Reveal: Leclaire Family Room (A Slow Burn)

The family room in our house has seen a handful of iterations over the years. Most truly great spaces do before they reach their final state, even though that’s rarely shared on Instagram. Today, we are giving you the inside scoop on the slow burn that was this project as well as the SOURCES I used. Keep reading for more!

2016: Before we moved in. This was used as a theater room by the previous owners. I’m all about a moody room, but this actually felt like the soul was sucked out of the space.

Left (2016): We painted and moved in. This room became our office and consisted of the mish-mash furniture we had in our Logan Square condo.

Right (2018): We replaced the windows after living with broken and drafty windows from 1924 for a couple of years. We added a new rug, new pillows and ottomans. This is the half-way point that we maintained for several years before finding out I was pregnant with Sylvie and our family room/office would now also be the guest room.

2020: Add a sleeper sofa to make it a guest room! It was about this point that I was OVER the grey walls throughout the house in the pandemic and started chipping away at changing them to Benjamin Moore Alabaster. We added window treatments in 2020 as well to allow it to be a fully functional guest room.

2021: After staring at an unusable ventless fireplace for 5 years, we decided to go with a vented gas insert that was larger and behind glass for kid safety. We replaced the facade and kept the steel bench along with the glass shelves exposing the old exterior of the house. I’ve always loved that touch and a spot to display things that are meaningful to us.

2022-2023: As I was designing the pantry (which is in this room) I wanted to match the botanical interest of the peacock wallpaper with a fun fabric on pair of slipper chairs. This beauty from Pindler was just the ticket. These chairs are somewhat mobile (good for moving out of the way during dance parties) and are SO comfy. It’s the touch of pattern the room needed. We waited 10 months for them and they are perfect.

After those cubed ottomans kicked the bucket (literally they were kicked around by the kids), I still wanted something soft to put our feet up on, but also easy to move to have access to the sleeper sofa. This Pollack fabric is a burnt, dusty rose that keeps a balance between the masculine and feminine elements in the space.

After the ottoman and slipper chairs arrived I finally felt like I could appreciate the journey of this space. I’m a lover of instant gratification as much as the next person, however biting things off in a way that was financially manageable is what worked best for us and something social media doesn’t showcase enough. So if you’re in the thick of planning a long renovation or attempting to reach a “good for now” place with your home, know that is COMPLETELY normal and I see you:)

What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.