A Valentine’s Family Room Filled With Love!

Each room in your home SAYS something — think about it…. It’s true!!

If you have young children, your family room may have stations for toys and crafts and the room says, “Come in and play!” If you are tidy person and want all gathering areas to be clean and crisp, then your family room likely says, “Come sit for a bit and let’s visit!”

So, when I begin decorating, I always ask myself, “What do I want this room/space to say?” And once I determine that, I keep it at the forefront of everything I do!

For this Valentine’s family room I wanted it to say, “Come on in and let me give you a hug!!”

From the heart mantel, to the heart streamers dangling from the chandelier, to the conversation hearts surrounding the floral arrangement…. everything is carefully placed to create an atmosphere of LOVE — to make all who enter feel “hugged!”

Let’s go get our hug!!

The Mantel!

Nothing says love quite like HEARTS! I think this mantel may be A FIRST in decorating history! I didn’t begin with the intent of making it a heart at all! Here is how it happened!

I  purchased some grapevine at the craft store and immediately went home and soaked it in water to make it more pliable. After a couple hours, I took it out on the back lawn to stretch and dry. For those of you who have naturally curly hair, you will understand my grapevine analogy — let’s just say, as hard as you try to get it to go into just the right shape, in the end, it is going to curl the way it wants… period! Giggle 🙂

Now for how it evolved into a heart… I was using three separate grapevine pieces and when I placed them up on the mantel they of course curled the way THEY wanted and I ended up with a big bulge on the top right. I just had to go with it, but I also knew I had to match it on the left side. Once I FINALLY  managed to make them look even, I stepped back to look and I was like, “Wait!! That looks like the top of a heart! What if rather than letting the rest hang down the sides of the mantel I pull the two ends together at the bottom and secure them with wire to actually MAKE A HEART!”

As far as the embellishments, I added the few lights I used from the Christmas tree, a variety of long pink floral stems, conversation heart pillows, glitter X’s and O’s, conversation heart wooden picks, miniature valentine mailboxes, and a few floral hearts!   

Would you believe I found almost all of the garland decor at the dollar store?!? I basically bought out the entire store…they even asked to take a picture of me when I was checking out! Giggle : )

If your local dollar store is out of stock though, I’ve linked some similar items for your Valentine’s Family Room that you can shop below!

I’m obsessed with how fun this mantel turned out!! I bet we start seeing a lot more heart mantels in the future on Pinterest!! ; )

ONE NOTE: I spray painted the brown grapevine cream color because the brown was ….. well brown! Originally I sprayed it white but that made it a weird gray color! I truly don’t know if the the cream would’ve worked alone or if the white acted like a primer; but my suggestion to anyone wanting to make something like this is buy cream spray paint and assume you may need to do two coats :).

The Chandelier!

If you have followed my previous posts, you know I love to incorporate the space between the top of the furniture and the ceiling!! It is all this open space just asking to be noticed!!  I decided to hang felt heart streamers from the chandelier to draw the eye upward! Look how cute it turned out!

Don’t be afraid to use your decor items in unconventional ways! These hearts are intended to be garlands but they make such a different and fresh statement hanging from the chandelier! Remember to try things out in your space differently than you would initially think. You will either say, “Ugh! That didn’t work!” or “Wow! That is so cool!!”

I’ve linked the exact garland here, or you can shop other cute one’s below!

The Coffee and Side Tables

Tablescapes are so fun because you get to tell a story on each tabletop!

I love that when you look at this desk it says, “Someone must be in the middle of reading this Valentine book! I wonder what it is about?”

To me, the coffee table says, “I’d love to sit and enjoy a sweet treat with you while we visit for a few minutes!”

I fell in love with this book when I saw it at the bookstore! It is all about the different FEELINGS (represented by the various colors of hearts) that our hearts feel.

I always think it is good to have several places where people can sit quietly and read. In addition to having a variety of classics on hand, I think it is fun to offer seasonal books as well, and this was a perfect fit in our Valentine’s Family Room!

And actually… looking at this picture brings tears to my eyes because of the feelings I have in my heart. The gentleman in the photo is my father and he is going in for open-heart surgery tomorrow. My heart is trying so very hard to be optimistic but I can attest to the fact that our hearts really do feel a multitude of emotions. And I realize, it is good to feel all those emotions!

Mostly, I just feel love for an incredible father…

The Armoire!

This armoire is one of my favorite places to decorate because of the blank white canvas it provides. Everything looks good in here! My theory is, “When in doubt on the color of your big furniture pieces, CHOOSE NEUTRAL!” If your large pieces are neutral you can embellish them with any color you want; and if you are like me and LOVE every holiday, well, they look great with any holiday decor! You are also less likely to tire of them if you can switch things around a little and make them look fresh again!!

To the side of the cabinet, I have two very simple black iron wall containers. I have loved these for years!!! I switch out the florals with every season and because they are so simple in both color and form they transition well with any decor.

I had these yellow chairs monogrammed with an “H” after purchase. I think they look so sweet with the sequin heart pillows!

Remember yellow is a great transition color!

And finally… The Sofa!

I had this sofa custom-made because I had very specific needs. The ceiling in the family room is so high that any normal sofa would’ve looked dwarfed. Additionally, my kids really wanted a place to not only sit, but lie down and get cozy. So, with those specifications, this is what we produced. The sofa is not only over-sized in length but the back is 5 feet tall which also serves as a divider with the breakfast room! The chaise part is actually the dimensions of a twin mattress and I have to say it has become the “favorite sleeping spot” for one of my kids : )!

If you have looked at the previous posts of the sofa at Halloween and Christmas you will see how well the neutral cream color transitions with any decor!

And of course… for our Valentine’s Family Room, I added a Valentine tutu around the bottom! Rather than making a whole new one this time, however, I simply tacked a pink rose ribbon on top of the Christmas ribbon!!  You can’t even tell!! EASY! Additionally, because I had so many colors going on in the room with the all the conversation hearts, I felt like the sofa was asking to be a simple color palette of cream and pinks. I love the dimension and texture the fur heart pillows add, as well as playfulness of the teddy bear!

Whew! I know that was a long post but I hope you feel VERY HUGGED!!!

Shop some of my favorite decor picks for your own Valentine’s family room by clicking (double tap on mobile) the links below! You can also find all of my favorite item’s in my favorites page here!

Hugs… Jennifer