Taking Back Our Family Room, Part 1

Before we moved into the new house I had already made up my mind that our sun room was going to be the family room. The big couch was going to be in there, along with our son's toys, the TV and it would also be where the dogs would spend most of their time. The big front area was going to be a sitting room, and the fireplace 'room' was going to be a more formal living room. We have since changed our minds and have rearranged where the big TV will stay, but the sun room is still a place where Mac can go and pull out all of his toys.

With four dogs I'm sure you can imagine the dog food that we go through (more on that later.) We have three chihuahuas and a hound right now and only two of the chihuahuas are actually ours. I was finding myself walking over dog toys, constantly refilling dog bowls, and tripping over kennels regularly. I felt like what was supposed to be a relaxing place for the family felt more like an SPCA. I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate the necessities of having these dogs into my decor, but it was just a matter of figuring out a way to do that.

Rewind with me for a minute…

A few years ago I found this little side table at a garage sale for next to nothing. It was too cheap to pass up and I was dying to try my hand at repainting furniture. This was just before I discovered Pinterest (Thank you Jesus!) and just after we moved from Japan. 

It had been painted black, and with a little bit of sanding and some paint I turned it into this…

Womp womp wooooomp…

The latex paint was constantly peeling up and I was less than enthused about the outcome, but it was my first time painting furniture, I liked it better than before and it would be a great cabinet to keep Mac's toys stored in.

It sat in our family room for two moves.

After this last move I decided that I needed it to be more functional for the dogs and I got the idea to make it a dog house. Rather than have kennels everywhere, the little dogs could cozy up in here together. Even with two small kennels, the little dogs liked to be in one so I knew they'd be happy with this arrangement. I knocked out both of those lumpy panels on the front of the door, repainted it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in 'Pure White,' and a great happy yellow on the inside. I used left-over wire mesh from our chicken coop to cover the holes, and attached a hook-and-eye lock to the side to keep the door closed. 

It's much easier on the eyes and much more functional for the family and I have no idea why I didn't do this sooner. It took me about an hour from start to finish and the longest part was letting the paint dry and cutting the wire mesh. 

Until next time

-Megan