Good morning and welcome to the last few days of September.  Fall. Blech. I know, I'm alone in my distaste for fall, but all I can think is that winter is coming.

Anyway, let's take a step back, into the very distant past of our trip to California. I know it seems like I ignored the poor blog for our month there, but I was actually working pretty hard on it! I had a couple friends who wanted my help, including Brandy and Mark, two amazing friends whose daughter was getting married September 19th. They were hosting the rehearsal dinner, which provided the impetus for a little whole-house refresh. I spent a couple weeks there, doing everything from organizing cabinets to decorating, and it was awesome. Though we did get some new stuff, I think of this makeover as a great example of using what you've got. We don't all have wood floors or light-filled rooms, and sometimes we've gotta work with the couch we were dealt. But working with what you have isn't a downer; I think it's even more exciting to make pretty, functional spaces when you've got to work it. Without further ado, let's start with the family room! When I got there, the room looked like this.

All those recliners are facing a pretty intense (and awesome) home theater situation. Said theater is the reason everything was pushed against the back wall - because it made sense for movie night and the Super Bowl. The rug and curtains were from another visit my mom had made (I get my urge to spruce from her).

Brandy and Mark had already gotten themselves a new sofa - the gray one, which is a four recliner itself. But because so many people were coming over, they thought it might be nice to have the old sofa around for seating. I talked them out of it. Seven seats in one family room is plenty of seating, and they have a gorgeous outdoor space, a dining area and folding chairs for extra seating. And what's that rolled up on the floor? This little number:

That rug! How cute is it? I loved the navy and periwinkle, which I thought could really work to lighten and brighten the dark room, and look great with the gray couch and gray accents. So, for $250, we brought 'er home. Rug in hand and permission to get rid of stuff granted, I got started.

First, I moved these recliners to the window, creating a lovely seating vignette (from which the TV is still very visible) and freeing up the back wall in a really dramatic way.

Once I had the layout, I figured out what we could reuse, including the side table, ottoman and ottoman tray. Some of those items got a fresh coat of paint (along with stuff for other rooms).

And then I went shopping for the remainder: a few gold side tables and some knickknacks and trays, almost all sourced from Goodwill and Ross.

And we went to town. New throw pillows, a new throw blanket, the art above the couch (all HomeGoods) and the new gold side tables (Ross) all made this room feel fresh and sophisticated.

We scored those curtains panels on Clearance at Target. I hung them almost entirely outside the window as dummy panels, because they have blinds for light blockage and they don't need privacy. What a difference those light, sheer-ish panels make.

Then things came together as we layered and accessorized and did our thing over the course of about a week. The end result is barely recognizable from the beginning. Let's see the before and after again, shall we:

That pineapple is from Goodwill, and I am obsessed with it. Plus, it plays with the pineapples we've got going on in the dining room, which we'll see tomorrow! I filled it with potpourri Brandy had and a threw it on the newly freshened ottoman tray. I love the carved wooden art, and I especially loved the pop of pink it offered, which I tried to bring in a couple other places, in a throw pillow and a candle.

How sweet do these chairs look here? The throw pillows came with the couch, and the blanket on the back is actually a piece of material my mom was thinking about covering the ottoman with . I'm not sure if she did, but I like it like this!

What do you think? Quite the transformation, right? It was a little bit shocking to see how light and airy this room could look, even with brown walls and carpeting and seven (!) heavy recliners in the room. The furniture placement is MVP, but the mirrors and glass in the side tables, the lightened up tray and tables, and the rug are all key. I think it's inspiring to see that even without a catalog-worthy room, using your real life stuff, you can make a space you just want to be in. That's what we kept saying - how much we wanted to hang in that room now, and how nice it was for conversation as well as television watching. Intrigued? Stay tuned for more!