Home design ideas: Transforming a dated space into a colorful movie room

A comfy sofa and saturated paint colors help refresh a Brockton family room.
A comfy sofa and saturated paint colors help refresh a Brockton family room.Ridgelight Studio

The family room addition of this Brockton home needed some major sprucing up. The faux brick backdrop for the wood stove in a corner was an eyesore, as was the brown carpet and taupe tile floor. Furthermore, the loveseat, also a dull brown, was too small. “The couple wanted to use the room to watch television but leave enough floor space for their toddler to roam around freely,” says Vanessa Pierre, founder of Vannie Paradis Design Studio.

1 The coffee table’s marble top is heavy enough that it won’t tip over while its round shape eases circulation.

2 Sherwin-Williams Naval paint gives the room a moody feel. “The rest of home is done in creams and beige, so I wanted to introduce something different,” Pierre says. “Movie rooms should be cozy.”

3 The couple commissioned the stylized family portrait from artist Jemma Morris at Lou Lou Art Studio on Etsy and downloaded the modern abstracts from Etsy shop Prints2Paper. “The trio of shapes reflects their three-person family,” Pierre notes.

4 Pierre installed a 10-foot-long sectional with a 4-foot-wide chaise upholstered in pale gray performance fabric. “It’s big enough for the whole family to snuggle on together,” the designer says.

5 Yellow ombre drapes allude to sunshine. Pierre hung them as high as possible to make the sliders seem taller.

6 New vinyl flooring makes for easy cleanup which was important since the room abuts the back deck and the mudroom. It also melds well with the new wood floors in the nearby kitchen and dining room. The rug’s watercolor stripes pull together the room’s palette.


Marni Elyse Katz is a regular contributor to the Globe Magazine. Send comments to [email protected].