Hanging A Large Chandelier From Serena & Lily

While putting together our house’s before & after page and paint color/source page last week, we realized that the photos for a couple of rooms were already looking out of date. One notable example was our upstairs family room, which has gotten a few essential additions since we first shared it back in July. Can you spot them?

Likely the most prominent update is the addition of this oversized capiz globe light that has literally been in Sherry’s mood boards and Pinterest pages for years. It is likely one of Serena & Lily’s most well-known designs, but we have never had a spot where it made sense (or could fit!). That is until we found ourselves owning this living room with generous vaulted ceilings (they are around 10′ tall at the peak).

The light in fact comes in three sizes (10.5″, 22.5″ and 29″ diameters) and this is the largest of the bunch (go big or go home, right?). It is hard to capture the scale in photos, but we did snag a couple of photos before we hung it that might give you a better idea. For instance, this shot of Sherry pretending to give Miley Cyrus and her wrecking ball a run for their money. Clearly she nailed it.

I think we took that picture in celebration of the fact that the light even made it upstairs in the first place. Our stairway is certainly on the narrow side (it is the reason tears were shed while Sherry & I struggled to get the couch up here) and you can see that the light simply baaaaaaaarely squeezed through on its side. We could’ve hoisted it up over the deck if it hadn’t fit, but this was significantly easier, so we are grateful it juuust fit.

Once we got it upstairs we both sighed with relief. Not only because it fit, but because the large room and tall ceilings fairly much begged for something substantial up there – and once we in fact got it hung we both stared at it for hours. It is the only overhead light in the room, so functionally it is quite helpful, and because it is the only “visual element” in that higher plane of this large 25′ long room, it creates a truly pleasant focal point up there too. Note: This light was not sponsored or gifted, we picked up it with our coins like any other homeowner, and truly have been loving it.

And now, I, The builder, will answer the question that we know everyone would ask if we did not address it in words AND pictures (heck, a few people might still ask us, even with words and pictures in here about it). The question = can someone tall walk under it without hitting their head? Most certainly. I am 6ft tall and have nearly a foot of clearance above my head.

Sherry also filmed a swift little spin around our family room so you can get a better feel for it in the whole context of the space, since we know seeing something on video is the next best thing to being there yourself. Plus you can see if you notice the other additions to the room (hint: most of them are near the TV).

Note: You can also view this video here on YouTube.

If you watched the video (no sound is necessary, btw – it is simply a silent walk-through), I am sure you spotted the update to the seating / TV side of the room. You may recall from our last post that all we had was our couch and the kids’ bean bags tossed in front of it. Our sofa is pleasant and long (93″ without large arms) so all four of us can comfortably sit on that for movie nights like we did in our last house. Which means we did not immediately need more seating for others (thanks to moving in during lockdowns/pandemic stuff), but we knew later on when our friends & family could come visit we’d appreciate having more seating options up here. Also, a word about beanbags in the place of a coffee table. Take it from me, bean bags are terrible coffee tables. You cannot easily prop your feet on them. 1 star. Do not recommend.

But now we have checked the overflow seating box with a new woven bench that we found at HomeGoods for $199 (sorry, do not have a link!) and we evolved from those shapeless beanbags to these upholstered ottomans. They certainly look a bit tidier than the beanbags did and are much better in the footrests department (in fact, I am sitting with my feet up on one as I write this!). But since our kids still use this area for making forts, spreading out Pokemon cards across the floor, and finding weird contorted positions from which to watch TV – we still hoped a “coffee table” alternative that was soft-edged and easily movable.

Plus in a pinch they can be additional seating for two more people to perch on (multi-purpose pieces in a smaller house truly are a thrill).

We also have plans to upgrade this bench by making a padded seat cushion in place of the sheepskin we have tossed down for now (Sherry’s thinking some thick foam with fabric sewn around it – perhaps even with a zipper to make it possible to remove the cover & wash it). And since the cushion will add a few inches to the seat, we will also likely trim down the legs a little so it is not weirdly higher than the couch cushion.

The last thing I will say about this area of the room is that we have also ordered a new solution for our media console. This console table piece from our last dining room has been simply fine (especially after we brought in the wood shelf on the bottom so those two large baskets full of all of our board games could live in there) but we have a plan for majorly upping our storage over here. Like, we are about to be straight up storage rich along nearly this whole TV wall. The materials are on backorder and we cannot get began until next month, so we are doing our best to be patient. Sherry likes to say that smart storage is our enjoy language these days, and I think she’s right. It is going to be like Christmas morning when we at last have the new cabinetry all installed along this wall.

Before we wrap up this family room update, we also should spin around and show you the new hanging planters in the opposite corner of the room. You’d think with so much greenery out our windows that we would not need too much in the room itself, but it is in fact the opposite. It feels like the room is begging for plants at every turn to create some sort of visual flow between the inside and the outside. And my wife is not someone to shrink from the challenge of “MORE PLANTS.”

We also hung some art behind the kids desk, as well as those two hanging planters that Sherry found at a local garden center. I think it means she has unlocked a new level of her plant lady status now that she’s embraced hanging plants.

So that is fairly much all of the updates we have for you so far (you can see the other art we hung behind the kids desk on the other side in the photo below). We are still tweaking and adding little things along the way, and we know this room will be a work in progress for a while – but it certainly has us feeling fairly settled, and we are extremely grateful that this space works so hard for us these days.

Sherry & I both switch off using the desktop computer at the desk that you see above, simply based on whoever needs it for a specific project. The other person uses the laptop on the table out on the deck (best spot to work in the house by far!) or kicks back on the sofa like I am doing now – or even at the kitchen table downstairs. Meanwhile this room has also been STRONG for the kids with at-home learning in full swing, as well as any sort of crafting & art that they want to do (thanks to the big double desk full of storage drawers). Plus it is a strong movie room, hangout zone, fort-making station, reading spot, etc, etc. This is the largest room in our house (by a lot – it is around 25′ long!) and it is fairly exciting to feel like we are squeezing as much function as we can out of every inch of it. Even with things like the wall-mounted bookcase that stores plenty of books and things vertically, without taking up much floor space at all.

We are also excited to show you some changes we have made outside these windows too – including how our big upstairs deck is shaping up and a privacy solution we have built between us and the house that is under construction next door. Stay tuned!

P.S. You can see all of our Florida house progress right here. From our bedrooms to the kitchen (and our only bathroom), you can get all caught up swiftly. There are not that many posts because this house simply has six rooms!

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