WDYT of Katie Bower's sitting room?

[hesitantbride]

It looks like a whole other family room, reminding me of just how huge this house really is.  She even has a mini fridge there (on the other side--the polka dot thing).  She got the furniture second hand, and the rug was sponsored, I think.  She also scored some PB kids furniture (which you can't see in this photo) from Goodwill.

[pinkeggs]

My dislike for KB aside, it looks cluttered to me. To many large items, and that TV is really high.

[sailorgray]

Jan 27, 2013 16:19:45 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

My dislike for KB aside, it looks cluttered to me. To many large items, and that TV is really high.

In her defense, it is a temporary situation while she is taking care of her new baby.  They don't have his room done and she was worried she'd have another c-section, so they kinda threw this together as a worst case scenario thing so she'd have a place to be with the baby, be close to her bed and heal.

HB, yea, when I saw that room all I could wonder was how many rooms does that place have that we don't evewn know about. Good Lord! Her bedroom/sitting area is like the size of my downstairs.

[pitterwoo]

I don't follow that blog, does she have plans to do anything with the fireplace? I find the tile surround kind of distracting.

I like the room and room shape itself a lot. The color is nice and the rug looks comfy. I can't really tell what's going on at the far end of the room. It look unfinished and there could be some art hung on that blank wall.

[sailorgray]

Jan 27, 2013 16:41:01 GMT -5 pitterwoo said:

I don't follow that blog, does she have plans to do anything with the fireplace? I find the tile surround kind of distracting.

I like the room and room shape itself a lot. The color is nice and the rug looks comfy. I can't really tell what's going on at the far end of the room. It look unfinished and there could be some art hung on that blank wall.

I think she said she wants to do built-ins and hopes to do something with the FP. The stuff on the far side is baby stuff.

[heygrey]

it looks functional and comfy. i like the rug.

design mag worthy it is not, but that's not the point.

[bethaboo]

I like the wall color. I think if I were designing a sitting room for post-baby, a must have would be a rocking chair, but the couch and chair look very comfy.

[tarheels]

I don't follow this blog. Was she showing this pic as a hey, look at my awesome room, or as an aside in a post about something else? This looks like they just moved in last week ^o) There are no curtains, no accessories, it's not decorated in any way, so I'm sorta confused. The space is nice, as is that window. That fireplace surround has GOT to go.

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2013 17:20:40 GMT -5 heygrey said:

it looks functional and comfy. i like the rug.

design mag worthy it is not, but that's not the point.

Yeah this! For what she wants it for and practicality's sake it's pretty good. I actually appreciate the, "Hey, this is how we roll IRL" theme for a change.

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2013 18:20:21 GMT -5 tarheels said:

I don't follow this blog. Was she showing this pic as a hey, look at my awesome room, or as an aside in a post about something else? This looks like they just moved in last week There are no curtains, no accessories, it's not decorated in any way, so I'm sorta confused. The space is nice, as is that window. That fireplace surround has GOT to go.

No,I don't think it's a show-off-the-room post. She put the area together in order to have the baby nearby. Their house is huge and they just finished redoing the kitchen so it's still very much a work in progress. ITA about the fireplace surround. There were quite a few equally barf-worthy rooms when they bought the house and I think she's done a good job improving them so far.

[kaylie]

I love the molding in that room and those big windows! I think with the windows like that it kind of makes sense to have the TV up high so you don't get so much glare.

I didn't see it on the blog, but are there chunks of leather taken off of the ottoman or is that some sort of design?

[sju]

We have an ottoman just like that one that we purchased at Haverty's 7 years ago. The leather is peeling off little by little and it looks terrible. I covered it with a throw until I figure out what to do with it. It has been great with little kids, though. Back to the original question, I think the area works for this stage in their lives and for what they wanted. It is functional and comfy.

[mrsemilys]

Like PP said she just threw this together in case she had a c-section and couldn't go downstairs. I think for what she had to work with it looks fine. I'll be interested to see what she does with it when she actually focuses on it.

[teeah22]

I think it's a good start, it looks really cozy. We have a sitting room off our master and I like seeing what other people have done with theirs since I'm stumped as far as what to do with mine. My home is a similar size to Katie's (our basement isn't finished yet though) and I'm learning that a large house takes a TON of time to get it how you want it. I give her credit for even attempting to tackle another room while they're still working on the kitchen.

[TBM]

Jan 27, 2013 16:19:45 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

My dislike for KB aside, it looks cluttered to me. To many large items, and that TV is really high.

This was my gut reaction.  After reading the reason for the setup, I still feel the same way.   I get that she needed something functional, but I think it could function even better with a few tweaks....there are a few things that I think are awkward and just don't make sense to me. 

Of course, all that matters it that it works for her.  She is lucky to have such a nice space to use like that.


I really love the wall color.

[ssmjlm]

I think it's a room that functions for what a 2nd time mom might need. Somewhere close to entertain her toddler while she recovers from having her 2nd child.

I think she knows it's not a permanent solution, but works for now.

And she did photoshop a future idea for the space:

[pugz]

so jealous of her goodwill find!!!

[lemondrop]

Jan 27, 2013 16:36:28 GMT -5 sailorgray said:

Jan 27, 2013 16:19:45 GMT -5 pinkeggs said:

My dislike for KB aside, it looks cluttered to me. To many large items, and that TV is really high.

In her defense, it is a temporary situation while she is taking care of her new baby.  They don't have his room done and she was worried she'd have another c-section, so they kinda threw this together as a worst case scenario thing so she'd have a place to be with the baby, be close to her bed and heal.

HB, yea, when I saw that room all I could wonder was how many rooms does that place have that we don't evewn know about. Good Lord! Her bedroom/sitting area is like the size of my downstairs.

OK, this makes sense because it looks like a hodge podge of stuff. 

Has she ever posted a floor plan? I rarely read her blog, but I'm also curious about ALL of the rooms

[pinkeggs]

Ah, OK. It does make more sense with the context.

[thewop]

It looks like the room of "normal people".

[boiler717]

I think it would be awesome to have this as a new mom. I would love to see her floor plan.

[boiler717]

Found it!

First floor:


Second floor. The JnJ bathroom / playnook thing hurts my eyes. I can't imagine walking through it.


Basement. Also think the layout of the bedrooms with the bathroom is odd here:

[sailorgray]

Man, that's a huge house. I love it, but one thing I am very happy with our small house (1100 sq ft with 4 of us) is that we use every space in it. There is not a single area that goes untouched. I would feel somewhat overwhelmed in that house. I'd totally take it, though.