Rec Room Makeover Reveal
A colorful rec room makeover with tons of storage, areas for crafting, homework, games, toys, and entertainment for toddlers up to teens.
Ahh! We made it! The Carney’s rec room project is finished!!!
This legitimately turned out to be the most fun room we’ve ever done. It’s a space that doesn’t take itself too seriously and packs a mean punch with tons of storage, areas for crafting, homework, and entertainment for toddlers up to teens. Oh yeah, and space for a dog. 😉
That was a tall order for one room, but we did it!
If you’re playing catch-up, we volunteered to gift a makeover to our sweet neighbors the Carney family.
They are such amazing people; the couple are both Air Force veterans, and they have NINE kids! And we’d totally adopt every single one of them because they’re all total sweethearts.
This was the room before with 50-ish year-old built ins that had seen better days.
Since the kids range from college-age to preschool, I wanted to create a space that would grow well with them and didn’t feel too childish, but also doesn’t shy away from color.
Because the parents are veterans and the family loves the Carolina Panthers, I thought it would be fun to weave together red, white, and blue along with a nod to Panthers teal. I didn’t want to put things together just to make them “pretty”. I wanted it to feel personal just for them.
Floors
The carpet in this room desperately needed to be replaced, but it needed something that would be extra durable with little kids and pets. It needed to be waterproof, scratch-resistant, stain-resistant, DIY-friendly, budget-friendly, and most of all it needed to be beautiful. ProCore Floors luxury vinyl plank flooring ticked all of those boxes.
We managed to install the entire room and baseboards in just two days! It was so easy, and we’re totally confident it will last them years and years.
The Meadow Oak color was the ultimate winner for us since it’s the perfect classic medium/dark brown and flowed well with the other existing floors in the Carneys’ house.
The hand-scraped texture of the planks look and feel just like real wood!
Paint
We announced over the weekend that we launched our very first color of our Bless’er House Paint Color Collection with Romabio!
On the walls, we introduced Romabio Low Lustre Interior paint in Feather, a timeless, modern neutral with a subtle gray hue that is perfect with both warm and cool accents to create a serene and sophisticated atmosphere. When paired with a pop of color, it allows that accent to be the spotlight.
So for our “pop” of color on the cabinets, we painted them Benjamin Moore Newburg Green.
Can you even believe the difference in this space?!
DIY Built-In Cabinets and Window Seat
Number one on the priority list was definitely storage!
Robert and I spent about a week building an entire wall of built-ins with a window seat using stock cabinets from Lowe’s.
There’s basically a cabinet for every kid in the family, plus a couple for the adults. You get a cabinet and you get a cabinet and you get a cabinet!
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
I ordered a window seat cushion, but it hasn’t arrived yet. So once that shows up, this window seat will be a great little reading zone for the kids.
Entertainment Area
We wanted to create a space for the family where they could all relax together to watch a movie or play games. So we decided to make the built-ins partly an entertainment center for their TV.
Multi-Functioning Furniture
Since we didn’t really have room for a full-sized foosball table, we found this foosball coffee table that was perfect for serving multiple purposes.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
And I placed a few educational books, a plant (faux, of course, to be less messy), and a couple of wooden games on top that they can move out of the way if they ever want to play a round of foosball.
Typically, they keep a crate in this room for their dog, so I found this dog crate end table that was both functional and cute.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
To anticipate sleepovers and have extra room for guests, I incorporated this sleeper sofa from IKEA that also has room inside for storing extra pillows and blankets. And the slipcovers can be washed if anyone ever spills.
Would you like to save this?
Decor
I went a little wild with funky pillows, but if you can’t go a little crazy with prints and patterns in a rec room, then where can you? 😉
As my starting point for the entire room, I used this rug and this rug from Boutique Rugs which blends all of the colors I wanted – teal, navy, rust, blush, olive green, taupe, and cream. (You can use code BLESSERHOUSE60 to get 60% off.)
They are so unbelievably soft so that the younger kids can sprawl out on them with their toys to play.
And for extra overflow seating, I used these poufs so they can sit around the coffee table to play a board game or puzzle.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
Art
We hung up this set of vintage cars from Society6 on the wall as a statement gallery that pulls in all of the vibrant colors in the room.
There is a panther sitting on top of one of the cars and a tiger sitting on top of another, which was perfect (or… puuurrrrfect – har har) since the family likes the Carolina Panthers and Clemson University.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
I hung up some of their favorite family photos in these acrylic frames too.
And to make this window appear larger and help the low ceilings feel taller, we outside mounted this cordless Roman shade and hung these curtains high and wide.
Since we didn’t have room for a loveseat, we used this chair and a half from IKEA so a couple of kids can fit into it at a time.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
Homework / Craft Area
The large sliding door on this side of the room created a little bit of a challenge to still allow traffic flow outside, so this small table was perfect to still allow plenty of room for walking around and a space where kids can have fun with arts and crafts.
https://amzn.to/3qMaLr1
We hung up this display board I found at an antique store where they can display artwork and memos.
And I chose this desk since it has a little storage space for a couple of baskets and a compartment on the back to wrangle computer cords.
To account for any messy spills, I incorporated these leather chairs that are easy to wipe clean but still provide comfy cushioning and support.
And of course an antique sugar mold just like we have in our playroom because it’s so perfect for holding colored pencils. 😉
Now they can color their hearts out and pour over their homework as needed.
Okay, one more before and after just because I can’t get enough.
I still can’t believe we pulled off this one in under 4 weeks!
I’ll bet it’ll take even less time for those 9 kids to “redecorate” it just like ours do, but that’s the great thing about any rec room / playroom / game room. The most loved rooms get messy.
I’m so excited for all of the fun memories that they will make here!
If you want to know about any of the sources in this space, you can find them all here:
https://rstyle.me/+NwGQQ0Q9VaZNeqtxOPcJdw
- Wall color: Romabio Interior Low Lustre in Feather
- Trim/ceiling color: Romabio Interior Satin in Galleria White
- Cabinet color: Benjamin Moore Advance Interior Semi-Gloss in Newburg Green
- Floors: ProCore Floors in Meadow Oak
- Rug 1
- Rug 2
- Yellow car art
- Blue truck art
- Tan SUV art
- Pink car art
- Green moped art
- Blue car art
- Woven Roman shades
- Curtains
- Curtain rods
- Semi-flush mount lights
- Sleeper sofa
- Armchair
- Foosball coffee table
- Dog crate end table
- Jute poufs
- Floor lamp
- Table lamp
- Artificial Pothos plant
- Artificial Lime Pothos plant
- Diffuser
- Puzzle figurine
- Wooden tic tac toe
- Leather cabinet pulls
- White throw blanket
- Faux leather pillow cover
- Tie dye blue pillow
- Tie dye blue and rust pillow
- Cream and gray knit pillow
- Navy stitch pillow
- Navy and red pillow
- Square craft table
- Leather chairs
- Antique sugar mold (similar)
- White desk
- Basket cubes
- Gray desk chair
- Clock
- Desk lamp
- Artificial fern