A sectional was a good and flexible solution for updating a family room.

I received a request from my clients that they wanted to update their family room so that it worked for their teenage children. They also wanted the room to be functional when they entertained their friends and watched sports on television.

Currently their seating consisted of a long sofa and a club chair. Whenever they entertained they had to drag in seating from another part of the house. Since the room was quite spacious with unused space, this allowed me the opportunity to adjust the seating and expand it. For the main television viewing area directly across from the television using a sectional was the obvious solution. The sectional’s L-shaped seating area would allow for flexibility when choosing where to sit. It also allowed the family places to lay-down on when watching television or reading.

In keeping with the color palette of the house-muted gold, browned-down green and red, I chose the fabrics for the room to compliment it. Previously the sofa was a deep browned-down green that appeared very dark and drab in the room. I replaced it with a muted gold chenille fabric that could withstand family use.

To layer the green and red color palette in the room and cut down on the quantity of gold chenille, I added decorative pillows to the seating. Half the pillows were a solid browned down green fabric and the others a patterned fabric with red, touches of green and their neutral wall color. Because the fabrics were a chenille and dense woven fabrics for the pillows, their construction would hold up to everyday family use. While cotton fabric provides many more pattern and color options for pillow fabrics, they are best used in decorative options rather than everyday use because of their fragile construction.

Opposite the sectional, were upholstered occasional chairs in a striped chenille fabric used on the sofa. I chose chairs that were not oversized or too big, so that they could be fairly easily moved if additional seating were needed to view some sports events.

The family’s coffee table had been a rectangular wood one which over time showed wear and nicks as wood does. It needed to have a new look to coordinate with the sectional.  Luckily today we have options for coffee tables in so many materials and styles. The style we decided on was a round upholstered ottoman that could function to place things on as well as be used to put one’s foot on. The fabric was a faux ostrich look fabric, which can easily be wiped down. Its softer round shape was particularly beneficial so that one no one bumped into any sharp corners and hurt themselves.

Teal Michel ASID, is a licensed full-service interior design firm specializing in residential interior design and renovation-remodeling design throughout the Carolinas. Teal has won awards from ASID for interior spaces and furniture design and from the Home Builder’s Association of Charlotte Excellence in Remodeling for remodel design and interior renovation. She has participated in HGTV’s “Designer’s Challenge” and her work has been featured in several books. www.tealmichelasid.com. Read her past columns on DavidsonNews.net.