Making Home More Livable | TEW Design Studio

By removing walls to open up confined rooms and featuring a serene color palette with comfy furniture, we created a more livable home for this family of four to cozy up and watch movies together.

Learn more about this design and remodeling journey from builder-grade boxed-in to more livable for the entire family!

Project challenges

The family room was originally closed off to the rest of the first floor. The floor plan felt stifled and choppy, so the room was left mostly cluttered with kids’ crafts and various odds and ends.

The family was living with rooms that didn’t work for their needs. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?

They love to entertain regularly and didn’t want a television to be the center of the living room. The cluttered, confined existing space wasn’t conducive to their active lifestyle.

They wanted a family room dedicated to watching movies and playing board games, with a mantle to hang stockings during the holidays.

By opening the space, sunlight poured into the entire first floor from windows that were previously closed off. A special piano room was created for the children. Removing walls and adding a gas fireplace made each space more functional, while creating an effortless visual and physical flow with the rest of the floor.

Special features make home more livable

Dad had one important request: a comfortable recliner. This beautiful leather sofa not only includes two recliners, they’re electronically controlled. It’s true, most recliners are bulky and obtrusive.

That’s not the case with this sleek sofa made with exceptional quality leather and nail-head detail. It also includes an adjustable headrest and expandable leg rest, yet takes up no more space than a typical modern sofa.

Mom’s primary request: a fireplace with mantel to hang stockings on. We designed the family room around a featured gas fireplace, which opened the opportunity to add decorative cabinets to either side to allow for storage of board games, electronics… and dog toys.

We selected fabrics and materials that would withstand heavy use throughout these spaces so the family and their German Shepherd, Scooby, could settle in and enjoy their home instead of worrying about spills or accidents. In the living room, swivel chairs offer beauty, comfort and utility since they could be used facing the piano, or the kitchen. This is especially useful when entertaining and having gatherings in either area.

By using floating shelves, the family can swap out travel photos, holiday favorites, and family portraits as often as they’d like. It’s a personal touch that’s interactive for years to come.

We not only opened up the family room, we removed walls at the base of the staircase. This created a more open feel to the space and allowed us to feature a beautiful new railing.