Get This Look: Colorful Cubbies for an Organized Family Room

 Communal family spaces are tough to make both functional and good-looking. Housing a little bit of everyone’s stuff can lead to a LOT of disorganization, especially in a media room or play room. These colorful cubbies light up the room and help create an organized family room.  (image via Better Homes and Gardens)

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 7 Tips for a Colorful Organized Family Room

1. Start Big But Simple

A large-scale but simple art piece draws your eye away from the TV without distracting you if you’re actually trying to watch a show. You can DIY your own wood cutout family tree by using the same process as we used to make our oversized ampersand cutout. You can use a different type of wood to get the wood grain showing, or you can paint it a neutral color and use MDF like we did. 

2. Hide the Cords

Make the cords disappear to help the TV blend in to the decor. We have gone to great extents like built a mantel to hide our electronics cords, but for just a few bucks, you can buy a paintable cord cover on Amazon. Paint it to match the wall color and *poof* — the messy cords are gone. 

3. Add Some Life

Every room needs a green and living aspect to it, but keep it easy by using a terrarium and hardy plants like succulents. Pick up a fun bowl to be a planter, and watch your thrift store for fun shaped glass containers to create your terrarium — large jars/vases, bell jars, and cake stands can all make great pieces for your plants. Vivid Please shows you how to put your terrarium together, and Better Homes and Gardens has 12 recommendations for what to plant in a terrarium. 

4. Display It… or Hide It 

Larger items like games and books can have a whole cubby to themselves, and buying colorful items that match your color scheme (like the towels and blankets) makes it look designer instead of dingy.

For the smaller items that must be hidden away, using a few of the same style of basket helps the shelves look tidier while hiding all those little odds and ends. A woven basket adds texture without shouting for attention or competing with the other colors, and the handle makes it easy to slide in and out to retrieve necessary belongings. Try these well-priced banana leaf baskets (in natural or dark stain) from Amazon to organize your gear. 

5. A Space for Everyone and Every Thing

A set of cubby shelves like this are great for storage while still looking sleek and modern, thanks to the nice square shape and neutral white color. You can buy shelves like this at most big box or home improvement stores, or you can build one (or two) like we did for our great wall of built-ins or like The Design Confidential built. 

6. Keep It Personal

Use those eclectic knick-knacks you inherited from Grandma and Great-Aunt Phyllis to add color and personality to the space. Eclectic is in, and people will love to know that you actually have a story associated with your decor. 

Don’t have colorful vintage knick-knacks? Check out your local thrift stores or Freecycle.org.

7. Pull It Together

Use a bright and colorful rug to pull all the colors and styles in your space together and work for you. I love my new rug from Wayfair, and if you can’t find a rug that has the right colors for you, you can always add some color by painting like I did on the rug in my daughter’s room!

Get inspired by these other colorful and organized family rooms:

 

Wanting to breathe some fresh life into other rooms of your home?
Check out the other looks we’ve shown to Get This Look:

Mixed Patterns in the Master Bedroom | Pretty and Tidy Work Bench | Sunny Corner Banquette