I recently finished up an Inspiration board for an online client in Tennessee. She sent me pics of her familyroom and asked me to come up with a plan for the room, using some of what she already has and adding some freshness to the room. The plans are to remove the paneling and add drywall to this room. The trimwork will remain stained. She wanted a warm and cozy, but colorful feel to the room. And she sent me this link to a space on Rate My Space as her inspiration. After looking at those pics, I knew the direction I’d go with color and that I would modify her plan with a little more casual feel for her room. She gave me ideas on colors and what she likes as far as artwork, including barn stars and bird pictures.
Her sofa will stay, as will the coffee table and end tables, but when I completed the Inspiration board, I added in elements including furniture, lamps, accessories, artwork, and rugs that I thought would work in the space. My Inspiration board was done in Polyvore, which has been fun to play around with. You can save all the items that are found online to a file and then build a board with them. Then I was able to send her the boards and she could see exactly where each item came from.
She’s got great hardwoods in here so a nice large area rug will really pull the room together.
And with a large brick wall to work around too, we’ll keep that in mind when choosing paint colors. So, with all that in mind, I came up with 2 Inspiration boards for her to look at and get some ideas on which way to take this room. I sent her a detailed document of room arrangement ideas, as well as which items to concentrate on getting first. Her budget is limited at the moment, but hopefully she can bring in a few things at a time and get this room going in the direction she and her family will love and enjoy. After I sent her the Inspiration boards and the detailed comments, she sent me back a note saying: 
Rustic Familyroom – by Rhoda12 on Polyvore.com
I love what you did here. I’ve been wondering how to create “my” look and save it all in one place.
Off to polyvore.com to check it out!
I love the 2nd picture rug with the drapes. The walls painted just with those two items would certainly make the room much more cheerful. You did a great job!
What a great tool! You gave her some wonderful advice!
I hear it takes a bit of time to do up these boards. Did you find it time consuming?
Well done! Beautiful ideas to get the room where she wants to go!
Great idea Rhoda. I am wondering the amount of time it might take to put together a board. I do this sort of thing with almost every project, only using poster board, paper and fabric instead of virtual. I’d love to be able to do virtual type boards. I did use a bit of virtuality with the present project, but not this involved.
Those ideas look great….did she not think about painting the paneling? We had a house in which the owners had painted the paneling a greenish blue, and I loved it! anyway, either way it will look great!
Suzanne
This turned out great! I love those chairs!
I love your suggestions! I really like the striped chairs and ottomans.
I haven’t really played around with polyvore before, but I think I need to. It seems helpful to see it all laid out like that.
Can’t wait to see how that all turns out. You chose lovely colors and styles. That’s such a talent. I looked at the pictures and drew a blank. I have to live in an area and let things evolve. When I start with a plan, it always morphs into something totally different. LOL
Great job, Rhoda! 🙂
XO,
Sheila
Love what you picked out for her…I am with Suzanne @ Southern Inspiration about painting the paneling I think it would look great in that room (and be easier on the budget). I have played around with polyvore but I am technically challenged and felt like i was using too much time…are there any secrets for using it you could share?
Love the colors. I have paneling in my living room (we built our home in the 70’s) and have painted it several times. It is now a dark gold color and I like it but I am thankful it is the only room in our home that does have it. I really like what you have done and I especially like family Rm. # 1. Thanks for sharing this.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Looks like you are fixing to have some fun! I know how much I love to create a room I could only imagine how much fun it must be without spending a dime and knowing you are making someone Happy.Cant wait to see how it will turn out.
Suzanne, I did suggest she paint the paneling, but they are doing some minor changes to a closet in here & had already planned to change out all the paneling to drywall.
I too thought about just painting the paneling. Love your ideas though!
can’t wait till she lets us all
see how the room turnes out.
This was fun to read and see
your ideas.
Love both options! I especially like the striped chairs.
I just recently found out about this Polyvore site and I’m anxious to try it out. I’m going to check it out after I get back from Mexico.
Have a great week!
Judy
I love polyvore! It is really nice to be able to get the things you see at target and put them in a room with higher end items to make a nice mix. I love that someone can click on the item to buy it.
I just love looking at inspiration boards. Thanks for the post!