy chairs, the fireplace. The first 6 years of our marriage, we only had one living space. This often got referred to as the "front room" for some reason. Even in Maryland we didn't have 2 rooms that fit the definition of "family room" and "living room" to me. We had a basement area, and a "family" room. But now we have 2 rooms with couches. And lots of confusion about what they should be called. To me, our "great room" as it was called when we bought the house, is what I would consider a "family" room. It's got a big sectional, the fireplace, and it's where we project movies to watch. It's adjacent to the kitchen, and it's where we do most of our "living." I know that doesn't make any sense. Our other room, the "piano" room as it gets called a lot, is what I would call a "living" room. It's where we have the home teachers come (when they come), and it's more formal. But, the way the decorations of this room are going, it's turning out to truly be a "family" room. This is where I have hung our Genealogy fan chart, and our wall of family history pictures.

For Christmas this year, I worked on creating a silhouette chart, similar to one that my sister Sarah had created for my mom for mother's day back in 2010. So now I have a chart for each family, and I framed these and added them to our wall:
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| Don't look to closely - I hung an earlier version of the Payne family chart. I updated Olivia's profile and added a future child for John and JaNae, who are expecting! I just need to get a new one printed up, and put in the frame. |
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| I think it ties in really nicely with the family history wall. |
And then I found some fabulous round frames and Micheals (40% off + an additional 25% off the sale price!) and decided it was time to put something above the piano. I knew I needed something there, but I didn't know what I wanted to do.
Since almost all the frames in the room are holding black and white photos, I wanted to keep with that, but I didn't really want a huge family picture or something. So this is what I came up with:
I took our individual silhouettes, and made enlargements at costco - 8X10's for Sam and I, and 5X7's of the kids. The baby's frame has Olivia's old silhouette minus the pony tail as a place holder for now. I think I need to readjust the size of some of them - they are slightly out of proportion and I think Sam wants a new one done of him. But for now I'm loving this. I may even try and update the kids every year or so, as they change. I think the silhouettes will be a fun keepsake to have.
So, maybe we should start calling this room our "family" room. What do you think?
Love your blog! I need to "revive" mine as well. The silhouettes are so great! I vote for calling it the "family" room too. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this room! I have had several of the same ideas and actually have the two family trees hanging... just need to do the rest (and more walls)...
ReplyDeleteI vote for family room.
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